Jumping at Snowflake Ski Jump Competition

Just a reminder that The Snowflake Ski Club in Westby is hosting it’s annual ski jump competition on February 7th and 8th.   The competitors will be jumping from an 118 meter Olympic sized hill used for National and International competitions, and often travel down the jump with speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour for hundreds of feet.!   Come on out to enjoy it!

On the weekend of January 17th and 18th fourteen people attended a fantastic cheesemaking workshop at the Inn at Lonesome Hollow conducted by The Cheesemaker, Steve Shapson, from Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  The weekend started with a visit to Mount Sterling Co-op Creamery to see the cutting, milling, and pressing of the cheese made in the early hours.

Making Cheese

After a hearty brunch, The Cheesemaker, Steve, began the intensive workshop, where the participants learned the craft of cheesemaking.  They learned to make Camembert/Brie, Chevre and Feta cheeses, which they each took home to finish aging and to enjoy at home.

Steve and MJ Shapson

After the workshop, a wine and cheese social was held sampling various local, homemade, and imported gourmet hard, soft and rind ripened cheeses on French baquettes, served with other hors d’oervres.

Because this workshop was very successful and fun, the Inn at Lonesome Hollow is hosting a Spring Cheesemaking Workshop.  Sign up now, as space is already limited.

Inn at Lonesome Hollow Cheesemakers

Check out some exciting local winter events here in the Kickapoo Valley in the heart of the Driftless Area.

The Kickapoo Valley Reserve is hosting it’s annual Winter Festival on Saturday, January 10th.   There are many interesting activities planned, including a chain saw sculpture demonstration, a natural ice cave guided hike, horse drawn bobsled rides, tri-state Malamute Club Sled Dog Race,  three presentations by the Ho-Chunk Nation about their pre historic life and traditional stories, skating, sledding, and skiing.  It is a very enjoyable day, ending with a candlelight hike/ski and winter astronomy at WildCat Mountain State Park.

On February 7th and 8th, the Snowflake Ski Club in Westby is hosting it’s annual ski jump competition.   The ski jump complex at Snowflake consists of 5 jumps all located in the same area of beautiful Timber Coulee. The largest is a 118 meter Olympic sized hill used for United States and International Competitions. Some of the best International and US jumpers compete on the large hill, often traveling down the jump with speeds in excess of 50 Miles per Hour flying for hundreds of feet!!! Ski jumping truly is the original extreme sport.

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The winter of ’08-’09 is off to a wicked start at Lonesome Hollow. This is good news for outdoor enthusiasts who look for outside activities even in Wisconsin’s coldest months.

First Snowfall of 2008

Last year we had the most winter snow of any winter in recent memory. Showshoeing opportunities were obviously better than ever at Lonesome Hollow and a good number of our guests took advantage of our offer for free use of snowshoes and ventured onto our valley and ridge fields and trails to experience the beautiful winter snowscapes of the Driftless Area and the Kickapoo Valley. We have modern, Cabelas’ aluminum frame snowshoes and traditional rawhide web snowshoes that guests may use.

Our first winter snow of ’08-’09 came on November 30. This snow was followed by abnormally cold weather, setting a good amount of frost into the ground. Several smaller snows followed that initial snow, and then on December 8/9 a major storm dumped about 10 inches of new snow on us. Here we are in the first half of December and we already have ideal snowshoeing conditions.

Guests are welcome to explore four miles of our own private trails at Lonesome Hollow. Almost 100 of our 160 acres are wooded. We maintain these trails throughout the warmer months to keep briar and tree branches from encroaching on the trails. There are 20-30 acre fields both in our valley and on our ridge that offer more open snowshoeing with great panoramas of our Driftless Area hills.

On a Trail at Lonesome Hollow

Take advantage of our special holiday and winter pricing, and come to Lonesome Hollow for snowshoe fun and exercise. Guests are also encouraged to use our snowshoes at any of the five state parks that are within a 45 minute drive. You can finish a day of winter trail exercise with a thermos of hot chocolate sipped at a warm winter bonfire, or soaking in one of our two person whirlpools!

Pete & Nora