Mission
Minocqua Winter Park is a not-for-profit town park operated by the Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation. Our mission is to provide a quality silent sport experience for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages through the protection and maintenance of our trail system.
History
The Beginning
The seeds for Minocqua Winter Park were planted more than fifty years ago by a circle of friends. These “pioneers” discovered the exhilaration that comes with skiing amid the still landscape of Wisconsin’s North Woods. With each season their passion for the sport grew and they wanted to share the joy it inspired in them with others. By devoting many hours of labor and pooling their resources, soon a series of trails took shape followed by a modest downhill course. They called it Squirrel Hill. Just as Minocqua Winter Park is today, Squirrel Hill was a place where people could embrace the often long Wisconsin winters finding fellowship while skiing and enjoying other “silent sports” of the season. But, in the seventies, development of downhill ski resorts were on the rise along with the associated costs to run them, and sadly, Squirrel Hill was one of several operations to close.
Middle Years
The hills and trails weren’t silent for long. It wasn’t more than a year or two before a new group of old friends returned to Squirrel Hill. Several were sons and daughters of the original founders. For the next several years, the second generation of Squirrel Hill skiers continued the tradition set by their parents. Along with their growing families, they started their own ski club. An existing structure became the clubhouse. Members both paid for and performed the general upkeep and all trail grooming. In 1981, the group formed the Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation. The non-profit organization has operated and cared for Minocqua Winter Park for 30 years now. The park serves several thousand winter sports enthusiasts each year, making a significant contribution to the local economy.
Today
Today, Minocqua Winter Park is one of the most popular Nordic Center’s in the Midwest. 75 kilometers (over 45 miles) of trails are impeccably groomed by an experienced staff using state of the art equipment including a brand new Pisten Bully groomer this year! 10,000 visitors come to the park each season to cross-country ski, snowshoe, and skijor (skiing behind a harnessed dog(s) amid the solitude and beauty of 6,500 acres of wilderness area. MWP’s edge on the competition is its center on the family, a professional staff and most importantly, it’s superior grooming. The Park still relies on a solid base of volunteers, a foundation laid back in the 1950’s by a circle of adventurous friends.
Tomorrow
2010-2011 Winter Park continues to become more of a “Winter Park” by adding snow tubing on the famed North slope of Squirrel Hill. A new “nordic skills area” is under development for kids, and “kids at heart” to test their ski skills on a fun snow playground area.
2011-2012 Our friends Ken and Carolyn Aldridge will be adding a “Tea House” out on the trail system near the middle of Nepco’s Cruise. The little house in the woods will be warmed by a big wood burning stove, have tables and chairs, and be staffed to sell teas and other hot drinks, and snacks. It’ll be a wonderful destination for skiers to stop in for a very comfortable rest and some tasty stuff.
Winter Park Staff
Executive Director – Jim DiDomenico
Jim with Tessa and Tyler
Some of you may recognize Jim as the guitar player who has performed at the annual Christmas week Light Up the Night concerts for the past several years. Since 1993, performing with his band Underwater People has been Jim’s full time profession. Ask Jim and he’d tell you he really enjoys music, but nordic skiing, on the other hand, is his true passion. And, after eighteen years of music, he’s finally tying his love of skiing with his Masters degree in Leisure and Environmental Resources Administration. The band (www.underwaterpeople.com), continues to be really busy during spring summer and fall, but the slow season of winter allows Jim to be full time at Winter Park.
Jim has always had a great love of the outdoors, and for Northern Wisconsin in particular. In fact, the first thing that brought Jim to the area was his very first venture on cross country skis. This experience just happened to be (very fortuanately for him!) at Minocqua Winter Park back in December of 1983. That Christmas week experience truly shaped Jim’s life as skiing and ski racing has been a big part of his daily routine ever since. Jim has raced in many Worldloppet races, not the least of which are his 23 Birkebeiner finishes. He regularly skis out of the Elite wave with a top finish of 53rd place a couple of years ago.
Jim and his family split their time between their home in Elgin, IL, and their home on Madeline Lake in Woodruff. Jim’s very supportive wife of the past nine years is Becky, and he has three wonderful children – Tyler (age 7), Tessa (age 6) and Ivy (age 2). If not before, you’ll definitely see them out “Beatin‘ the Bunny” on Lakeland Loppet day.
Noah & Bryn Lottig
Assistant Manager – Bryn Meyer Lottig
I am returning for my second season at Minocqua Winter Park. I graduated from Winona State University in 2005 after earning a BS in Recreation and Tourism with a minor in Adventure Tourism. During college I was able to study abroad in a number of different countries, such as, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Fiji and France. Professionally I have worked in outdoor specialty retail and customer/technical support for a cycling products manufacturer.
I started working at MWP after moving with (my then fiance), Noah, to Hazelhurst in December of 2009 when he started his position as the UW Trout Lake Research Site Manager. In the off season I work as a Leadership Facilitator for Camp Manito-wish YMCA and as a Wilderness Guide for Chequmegon Adventure Company. Noah and I were married in October 2010. We live on Lake Tomahawk with our two rottweillers, Calli and Roxy.
Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation
Minocqua Winter Park is a town park. It is operated by the Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation (a 501c4 corporation), which is overseen by a Board of Directors and hires an Executive Director to develop, plan, oversee the seasonal & off season operations of the facility. The same Board of Directors for the Foundation also serves as the Board of Directors for the Minocqua Winter Park Trail Fund (a 501c3 corporation), which maintains the grooming equipment and the trail system.
The chalet building and 40 acres of surrounding land is owned by the Town of Minocqua. The 75km trail system traverses land owned by individuals and corporations. Minocqua Winter Park and the Town of Minocqua obtain Land Use Agreements with all property owners each season permitting us to use the trails for cross-country skiing, snow tubing, ice skating and snowshoeing.
Lakeland Ski Touring Foundation Board of Directors - from Left to Right
John Voorhees
Pamela Fashingbauer, President
James Mullen MD
Betty Adams
John Schwarzmann, Vice President
Linda Wrobel, Secretary
Jennifer Gibson
John Wrobel, Treasurer
Jim D. (Ex. Dir., not on board)
