The Dakota winter

Dakota County, skiers and zoo animals dig the cold

BY MARICELLA MIRANDA
Pioneer Press



About an inch more of snow piled down on Dakota County cities this morning, adding to the 10-plus inches already on the ground.
All public and private schools closed for the continuing storm, but many businesses in the area remained open for snow-day shoppers, including Burnsville Center and grocery stores.
Snow-loving animals, like the Amur tigers, Mexican wolves, and woodland caribou, frolicked in the blizzard at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, said zoo spokeswoman Kelly Lessard. Only the meerkats close their outdoor summer exhibit to spend the winter inside.
The zoo wasn't sure if the winter wonderland attracted more people than usual. But at Burnsville's Buck Hill ski slope, 1,000 people had arrived by noon, said Don McCleure, general manager at Buck Hill. On a normal Friday, about 250 people would show up. Twenty extra staff members were called to duty in anticipation of the rush.
With no school, Cheryl Johnson of Lakeville, a ski instructor at Buck Hill, had plenty to do as students lined up for lessons. The mom of four brought her children along to work. "I came to see if there was a need" for me to come to work, Johnson said. She quickly learned there was.
By the end of the day, McCleure expected about 2,000 people would be skiing, tubing or snowboarding at Buck Hill. "This is winter," he said. "It's a little late but it's here."