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Snoflinga winter festival starts Friday in Butte

snoflinga skier.jpg
Posted at 12:23 PM, Jan 19, 2023
and last updated 2023-01-19 14:23:16-05

BUTTE - The winter festival, Snoflinga, is coming to Butte this weekend bringing the community fun winter activities.

“We live in a beautiful part of the country, but it’s cold in the winter and it’s great to get outside and we’ve introduced a lot of people to the joys of being outside in the winter through Snoflinga,” said Homestake Lodge owner Mark Thieszen.

Snoflinga was started in 2016 to feature various winter sports such as cross-country skiing, curling, snowshoeing, and ice skating at the High Altitude Ice Center in Butte.

“Of course, some years are good snow years, some aren’t. This is a good snow year, it’s going to be nice and cold on Friday, very wintry,” said David Silk of the High Altitude Speed Skating Center.

The Homestake Lodge just east of Butte will be offering free cross-country skiing for those who have their own equipment and on Thursday will have a mini stunt park for people to do tricks.

“Will have some jumps and rails and various features to test your skills on a have a lot of fun,” said Thieszen.

The purpose of the event is to promote activity during a time of year when it’s easy to be sedentary.

“It’s good to be active. Winter is a good opportunity to sit in your house and do nothing and Snoflinga one of the goals is actually to get people outside doing winter stuff that’s kind of the mission at Snowflinga,” said Silk.

A popular event will be the Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics which will be held from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Original Mine Yard.

The opening ceremony will be at the High Altitude Speed Skating Center Friday beginning at 5 p.m. and will feature music, a bonfire, and skating.

Click here to view the schedule of events.