FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Dave Bartol – 218-387-3373; ski@devilstracknordic.com
Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop – 922 Gunflint Trail, Grand Marais, MN.
Final closing sale going on from March 13^th through March 31^st, 2025. 50% off all items in the ski shop!

Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop to Close After 25 Years of Serving the North Shore Ski Community

Grand Marais, MN – March 13, 2025 – Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop, a beloved one-on-one specialty cross-country ski shop on the Gunflint Trail, will be closing its doors, marking the end of an era.

Founded with a passion for cross country skiing and a dedication to personalized service, Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop has spent the past 25 years ensuring skiers had access to quality ski equipment, expert advice, and the latest in ski technology. From carrying the full line of STAR ski waxes and Madshus skis and Alpina boots, the shop has been a trusted resource for both recreational skiers and racing skiers alike. “For me, cross-country skiing has always been the perfect blend of being outdoors, staying active, and having fun,” said owner Dave Bartol.

Beyond retail, Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop has been an integral part of the local ski community. Bartol has volunteered countless hours maintaining the Pincushion ski trails, serving as a head coach for the high school ski team, assisting with local races, and hosting occasional clinics for ski waxing.

The shop’s closure represents more than just the end of a business—it’s a farewell to a gathering place for the region’s skiers, from beginners to seasoned racers. “We are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported us over the years,” said Bartol. “It has been a privilege to be part of this incredible community.”

As Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop prepares to close, customers are encouraged to visit for final sales and to connect with Bartol for any last-minute ski advice or tuning needs.

About Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop

Founded with the goal of bringing high-quality cross-country ski products and expertise to the North Shore and Grand Marais area, Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop has served skiers of all levels with a curated selection of skis, boots, and waxing products. More than just a retail space, the shop has been a hub for Nordic skiing education and community engagement.

DEVILS TRACK Nordic Ski Shop has now been around for 25 years! From February 27th – March 10th we’ll be offering 25% off on all touring and classic training/racing skin ski packages. Additionally, backcountry ski packages and skate skiing packages will be 35% off. Junior ski packages are currently 40% off and will remain so.  Also, all remaining clothing will be 60% off, as well as all hats and gloves will be 40% off!  Save big as you ski into SPRING!

It took a while but winter is finally here with the snow and cold temperatures to prove it! Six more inches the night of February 1st into February 2nd…  Groundhogs Day this year; looks like a lot more winter in store even with the cloudy conditions here…  Phil saw his shadow in Pennsylvania.  Here’s the Pisten Bully grooming my link trail into the North Advanced trail at the Pincushion Mountain Cross Country ski trails this morning.

Let the skiing continue!

It took a while this season, but the snow has finally arrived in small batches. We’ve seen freezing temperatures too, and now we’re in a little warmup. More snow has been falling the past few days during this warmup, about an inch per day. Approximately 8-10 inches of snow are on the ground.

Skis, boots, poles and other equipment has arrived! We’ll be open Saturday, September 23rd from 11am – 2 pm. Receive 20% off new gear and 30-40% gear from past seasons.

It’s Monday November 14th and a major winter storm is hitting us here in Grand Marais. It’s supposed to last until 6 pm Tuesday with 7 to 13 inches of snowfall. So far we’ve received almost 5 inches so we are on track. Lots of trail work was completed about a week ago with two bridges getting repaired, seven trail sections were re-done to correct erosion problems and about 15 culverts had work done on them to cover the exposed plastic back up or being dug up and reburied. Today, the lights that highlight the trail from the warming building to the parking lot had a new timer installed. The string of lights that were out last winter were fixed this summer with a short in the line being the culprit. More updates in a few days…

Or… The Sweden Project is going to be the next phase of Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop, a training and racing program to be established domestically first, and then globally. With the name “Sweden” in it, that is one of the places I hope to base out of, but it will probably involve a multitude of places to explore all of what cross-country skiing has to offer.

Here is a sketch of some of the details for the Sverige Projekt, more will be cleared up once we have good snow to train on. Master’s World Cup is coming to Canmore, Alberta CANADA in March of 2022, so that’s my focus for the program.  Send an email to ski@devilstracknordic.com if interested.

$675 High training program 2-3 days/week (6-8 hrs.)  Tuesday &Wednesday (11 am to 1 pm)/Sunday (afternoon 4-5 pm)

3 free ski waxing

Distance and technique work; sprint intervals on Wednesday evenings

Planning training for World Masters

$175 Learning program 1 day/ week (1-2 hrs.) Sunday (afternoon 4-5 pm)

2 free ski waxing

Distance and classic/skate progressions

Planning basic weekly training

As Tom Petty said, “The waiting is the hardest part”.  That’s been true with the ski shops inventory this season (almost two months behind schedule) and skiable snow (I skied about 300 kilometers by this time last year). Luckily, my first batch of skis, boots poles and bindings are scheduled to arrive mid-week (Dec. 8-9th). All my gloves and mittens should be there by that time too and all of wax order has made it too. After a relatively long snow drought, that may be over soon too as snow is forecast to begin falling the night of December 4th and extend into the morning of December 6th. The storm has been upgraded to a “Blizzard” so we’ll see what happens. I’ll be heading out one last time to cut up some already tipped over trees alongside the Pincushion ski trails so the when the groomers start grooming these trails should be passable. As with any early season storm, the first snowfalls usually bring down a few large trees.

Or… The Sweden Project is going to be the next phase of Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop, a training and racing program to be established domestically first, and then globally. Of course with the name “Sweden” in it, that is one of the places I hope to base out of, but it will probably involve a multitude of places around the world to explore all of what cross-country skiing has to offer. More information on Sverige Projekt will be forthcoming in the spring of 2021.

An important part og improving one’s skiing is to begin training in the late spring/ early summer period. And by this I mean training using a variety of methods using all of the opportunities which are in close proximity to where you live. Another important part of improving your skiing is early access to skiing on snow; preferably by mid-October. I mean that! The last part is having a variety of skiing experiences either regionally, across the country or globally. These experiences expose oneself to other methods and the variety of cultures within the cross-country skiing community.

Bra yule!

A new ski season is upon us. We started in mid- October here in Grand Marais and was able to ski a little over 210 kilometers at Pincushion and the Golf course. After a warmup though it was back to dryland training – ski walking, ski bounding and running with ski poles. There is no shortage of training options for one to do. Devils Track Nordic Ski Shop is up and running with fewer core hours than normal. We have most of what we ordered now but still are waiting on some ski boots and ski poles. A big shipment of ski poles arrived from Madshus on Saturday and a few went right out the door to eager customers. It is snowing at the moment with a little more significant snow expected on Tuesday. May be able to ski on the trails again by then!

Upper Snowman after completing some human powered grooming!