GREEN BAY, Wis. — Many Wisconsinites are having to adjust their winter activities this year.
That’s largely due to the lack of snow in certain areas of the state.
Zeller’s Ski and Sports shop sells people gear they need to enjoy winter activities. Co-owner David Zeller said his customer base is consistent because of how knowledgeable his employees are about the season’s conditions.
“You get these hiccups with warm weather. When they do have these opportunities where it’s cold to make snow, they’ll make the best of it,” Zeller said. “So, even in these mild winters, it’s pretty amazing that you can still get on the skis.”
Alex Gravatt has only skied a handful of times in his life. He said the scenery feels off when he’s wearing a sweater and light jacket at the end of December.
“It is a bummer that there’s less snow and notably less snow,” Gravatt said. “The ice is less frozen too, oftentimes. So, my partner and I like to go ice skating, and we have to kind of temper our expectations on whether we can or can’t on local ponds.”
Others are traveling out of the state to get the most out of this winter. Jennifer Eichenberg said she’d rather cruise down the slopes here in Wisconsin, but she’s had to put off those plans for the past few years.
“When you get to December, when you get to January, we have snowshoes, we have skis,” Eichenberg said. “We like to take advantage of that and that has not been the case for the past two, three or four winters where we’ve been able to actually recreate in the snow.”
Zeller said people can do more with less because of the advancements in technology, like snowmakers. He said he hopes to continue to sell fun to the community.
“The enthusiasm has still been there,” Zeller said. “This year, we’re kind of chasing orders, were really thin and down in inventory already, and it really hasn’t seemed to be lost. People are still optimistic.”