Mission Ridge Winter Park will get late start after mild weather

While it has been a pleasant surprise for those hoping the snow and cold would stay clear of Saskatchewan, there is one business near Fort Qu’Appelle that would like to see that change.
 
It has been a slow start for Mission Ridge Winter Park. Temperatures consistently above freezing and very little precipitation has resulted in grassy mounds in November, something that is not a recipe for success for the park.
 
“As pretty much everybody can probably guess, we can’t make snow in this kind of weather,” explained Don Williams, General Manager of Mission Ridge. “We kind of need five, six, seven degrees below zero to make a good base of snow.”
 
Williams added “we haven’t got a single flake laying out here yet.”
 
As a result, the opening of the park has been pushed back to Dec. 10 – it was originally supposed to open Saturday.
 
It has been a frustrating year for those at Mission Ridge. For the second straight year, the opening of the park has been delayed because of mild weather. Williams called it incredible saying in his 16 years with the facility he has never seen it this tough.
 
By this time two years ago, Williams said Mission Ridge had three feet of snow covering the entire park.
 
There is good news on the horizon, as it appears the wait for the cold weather is about to end. As of Sunday, Environment Canada is forecasting cooler temperatures to arrive in Regina by Wednesday with Thursday’s high expected to be around minus eight.