Duluth’s Spirit Mountain celebrates 50 years of skiing
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Spirit Mountain Recreation Area celebrated 50 years of downhill skiing and other outdoor adventure in Duluth on Friday, with speakers, a city proclamation and an anniversary party and fireworks at its Skyline Chalet.
The ski slopes that plunge 700 feet in west Duluth toward the St. Louis River estuary and Lake Superior have drawn throngs of skiers from the Twin Cities and beyond for decades. It’s also the place where local kids have advanced their alpine skills.
More recently the area has added destination mountain bike trails that careen down the steep terrain, and a Nordic ski trail system with lights and the capacity to manufacture artificial snow at the bottom of the downhill slopes that have drawn international races.
But over the years the city-owned ski operation has also faced criticism for its reliance on public funding to build and maintain infrastructure, and for the occasional bailout when it ran out of cash.
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“It took a community to envision Spirit Mountain, to bring it to fruition and to nurture it for 50 years through all its ups and downs,” said Ann Glumac, the organization’s executive director.
Local ski legend and former Olympian George Hovland first conceived of the idea for a ski area in 1971, after he bushwhacked up and down the steep hillside, scouting out runs.
His wife, Jane Hovland, said he wanted to open the area himself, but realized it would have to be a public entity because of the patchwork of land ownership.
“There’s a plaque somewhere in the building acknowledging him as the founder of Spirit Mountain, and I think it says, ‘He gave his dreams to the City of Duluth,’” Jane Hovland said. “And believe me, he really wanted to do it on his own.”
The city supported the creation of the ski area to help offset the closure of Duluth’s largest employer at the time, U.S. Steel. When it closed its mill in 1971, about 2,500 workers lost their jobs.
In 1973, the state Legislature passed enabling legislation to create the recreation area, with the goals of developing an outdoor recreation destination and boosting tourism in the region.
With local, state and federal support totaling $6.5 million, Spirit welcomed its first skiers in 1974.
Additional runs and lifts were added throughout the years. The city built a chalet at the bottom of the hill in 2013, the same year the first mountain bike trails opened. The Nordic Center opened in 2018.
But Spirit struggled in the ensuing winters. The recreation area required bailouts from the city of Duluth in 2019 and 2020 totaling more than $500,000 to stay afloat.
And recently the ski area has relied on more than $1 million annually in revenue from the city’s tourism tax to pay its bills. It’s needed that funding to cover operating costs and pay down debt on past investments, including the second chalet.
But more recently the ski hill has been on firmer financial footing. It’s repaid debt it owed the city of Duluth. And the state Legislature set aside $13 million last year to pay for an upgraded main chalet and new chair lifts, with the city providing matching funds.
Backers argue that the public gets back far more than what it puts in. A recent analysis found the ski area generates more than $22 million every winter in economic activity.
“We need to continue to invest in this place, to believe in this place, to have the backbone to fight for this place when there are critics,” said Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Baumgartner. “We know it provides the economic impact. We just have to sell that story and be champions for it.”