About the Project
Spirit Mountain Nordic Center (formerly Grand Avenue Nordic Center) is a joint effort between the Duluth XC Ski Club, Spirit Mountain, and the City of Duluth to bring a world-class Nordic ski venue into our community. Conceptualized in 2014 by then Mayor Don Ness and a group of visionary DXCers', the Nordic Center was envisioned to be a hub of skiing for local skiers, high school teams, a draw for recreational skiers and perhaps even national-level competitions.
Dreams do come true. Or rather, visions.
With world-class trails, consistent snowmaking and daily grooming Spirit Mountain Nordic Center has been enjoyed by residents and visitors alike and has proved to be a phenomenal site for major events in our community (high school and collegiate races), our region (junior national qualifiers) and our nation (we crowned national champions on its snow in 2024). The snowmaking for nordic trails have given the ski community life in the last couple of low-snow winters and the addition of lights in 2025 has only increased the time on snow. DXC is proud to be the community partner in funding and providing guidance in building this nordic center and bringing it into the future.
The Project
The Spirit Mountain Nordic Center envisioned:
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New 5 km of cross-country ski trail developed by one of the country’s best Nordic trail designers, including 3.3 km of trail with snowmaking
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Connector trail linking the new trail to the 22 km of existing trail at the top of Spirit Mountain, which also connects to the Magney Snively trail system
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‘Dark sky’ LED trail lighting for early morning and evening skiing
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Full-service chalet (Grand Avenue Chalet, pictured above) at the trailhead, and venue for hosting events & races
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Expert daily grooming for high-quality ski conditions
History + Timeline
After years of advocacy, the pieces started to fall into place:
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2015: Nationally prominent Nordic Trail Deisgner John Morton visits Duluth and teams up with our very own Gary Larson to identify an approximate route for a new trail system, approximately 5k in length.
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2016: The Spirit Mountain Nordic Center project secures $1 million in ‘half-and-half tourism tax’ dollars from the City of Duluth. Later that year, all environmental assessments are completed and the project has a green light!
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2016: Morton and Larson complete final design, with considerations for exact placement of corners, lights, and snowmaking infrastructure.
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2017: DXC completes an initial commitment of raising $500,000 toward the project, and construction of Phase 1 of the Nordic Center begins.
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2018: US Olympic Gold Medalist Jessie Diggins visits the Spirit Mountain Nordic Center for a 1-day celebration and fundraiser. An additional $150,000 is raised towards the project in a single day!
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2018: Spirit Mountain Nordic Center opens for skiing! 2.5 km of trails are opened, with 1.5 km having snowmaking.
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2019: Spirit Mountain Nordic Center hosts its first ever high school race with over 400 skiers racing on the trails.
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2019: DXC hosts another US Olympic Gold Medalist as Kikkan Randall visits Spirit Mountain to help raise $160,000 in one day.
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2022: City of Duluth is awarded a Legacy Grant from the State of Minnesota with adequate funding to complete the development of the remaining 1.5 km loop at the lower trails, as well as the connector to the upper Spirit Mountain trails.
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2023: DXC completes additional fundraising of $114,000 to match the legacy grant (nearly $900,000 in total), fully funding the trail development
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2025: City of Duluth/Spirit Mountain complete installation of 42 lights which brighten 1.5 km of trails for evening skiing.
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2025: The final phase commences.
You can support these efforts by donating today.
