For days now, phone calls have poured into the Raging Buffalo Snowboard Park in Algonquin, needy voices full of longing for even the smallest patch of white powder.
“Most people are surprised we are open. When people look out in their back yard and don’t see any snow, they think they can’t snowboard,” said manager Rob Coyle. “But we have an extremely dedicated snow crew.”
Coyle and his gang have circumvented a stingy Mother Nature this winter, using machines and a “secret formula”–don’t even ask, they won’t tell–to conjure up something the Chicago area hasn’t seen in quite some time: snow.
For weeks, she has held back, leaving hills and trails without skiers, front yards without snowmen, kids without snowballs to toss. The warmer than normal weather has put a wrench in any activity involving snow, from sledding to snow sculpting. Coyle even resorted to hoarding snow from last month’s storm.
A few days of Indian Summer in the deep of winter are nice. But nearly a month’s worth of mild temperatures is just crazy.
“It’s killing us. You have no idea,” said Deacon Kallish, who helps run Winter Thunder Challenge in Wauconda, a track that offers “snocross,” a combination of snowmobiling and motocross. “We already missed opening practice, which was New Year’s Day; we missed the first race weekend on the 6th and 7th and we’ll probably miss this weekend.”
The last time the Chicago area had any accumulation of snow was Nov. 30-Dec.1, when a storm blanketed the region with 6.2 inches. It’s been elusive ever since, said Tim Halbach of the National Weather Service.
Normally, the region would have seen at least 14 inches by now. At least 12 inches had fallen by this time last year. But as of Tuesday, the area only had 6.5 inches.
“The snow systems have kind of passed us by, and we have not been cold so far,” Halbach said.
Halbach said a little snow might fall this weekend. But it could end up as rain, sleet, hail or some slippery combination. He wouldn’t make any promises.
“I really like snow myself, so I am hoping for some,” he said.
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This less-than-winter wonderland picture is no better in Wisconsin, long a mecca for snowmobile fans and skiers who have largely been out of luck.
At one popular resort just north of Lake County in Wisconsin, all that was visible on the slopes Tuesday was a wide strip of snow on an otherwise barren hill.
“Suspended operations due to weather,” reads a message on the Web site for Wilmot Mountain, where operators have been trying to make snow around the clock and hope to reopen Thursday. “When winter returns, so will we!”
Closer to home, organizers of the Chicagoland Snow Sculpting Competition were forced to postpone a contest planned for this weekend in Mt. Prospect.
Director Fran Volz said competitors from as far away as Holland and Mexico were raring to go, but the unseasonable temperatures made the chances of producing enough snow iffy. The event will be rescheduled for February.
“We have a machine that shoots water spray up in the air, and if we have cool temperatures, it falls back to the earth as snow,” he said. “If it is too warm, it just falls down as water.”
In Fox River Grove, hitting the slopes these days often means hitting the plastic. The Norge Ski Club has been using plastic mats to cushion the landings for its hardy jumpers.
If it doesn’t get colder and whiter in time for the club’s jumping contest Jan. 20-21, they’ll be pulling out the plastic once again, said spokeswoman Mary Jo Schauer.
“The weather is our constant and regular struggle,” she said. “This global warming is really bringing us down.”
Many people are making the best of it. Officials at both the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Cook County Forest Preserve report seeing more people trekking outdoors to golf, walk and ride bicycles.
Steve Mayberry, a spokesman for the Cook County Forest Preserves, said the facilities are busier than normal.
“People want to come and take their kids sledding, but those same people instead are bringing their kids out for a bike ride,” he said.
Kallish, who runs the Wauconda snocross track, said making snow in tepid, fickle weather is an expensive gamble. Each time, it costs at least $1,000.
“If three days later it’s going to be 50 degrees, is it worth doing it?” he said.
Halbach forecasts a significant cooling trend next week. By Monday, temperatures could drop into the single digits–good news for stores like the Shred Shop in Skokie, which sells outdoor sports gear.
Manager Matt Baron said sales of snowboards and winter accessories have declined recently ; he has been selling more skateboards than snowboards.
But as the temperature dropped this week, customers began returning, he said.
“We’re really at the mercy of Mother Nature every winter,” he said.
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14 inches: Amount of snow the area should have seen by this time of the season.
6.5 inches: As of Tuesday, the area’s official snow total.
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