SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — It’s been a record-setting winter at Great Bear Ski Valley in Sioux Falls, but all good things must come to an end.
This winter’s abundance of cold and snow spelled success for Great Bear Ski Valley.
“We have over 67,000 visits to the area. Compare that with our second best which was 49,500, what an incredible year,” Great Bear Ski Valley General Manager Dan Grider said.
The winter hotspot ends each ski and snowboard season with an event known as Snirtfest.
“This year’s theme is Bearstock, so we’re all dressed up as 60’s hippies and we’re just going to have a great time today,” Grider said.
Snirtfest features a limbo and ollie contest, costume contest, and sled race, but the highlight of the event is the pond skim.
“What we’ve done is we’ve dug a channel through the snow, we’re going to fill it with water, and the kids are just going to bomb down the hill and go skimming right across the pond,” Grider said.
“Some make it through but most are unsuccessful and it makes for a pretty good time to watch as far as people getting wet and cold,” Sioux Falls resident Bryan Kihne said.
Sioux Falls resident Bryan Kihne started the pond skim at Great Bear.
“I’ll take credit for that (chuckle),” Kihne said.
He’s also the reason the event was moved away from the lodge.
“I noticed everybody was standing on the deck and they looked like they weren’t participating, so I made sure they all got wet on the deck. They were all in their street clothes. It was pretty funny,” Kihne said.
Snirtfest also serves as a fundraiser, and this year’s recipient is near and dear to the Great Bear staff.
“Roxie was part of our family, always will be, sorely missed,” Grider said.
“Our thought was to raise money, help kids with illnesses, life-threatening illnesses, and in November Roxie passed away,” Angels with a Dream co-founder Lucy Welbig said.
Lucy Welbig is co-founder of Angels with a Dream, a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish she started alongside Roxie Johnson.
“It’s something that Roxie and I always enjoyed, something we felt that we had a purpose,” Welbig said.
Johnson and Welbig raised more than $170,000 through Angels with a Dream, granting 16 wishes for critically ill children. Roxie’s death left a void that was filled by family.
“Her sister Jamie stepped up right away and says, ‘We’re doing it this year. We are going to do this for Roxie’ and I said ‘absolutely’,” Welbig said.
Angels with a Dream is a car show, kids carnival, and concert.
Welbig says this year will be all about Roxie. It’s also the end of the road for Angels with a Dream.
“It’s in memory of her. We’re trying to do really big this year. We want to go out with flying colors,” Welbig said.
“We’re doing this one last Angels with a Dream in memory of Roxie. All the proceeds will go in her name towards Make-A-Wish,” Grider said.
The 12th annual event is off to a solid start thanks to the change jar at Great Bear.
“This year, the change jar, they’ve hit almost $2,000 and that’s just from kids throwing in their change and money found on the floor they throw in,” Welbig said.
The number to beat is $24,500 — the amount of last year’s donation to Make-A-Wish.
“We just want to go out with a bang,” Welbig said.
One last hurrah for Roxie.
“We all miss her terribly. It’s very hard. Everything she did was for somebody else so she will always be missed,” Welbig said.
The 12th and final Angels with a Dream event is scheduled for Sunday, June 11th at Great Bear Ski Valley. Welbig says they’re still in need of a band that’s willing to donate its time and talents.
The ski season is officially over, but Great Bear will re-open this Saturday (April 1st) from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for a bonus day of skiing and snowboarding.
