At 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, pumpkins will roll down the Paul Bunyan run at Mount Ski Gull under the hill's lights. Each one carries a sponsor's name. The Green Race costs $25 a pumpkin and is sponsored by the Brainerd Service League. The Blue Race costs $45 and is sponsored by Nor-son. The Black Diamond Race costs $65, and its winner's prize is worth $1,000 and comes with VIP Parking Spot #1. This is the seventh year of the race. There won't be a flake of snow on the slope, and the money raised that night will help decide what the hill offers once snow arrives.

Mount Ski Gull's season starts in the fall, and it runs on money the community chooses to give.

A Hill With No Public Funding Line

Mount Ski Gull is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It receives no local, state, or federal funding. The organization says it runs on fundraising, grants, donations, partnerships, volunteers, lift tickets and season passes. Every dollar in the winter budget comes from someone who decided to spend it there.

That is why the Fall into Winter fundraiser matters to more than the people who go. The hill says the money supports youth ski and snowboard programs, scholarships for families, and "the future of skiing and riding in our region." The event also marks Mount Ski Gull's 64th year.

Here is the schedule for October 11, held outdoors at the hill:

• 4 p.m. Event opens and chairlift rides begin, with top-of-the-hill photos by Chelsie Elizabeth Photography
• 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. Dinner in the yurt
• 6:15 p.m. Awards and announcements
• 7 p.m. Pumpkin races start on Paul Bunyan
• 8 p.m. Online silent auction closes

Dinner is catered by Sunshine Summerhouse. The menu is a smoked pulled pork sandwich on a brioche bun with grilled pineapple, Mexican street corn, coleslaw and dessert. A vegetarian option is available if you reserve it by emailing [email protected]. Sunshine Summerhouse is also donating the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, which are sold at the event by cash or card. Ted Feyder plays live. The Brainerd Dispatch reported that the restaurant opened in 2020 at 2008 Hill Drive in Lake Shore, on Highway 77, in the building that used to be Jake's.

You need an event ticket to enter a pumpkin in the race, and everyone at the event needs one. The individual ticket price already went up on October 1. The current price is on the hill's tickets and sponsorships page, or you can call the Chalet at 218-963-4353.

Five Days Between the Fundraiser and the Pass Deadline

The second October date comes five days after the fundraiser. On October 16, 2026, the price of the 26/27 Local Season Pass goes up. Fundraiser dollars pay for programs and scholarships. Early pass sales give the hill a committed group of skiers before it knows what kind of winter it will get.

Here is the current 26/27 pass lineup as posted:

Each pass includes one lift ticket per day. The process is a little different from scanning a card at a big resort. Passholders check in at the front desk, scan a physical or digital barcode, and get a physical lift ticket for the day. Passes are not worn on the hill. Season passes are nonrefundable and nontransferable, and every passholder has to sign the 26/27 Release of Liability and Indemnification Agreement. Optional season pass insurance costs $25 per person and has to be bought with the pass. The hill also lists scholarships on the same page.

The season pass page doesn't list an opening date. It says more details on waivers, photo uploads and getting passes ready will come "as the season gets closer."

What Six Seasons of Community Money Built

On October 2, the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce and its WAVE Young Professionals Network named Mata Agre, Mount Ski Gull's general manager, as one of four 2026 Four Under 40 honorees. The other three are Drey Loge of Waste Partners, Shawna Knutson of Cheeky Roots Farm and Trevor Pumnea of the Northland Arboretum.

Agre joined the nonprofit in 2018 as programs and operations director and became general manager two years later, at 26. According to the Dispatch, the hill has finished three lift installations, expanded terrain and upgraded snowmaking under her leadership, and season pass membership has more than doubled. She received the National Ski Areas Association's 10 Under 30 Award in 2023. She also coaches the Brainerd High School girls lacrosse team.

The hill's own project pages show who paid for those improvements:

• The jump line. The plan calls for clearing and shaping about five to six acres southeast of Quarterdeck, uphill from the existing Terrain Park. It includes one line of two to three larger jumps, a second line of four to five smaller jumps, and a Tow-Pro high-speed rope tow on the east side of the run. The hill says donations from friends and family, plus anonymous donors, supported the project.
• The tubing hill. Mount Ski Gull credits local companies with contributing labor, including H&H Masonry and Doucette's Landscaping. The tubing page now lists five tubing lanes, each 700 feet long, served by a 700-foot magic carpet conveyor.

The Pumpkin Race works the same way. Organizations put their names on a tier, families pay to enter a pumpkin, and the money goes back to the hill. On the fundraiser page, the hill says "it's your generosity that keeps Mount Ski Gull thriving." For a hill with no public funding, that is a literal description of how it pays for itself.

A Trail Map Full of Familiar Names

The current trail map shows the Triple Chair Lift, a tubing lift, a rope tow, and a terrain park served by a high-speed rope tow. It also marks the Maintenance and Snow Making building and its snowmaking holding ponds.

The run names are the part of the map Gull Lake locals will recognize:

• Quarterdeck
• Nisswa
• Cragun's Cutoff
• Kavanaugh's
• Paul Bunyan
• Madden's
• Super 8
• Channel Inn

The hill started out much smaller. The Brainerd Dispatch reported that Lt. Gov. Karl Rolvaag dedicated the newly built hill in the summer of 1962, when it had three T-bars, eight runs and a small chalet. Sixty-four years later, the run names still read like a map of the lake, and community donations have helped build newer terrain, too.

The hill's board is made up of local volunteers. President Elsye Burton, Vice President Andy Hayes and Secretary Mackenzie Dondelinger serve alongside directors Mike Niemi, Justin Pape, Jared Magstadt, Joe Paine, Erik Lunemann and Mike Demuth.

After the Hill Opens, the Winter Calendar Fills In

Opening day depends on the weather. The rest of the Nisswa and Gull Lake winter calendar already has dates:

None of these events depend on Mount Ski Gull. They do all fall in the same winter that the October fundraiser and early pass sales help pay for. A Local Season Pass bought before the October 16 price increase costs $175 and includes one lift ticket for every day the hill is open this season.

Lake life on Gull Lake doesn't stop when the docks come out, and a few October evenings at the local ski hill help keep it going through the winter. If you're thinking about a home base near Mount Ski Gull and the Nisswa winter calendar, Northland Sotheby's International Realty knows this part of the lake in every season. Start Your Lake Home Journey with us.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.