ANDALUSIA, Ill. — It's been a difficult winter season for cold weather-dependent businesses. Snowstar Ski Resort in Andalusia is no exception after only being able to open for skiing 27 days, half of their previous lowest amount of 54.
"Added quite a challenge in terms of we didn't get the natural snow, Snowstar Outdoor Manager Rod Leatherman said. "And with the warmer temperatures, we weren't really able to make snow."
The temperature has to be below twenty-seven degrees for continuous days to make snow, something we did not see a lot this winter.
Now, the focus shifts to gearing up for the off-season and cleaning the hill. This includes pulling all of the portable snow-making machines, water hoses and barricades. Some ski lift chairs are also being taken down for repair.
Snowstar is expanding the activities they offer during the warmer months to help business.
"A lot of our mainstays we're going to offer again in terms of our disc golf and and our October activities with the paintball and so forth," Leatherman said.
Complacency is no longer an option when your business is up against the weather gods.
"The name of the game is to diversify," Leatherman said. "And you're seeing that all over. I mean, it's not just in the Midwest, all your ski resorts are doing that with offseason activities and so forth."
Owners plan to buy an additional 8 to 10 snow-making machines to help combat future weather troubles.
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel