Al Quaal Tube Slide & Ski Hill Closed

The rise in temperature we’ve seen since last week certainly helps lift a lot of people’s spirits.

But it means the end of the line for some of Ishpeming’s winter activities.

The Al Quaal Recreation Area’s tube slide and ski hill are closed for the season, effective today.

They still have more than enough snow on them to be usable, but Teal Lake no longer does.

The tube slide had a stronger season than expected.

Ishpeming DPW superintendent Jon Kangas says it wasn’t unusual for the tube slide to have more than 100 paid customers in a day.

However, it was anything but a strong season for the ski hill.

It had fewer than 20 paying customers for the entire season, which is most days of the winter break for Ishpeming schools and every weekend after that.

Kangas says because of the extremely low usage of the ski hill, the city is considering not re-opening it next year.

The cross-country ski trail at Al Quaal is still open for as long as there’s still snow.

DPW staff want to remind people to not bring pets onto that trail.