Camp 10 back to generating memories for families

Daily News staff

If you're of a certain age and from Rhinelander, chances are you learned to ski at Camp 10.

Rhinelander's home town ski area is back for both skiers and snowboarders. The Wisconsin River still flows black and cold along the entrance road, the chalet looks the same, the snack bar and picnic tables are still there.

Remember the rope tow, one hand in front, one behind, the t-bar lift? The ski hill has added a chair lift.

Camp 10 offers 12 runs, rated from beginning to expert. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. weekend days and 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. evenings. Camp 10 will be open every day from December 26 to January 2. Night skiing is scheduled to begin December 18.

Grenville Rudd bought the ski hill in 1979, "in a moment of weakness", and closed the area in 1994.

"We weren't going to reopen until we got a chair lift," Rudd said.

"Running the hill the first few years was grueling," said Rudd, "but after re-opening last year, the response from locals has been exceptional. This really is a lot of fun trying to do this for everybody."

Rudd said, "People are going out of their way to thank me for re-opening. I didn't make a nickel last year but we started to see entire families coming to ski together, and that's what we're after."

During the time the area was closed, Rudd increased the height and length of runs and added snow making equipment.

"The key thing for this year," said Rudd, is we have to generate a level of business to enable us to reach the next level in snowmaking. We already have the equipment to quadruple snowmaking capacity, but we need the capital, the cash flow."

"Larger pump capacity would allow us to make as much snow in two nights as we do now in eight. We'd have a much better ski hill," Rudd said.

Rudd, a National Ski Patrol Instructor, is looking to add members to the ski patrol and will offer training after Christmas. And the ski school is up and running with Bill Grodevant as Director.

Grodevant said, "We're looking for families, we want the ski hill to be for the area, Rhinelander, Tomahawk, Merrill, Gleason. You don't have to pay an arm and a leg."

According to Rudd, the hill is ranked eighth in size of 26 ski hills in Wisconsin.