Northwoods Experience: Bemidji’s Buena Vista Ski Area Holds Open House & Ski Swap

To get everyone in the mood to hit the slopes, Buena Vista Ski Area near Bemidji held an open house last weekend that served as both a fundraiser and a ski swap to get everyone ready for the upcoming season.

“We’ve got an opportunity to buy membership passes, gear,” said Matt Schmid, Buena Vista Ski Patrol Director. “This is the Ski Patrol’s big fundraiser event that we hold each year where people can come in and donate their stuff or try to sell it. And the Ski Patrol will get 15% of of the proceeds from the sale.”

Buena Vista was busy from opening and closing on the day of the open house. People from all over Beltrami County came to swap and buy gear to prepare for this season.

“We’ll see a couple hundred people come through the door, you know, throughout the day from, you know, 10 to 1 or so. A lot of them flood the area for the ski swap at 10:00,” said Schmid. “We’ve had quite a few people here at 9:00 this morning lining up, come in, and and it’s about an hour of full-on people and a lot of sales and good gear for all these people to choose from.”

And even without snow not on the ground yet, people still came to swap and get their ski gear ready for winter.

“Yeah, we’re ecstatic about it. Well, it’s not good that there’s no snow yet, but we’re excited about it,” said 2-Ski Patrol member Nick Halverson. “It should be a great year. It should be fun and everything like that.”

“Well, it’s a good opportunity for people to start thinking ahead on the winter,” explained Schmid. “When there is snow, you get a little bit more, you know, people jittery and wanting to get out and you know, where they’re being delayed this year. You know, it’s something to look forward to.”

“Yeah, absolutely. This event was phenomenal,” added Halverson. “There was more than what I expected, more people that showed up. It’s great. It couldn’t have been better.”