Though snow remained in short supply, Birch Hill Ski Lodge gave military members and their families a taste of winter fun earlier this month.
“We don’t mind waiting in line,’ said Alberto Acevedo an active duty soldier.
It was dry 20 degrees and the sky was already dark. Most years, the military recreational facilities on Birch Hill would already be in full use by December. The day of this event there was not enough snow for more than two hours of playtime, but everyone enjoyed themselves.
“We come to Birch Hill every time they open for their season.’ — Mary Brown who is a mother that was surrounded by her two children.
Since Birch Hill was only open for a few hours there was limited parking spaces available. “We had to carpool just so we didn’t miss out on a parking spot,’ said Miguel who was another soldier attending the event with his family.
On December 7, 2018 Birch Hill opened their ski lodge for the first time all winter. The ski Lodge is located on army base Fort Wainwright. This event included snow tubing, skiing, and hanging out in the snow. Birch Hill typically opens the first week of December and operates til March or whenever spring forces closure, or turns snow into mush or something.. starts. The facility offers activities for ages five and up and any skill level. This year’s thin snow has not been enough snow to fully open and operate daily. The first Friday event brought for all DoD cardholders out and enjoy the hill. Birch Hill Ski Lodge not only has winter activities they also provide food and beverage, and rentals. There is a café located that offers hot foods, snacks, and drinks for sale. There is also a fire place to warm up in between winter activities.
The ski lodge is very large and holds up to 100 people. The ski lodge also provides many rentals. The rentals include skiing materials, snow tubes, boots, helmets, and snow boards. The Ski Lodge is very inexpensive when it is open for the season. DoD cardholders spend no more than sixteen dollars per person for entrance. The ski lodge also provides lip balm for sale in case of dry lips while outside for long periods of time. This event was put on quickly and many people attended. The lines were long for each activity.
The Birch Hill Ski Lodge marked the event hosting its annual tree lighting ceremony, which signals the beginning of winter and Christmas time. There were reindeer. Children and adults were welcome to pet them. The event also included pictures with Santa, holiday treats, and many chances to win prizes.
This year’s prizes included a new Nintendo, a Samsung smart tv, a Bose sound system, Apple watch series 3, Beats headphones, Xbox one, and a Visa gift card.
Raffle tickets were given at the door for free for each family. To enter for a chance to win a prize participants had to get a raffle ticket and wait for their number to be called.
“Free snow tubing and a chance to win big? Yay!’ cheered Leo Langan, who is a child of a military family.
There were many families in and out of the lodge and hill area. Birch Hill had a successful event and many people left satisfied with their visit. Birch Hill still remains closed to the public for safety reasons such as not much snow on the hill. Birch Hill officials stated they are working hard to open quickly for the public. The lack of snow this winter has made it difficult for Birch Hill Ski Lodge to open up at the end of November. Birch Hill thanked many people for their patience with the opening of the ski lodge. Birch Hill staff stated they hope to open for the season in just a week from the event.
