Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Ski-Tonka stood on Bayside Road in Orono, west of Minneapolis beyond Wayzata and Long Lake, with its lodge at the top of the hill. It opened in 1966.1,4
Read the whole historyTimeline
6 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Ski-Tonka, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Ski-Tonka
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Opened 1936 · 11.9 mi away · MinnesotaA private, member-run ski hill south of Shady Oak Lake near Hopkins, skied from 1936 and last mentioned in 1965.
- Opened 1963 · 13.2 mi away · MinnesotaA rope-tow ski and golf park in Eden Prairie, near Minneapolis, that opened in 1963 and was last mentioned in 1979.
- 1966–1972 · 19.1 mi away · MinnesotaA rope-tow ski area in a valley beside Buffalo Lake, near Buffalo in Wright County, that ran from 1966 until it closed for financial reasons in 1972.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 5 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Ski-Tonka stood on Bayside Road in Orono, west of Minneapolis beyond Wayzata and Long Lake, with its lodge at the top of the hill. It opened in 1966. In its second winter it had added an upper floor to its chalet and ran 12 rope tows over eight wide, open runs, with more snowmaking planned as it grew. The manager, Dick Primus, and the ski school ran an after-school program that bussed children from 19 schools in five nearby districts for two hours of supervised skiing a week.1,4
A 1971 guide listed a sitzlift, ten rope tows, eight runs and a 225-foot drop; the Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project gives 250 feet. The Primus family closed the area after the 1976–77 season. In January 1979 it reopened on natural snow with six rope tows, after a Richfield plumber stepped in to keep the beginners' hill in use. The project finds no mention of it after that winter, and in 1982 the family was still looking for a buyer.1,2,3,5
Timeline
- 1966Ski-Tonka opens in Orono1
- 1968Second season: 12 rope tows, eight runs and an after-school program4
- 1971Guide lists a sitzlift, ten rope tows and eight runs5
- 1977Primus family closes the area after the 1976–77 season1,2
- 1979Reopens in January on natural snow with six rope tows1,3
- 1982Family still seeking a buyer for the closed hill2
Sources for this history (5)
- 1Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project · Ski-Tonka — Minnesota
- 2Star Tribune · Skiing (season review)
- 3The Minneapolis Star · 510 Norwegian skiers coming for more than just a vacation (Ralph Thornton, Ski Country)
- 4Star Tribune · Charm in the Small Ski Areas (Ben Kern)
- 5Post-Bulletin · Skiing Variety Offered in Minnesota — Post-Bulletin (Rochester), November 12, 1971, p. 14 (clipping hosted by MWLSAP)
Photos
No photographs of Ski-Tonka we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Ski-Tonka, in their own words.
Facts
Location
44.9803° N · 93.6426° W · Minnesota
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
from 1966 · the year it closed is not yet collected
Closed for good; the year it closed is not yet collected. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 3all 3, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain