30 Inches of Snow Buries Michigan Ski Area

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Dec 1, 2025 2:58 PM ET

A lucky Michigan ski area got a pre-opening day storm for the books.

Last week, Snowriver Mountain Resort, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, got a whopping 30" of snow over 48 hours, just one day before they opened for the 2025/26 ski season.

The storm came in warm at the start, with rain falling for the first 12 hours. Temperatures finally cooled down, bringing more than two feet of lake effect snow from Lake Superior. Along with significant precipitation, the storm also brought high sustained winds and gusts up to 50mph, which redistributed some of the snow unevenly across the mountain. Due to the storm's warm beginning, the resort was still awaiting a lower ground temperature before pushing around new snow to fill in gaps left by winds.

The ski area opened following the storm on November 28, 2025, with limited terrain. Check out a couple of photos shared by Snowriver on social media below.

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Following the storm and a successful opening weekend, Snowriver got another 4" of snow on Saturday night and another inch on Sunday. Temperatures heading into the week are hanging out in the teens, single digits, and low 20s later in the week, which should help freeze things over quite a bit.

The resort is closed temporarily from December 1-4 but will reopen the following weekend (December 5-7) and resume full seasonal operations on December 12. For the upcoming weekend, Snowriver is hoping to open the Sugar Hills Learning Area, Jack's Cutoff, and Alpenglow with snowmaking efforts as well as more new snow on the way. The resort hopes to open Black River Basin, Sundance, Borealis, and more by their full opening on the 12th.

Over the next week or so, the ski resort is forecasted to get another 4-8" of snow, with more in the long-range forecast. While there aren't any significant storms on the horizon, this past one was a welcome start to the season for the UP.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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