Jenny, Me, Colleen, Rachelle, Steve. Taking some turns at Cascade.
Seven of the last ten years I have brought in the new year by skiing. It started as my first introduction to my career as a ski bum when I rang in the new century. Since resort life meant work would be mandatory on the 1st, getting blotto drunk was out of the question. This has led to a sober start to the upcoming 365 as a byproduct. Now I can't imagine a better way to start the year. I get the holiday off now and I commit myself to something physical as a celebration of the new year, to start things off right so to say. I figure I'd rather look forward to the new year instead of hating life nursing a hangover all day. The years that I couldn't get out to the mountains I dragged out the mountain bike and got in some single track. Some years, just as this year, I drove up to Wisconsin to enjoy the Midwest's down hill skiing. The crew this time around were my friends Steve and Rachelle. Rachelle was learning to ski for their upcoming Colorado ski trip (which makes me infinitely jealous). Along with two other gals, Colleen and Jenny. We chose Cascade Mountain which is in Portage, WI. within 3hrs of driving its the best skiing option in my opinion. They had plenty of man made snow. Talking to some of the folks on the chairlift they said it is the best snow of all the Wisconsin resorts. Cascade had fireworks at 8pm on New Years Eve so we stuck around to see them, then headed into town for dinner and drinks. The bar we chose to countdown to midnight was a local hang out for sure, it was clear that none of us graduated from the local high school. The night was spent at a Super 8 off the highway and they had a gangbusters continental breakfast for getting us ready to ski a second day. My buddy's wife really picked up the two sticks on her feet by the end of the second day and we hit the road early enough to get back to Chicago by 7pm.
Rachelle, Steve and Me
I took the opportunity to see how the helmet cam works in the snow. Enjoy!
There are more that one lift but a detachable quad is hard to come by out here.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day was Monday so I took the advantage of my day off by hitting the slopes. This is probably the busiest ski weekend in the midwest. I do feel guilty that I participated in something so culturally white on a day that celebrates diversity and unity. I suppose a bit of deep reflection will relieve that. I took off at 9am for Cascade Mt. I consider this to be the best skiing within a two hundred mile radius of Chicago. At about 3hours of speed limit driving I arrived at noon which gives me plenty of time to enjoy what 500 ft of elevation has to offer. Plus lifts don't close till 9pm so I can enjoy some ill advised night skiing too. The lift lines were crowded but speedy for the high speed detachable quad (it's a Doppelmeier) but the slower chairs were no wait. I don't mind lift lines now it breaks up the day so I don't get the "go up, go down" feeling. This resort stands out above the rest in two ways the runs are wide broken up by pines but the number one sell are honest to goodness tree runs. I've been coming here for a few seasons now and there must never have been enough natural snow to fill the trees cause it was a first for me. Tree runs are going to be challenging any where you go and these were top notch. Even the pitch of the slope was good. Other snow conditions were pretty run out with ice patches here and there and then we got some fresh and conditions got better. Considering everything is relative it was a challenging afternoon. The drive home was slower than usual but not crawling.
Base of Cascade Mt. elevation is 820 feet. Peak elevation is 1,280 feet. Vertical drop is 460 feet. There are 160 skiable acres.
There are more that one lift but a detachable quad is hard to come by out here. 
The view looking down at the middle of the run.
The view looking up.