Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Timeline
4 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Snowcrest, 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 Snowcrest
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Opened 1966 · 2.9 mi away · WisconsinA ski area at Houlton, three miles east of Stillwater, Minnesota, that opened in 1966, had three chairlifts by 1978, and closed around 1985.
- 1954–1967 · 9 mi away · WisconsinA family-run ski area on the St. Croix River bluffs near Osceola that ran from 1954 through the 1966–67 season.
- Years not yet collected · 17.5 mi away · MinnesotaA small Ramsey County ski hill in Battle Creek Park in St. Paul, with rope tows, night lighting and snowmaking in the late 1970s.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 6 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
R. H. McAlister and his sons Ralph and Gene, former University of Minnesota football players, opened Ski-Mac Hill in 1954 on an 80-acre site on Highway 35, three miles south of Somerset; the Star Tribune put their spending at $58,000. A United Press roundup that December counted Ski-Mac among three new Wisconsin ski areas. Its lodge sat at the top of the hill, and it had a chairlift that ran down and then back up, the Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project notes.1,2,4
The area was renamed Snowcrest in 1969. In 1978 it had six rope tows, a T-bar, two chairlifts and a 280-foot vertical, in MWLSAP's count; State Trunk Tour recalls 17 runs, three double chairs and seven rope tows. In December 1982 the Rochester Post-Bulletin reported Snowcrest closed for the season while its owners concentrated on nearby Birch Park, though it might open if natural snow allowed. Sources give its final year as 1982 (MWLSAP), 1983 (St. Croix National) or 1979 (State Trunk Tour).1,3,5,6
The St. Croix National golf course was later built around the hill. A State Trunk Tour guide updated in 2026 says Snowcrest is being rebuilt there, with no opening date set.5,6
TodayThe hill lies within St. Croix National Golf & Event Center, whose golf course was built around it.5,6
Sources for this history (6)
- 1Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project · Snowcrest (originally called Ski-Mac) — Wisconsin
- 2Star Tribune (via Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project) · McAlisters Spend $58,000 on New Ski Resort (Augie Karcher)
- 3Post-Bulletin (via Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project) · Area ski hills among best-groomed (John Weiss) — Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minnesota, December 2, 1982 (clipping on MWLSAP)
- 4The Oshkosh Northwestern (via Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project) · Outdoor Sports in Full Swing in State With Snow, Cold Weather (United Press)
- 5State Trunk Tour · 30+ Wisconsin Ski, Snowboard, and Tubing slopes, many still open for winter fun!
- 6St. Croix National Golf & Event Center · Our Story
Photos
No photographs of Snowcrest 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 Snowcrest, in their own words.
Facts
Location
45.0959° N · 92.7308° W · Wisconsin
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1954–1982
Closed after the 1982 season. 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