SNOW TIME TO WAIT: At Silver Mine, Cross-Country Skiers Make Their Own Snow
volunteer Craig Manthe leads an effort to create artificial snow to keep cross-country enthusiasts skiing during dry winters

A distinct lack of snow in the Chippewa Valley during the past few winters has often left outdoor recreation lovers at a loss. Consider cross-country skiers, including the 50-some youth members of Chippewa Valley Nordic. No snow means no skiing, which means team practices consist of “dry land training,” which means running and agility drills. Sure, it’s exercise, but it’s not a lot of fun – at least for budding athletes who signed up to speed on skis through the snow – and some kids end up quitting the team.
So what do you do when winter doesn’t give you snow? You figure out how to make your own. That’s what Craig Manthe decided to do about five years ago, when the recreation enthusiast and ski team dad spearheaded an effort to build cross-country ski trails at Silver Mine Recreation Area, then to create snow to cover those trails if the Wisconsin winter doesn’t provide it.
Manthe calls himself the “chief instigator” of the effort, although he’s quick to point out he has a lot of help, including “co-conspirator” Lars Long and numerous other volunteers, many of them other skiers and ski parents.
“The whole goal was to get snowmaking going somewhere in the Chippewa Valley,” he explains. While snowmaking may be common at downhill ski resorts, it's rare in cross-country skiing: In fact, by Manthe’s count there are fewer than half a dozen ski trails in Wisconsin that make their own powder.
Originally, Manthe thought Eau Claire’s Pinehurst Park – known for its numerous winter amenities, including cross-country ski trails, downhill skiing, and snowboarding – would be a good place for snowmaking, but that proved difficult. (He says it would have cost about $80,000 for the necessary equipment and infrastructure.)

Silver Mine, by contrast, already had snowmaking equipment and even a holding pond for water. That’s because the Flying Eagles Ski Club, which owns the facility, makes snow for its 90-meter ski jump, which soars into the ski just a few miles southwest of Eau Claire. (Sadly, the ski jump is in need of its own costly repairs, so the long-running Silver Mine Invitational ski jumping tournament is on hold yet again this winter.)
Manthe is no stranger to creating recreational opportunities: Over the years, he’s built trails at Pinehurst, Lowes Creek, and Northwest Community parks in Eau Claire. However, he quips, he’s hoping that the trails at Silver Mine will amount to his “master’s thesis,” after which he can retire from trail-making.
When Manthe and company make snow – which they’ve done twice this winter – about 20 volunteers work for 48 straight hours, beginning on a Friday afternoon. Sometimes the volunteers use as much as 1,200 feet of hose to work their magic. Water pumps and an air compressor force the pond water through the hose at high speed until it emerges as tiny droplets which freeze when in the cold air.
“Usually it’s like ‘snow concentrate.’ It’s pretty dense,” Manthe explains. “It’s more durable than natural snow.”
Nonstop day and night, the guns and hoses are moved to spread the snow around. It can be a long, tangled process to coat the frozen grass in enough snow to ski on. Once the snow has been made, it must be spread on the trails, requiring a snowmobile trail drag and a groomer.

Silver Mine Nordic – as the operation is called – is a division of the nonprofit Flying Eagles, and maintains about 400 meters of trail. However, Manthe has bigger aspirations: In the near future, he hopes to launch a $20,000 fundraising campaign to install pipes, compressed air lines, and lights at Silver Mine. If the project reaches fruition, he anticipates being able to create enough snow for a 1 kilometer trail by next winter. That’s big enough to draw cross-country skiers to the Chippewa Valley, he predicts.
Already, the trails at Silver Mine aren’t just for young skiers. In fact, anyone can buy an annual pass. As of early January, $2,300 worth of passes had already been sold this winter.
Considering the impact of a changing climate, snow-making may become increasingly important for winter sports enthusiasts. Last winter, for example, only 35 inches of snow fell on Eau Claire, compared with an average winter total of 55 inches, according to data from the Wisconsin State Climatology Office. This winter isn’t looking much better: As of Jan. 15, just over 13 inches had fallen in Eau Claire this season, about 9 inches short of the average by this time of year.
But whatever Mother Nature delivers, Manthe and his volunteer squad know they’ll be able to make enough snow to help their kids – and themselves – get on the trail.
“I get to actually ski on it sometimes,” Manthe says. “I get satisfaction from watching the kids ski, and building an asset to keep the community active and healthy.”
Learn more about Silver Mine Nordic and how you can buy a trail pass at silverminenordic.com.