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Afton Alps ski hill open for the season
Managers say about one-fifth of the ski hill is open right now and they are working to open more runs in the coming days.
AFTON, Minn. — One year ago today, the Twin Cities looked like a winter wonderland.
The runways were closed at MSP due to heavy snow. Local ski hills were also packed with skiers and snowboarders.
Fast forward to today and it’s a very different story as snow is hard to come by and ski hills are finally starting to open for the season.
Afton Alps is celebrating opening day this Wednesday and managers say it’s all thanks to their snow machines.
“We’ve had to make pretty much all of our snow this year,” Afton Alps General Manager Trevor Maring says.
Within minutes of opening the ski hill the ski runs were packed with hundreds of skiers and snowboarders.
“It’s snow. It’s something. At this point we just need anything,” snowboarder Logan Matala says.
Managers say about one-fifth of the ski hill is open right now and they are working to open more runs in the coming days.
Sean Malay is the Snow Surfaces manager at Afton Alps.
He says the snowmaking machines were running almost 24 hours a day for five days straight ahead of opening day.
“Really only the last week or so have we had the temperatures to get out here and make snow,” Malay says.
“It’s basically whenever that cold snap comes, we’re making snow.”
Afton Alps is celebrating its 60th season this year.
Over the last 60 years the ski hill has seen a lot of unique winters, including some years when opening day was as early as late October, and other years where opening day didn’t come until the first few weeks of December.
“It’s different every year,” Maring explains. “We typically try to shoot for the middle to end of November, but every year is different, and we just try to work with what we have.”
Afton Alps was one of the first ski hills in the Twin Cities metro to open this year.
According to their websites, Buck Hill and Hyland Hills will open for the season on Friday, December 1st.
Welch Village will be open to the public starting Monday, December 4th.
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Police are investigating after three men were shot early on Saturday morning.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are investigating after three men were shot in the Ventura Village neighborhood early Saturday morning.
According to Minneapolis police, officers were called to the area around East 21st Street and South 15th Avenue around 5 a.m. Saturday.
Officers found three men had been shot. One of the men died and the two others were taken to the hospital with what police described as life-threatening injuries.
Officials said the shooting happened at a small homeless encampment.
Police have not announced any arrests as of Saturday morning.
KARE 11 will update this story as more information is made available.
This Halloween the chocolate shop is getting very festive.
MARINE ON SAINT CROIX, Minn. — A small sweet shop in a Minnesota river town has won some BIG awards for its chocolates.
St. Croix Chocolate Company in Marine on St. Croix has won national and international awards including Best of Show in this year’s America’s Division of the International Chocolate Awards.
Their chocolates are available at the St. Croix Chocolate Company kitchen or online.
This Halloween they are selling a Halloween Countdown Calendar that features 14 prize-winning recipes made into ghosts, bats, skulls and other spooky configurations. They also have a Boo Bag-handled tote that comes with their “best of” Halloween assortment.
Owner and Chocolatier, Robyn Dochterman, joined KARE 11 Saturday to share what St. Croix Chocolate Company has to offer.
MINNEAPOLIS — Making pasta at home is relatively simple, as long as you have the right tools.
October is National Pasta Month and Red Rabbit‘s Corporate Chef, Adam Lerner, joined KARE 11 Saturday to show us how to make homemade noodles in the confines of your own kitchen.
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