MAGIC MOUNTAIN, Idaho — Magic Mountain, a small family-owned ski hill in Idaho, is planning to reopen this winter after community donations helped keep it afloat — even as forecasters predict another dry, warm season.
WATCH: A lack of snow forced Idaho's Magic Mountain to stay closed last season. Community donations are helping the family-owned hill plan a comeback.
Last season, for the first time, Magic Mountain was unable to open because of a lack of snow, putting a heavy financial burden on the Miller family that owns it.
"By not opening… that's a killer for us — but the insurance, that's the part that — everything else was kind of on hold, but the insurance; that money keeps on going whether you're open or not," Gary Miller said.
After a large fundraiser in May, the Millers raised enough money to help pay the bills and keep the door open for another season.
"I'm just so grateful for this community — they've really… responded and helped out during these difficult times," Miller said.
Miller said the family has full intentions of opening on December 1, as long as the weather cooperates.
"We're optimistic, and we hear that it's going to be kind of another dry year — the weather not as cold as what we need — but we're not going to look that way… we're going to make the positive … we're going along that it's going to be a great year," Miller said.
Despite the uncertain forecast, Miller said he has no plans to walk away.
"There is no way I'm going to give up on it — I've spent 20 years building this. And like I said, it's not always about the money," Miller said.
The family has used the downtime over the last two years to make needed upgrades to the hill.
"We put restraining bars on all our chair lifts — for the safety of the young kids — we put new generators and did a bunch of new wiring in the lodge — we also have a newer carpet that we put in, so we'll have two beginner carpets up there," Miller said.
The Millers are also trying to take control of the conditions themselves. They have submitted an application to drill a well and begin making their own snow.
"Next year, hopefully, we'll get snowmaking for the tubing hill, so we can get that started, hopefully, by Thanksgiving — that would be a plus for us," Miller said.
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