Chester Park

Chester Bowl Park Downhill Ski “Fun Slope”

Duluth’s Parks and Recreation Division is preparing Chester Bowl Park for a new “fun slope,” according to a news release issued today.

Crews will be out clearing out a section of the hill within the ski area in preparation for the upcoming winter season. The new “fun slope” with gentle waves of snowy berms for skiing was identified as a desired addition to the park in the Chester Park Mini-Master Plan, approved in November 2014.

Crews will be working this week into next during daytime hours, but the public should not experience any interruption in their use of the park spaces or trails. The area will be covered with wood chips to reduce erosion and smooth out the area winter operations.

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Chester Bowl Freestyle Cadet’s-eye View

Last year, Chester Bowl added “Freestyle Cadet” to the list of active groups at the ski hill. These kids build and groom the jumps, rails and other stuff located toward the top of the hill. For those who don’t get to the top of the hill, here’s a cadet’s-eye view from James Holak.

14-31DS

A few fundamental questions on the on the Chester Ski Jump Memorial Plan City of Duluth RFP.

Is not art, true art — spoken, written, painted, sung, or mixed media — an expression of that which comes from places that are intangible or elusive? i.e.: from within, a collaborative, the Netherlands, the proverbial Vibe?

Yes, the history of a place, lived out by a people is vital — I get that (and the real magic still is to have been there and lived it out) — however, most of us probably don’t have that benefit.

But a request put out on an RFP – a bid – along with city hall upgrades and roofing repairs not only diminishes the call, but is the antithesis of artistic inspiration. Just my opining.
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Goodbye Little and Big Chester

Little Chester demolition - MPR photo

MPR: Ski jumps that launched Olympians come tumbling down
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Beating it under the Ninth Street Bridge

BeatThis1992

Above is a photo from the old Ripsaw magazine showing the famous “Beat it” tag underneath the Ninth Street Bridge over Chester Creek. The tag is dated Oct. 1, 1992, and was reportedly painted over when the bridge was renovated in 2003.

Below is the updated tag, as photographed in 2014.

Beat it ... slap

The age-old question is: How did you do that? You are the one who did it, right? Why is the new tag backward?

Goodbye Big Chester

The city of Duluth has determined that the ski jumps at Chester Bowl will be coming down due to safety concerns. A public meeting will be held July 31.

Chester Park Graffiti?

Has anyone else seen the recent graffiti at the bottom of Chester Park. WDIO had a short feature on it. They “tagged” in the park and the neighborhood including houses and vehicles.

And what does 2.7.5. refer to? Searching the interwebs the top hit is the Twitter handle for @ink2flasyy the 21-year old Ontario man who flipped his car after tweeting about driving drunk. Google also tells me that it could refer to Blackland Raider Klan, an underground rap group started by SpaceGhostPurrp, down in Miami. That or they are big fans of the Python 2.7.5. release. Either way it isn’t cool once you start defacing neighborhoods.

I’ve never had an issue with some of Duluth graffiti havens but the side of an F-150 is not the same as the Graffiti Graveyard.

Mystery Photo #1: Chester Bowl

This photo was purportedly shot at Chester Bowl in 1936. Who are these gals? What were they doing that day? Who shot the photo?
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Upper Chester: Not so fast there people!

Duluth took a beating this past year. But thanks to everyone pulling together we’ve made a remarkable comeback. For proof, you don’t have to look any further than Chester Park. Thanks to the indefatigable Dan Proctor and others the Lower Chester trails are probably in better shape than they were before the floods of June, and that’s saying a lot considering the scope of the mudflows and washouts that ravaged pretty much every inch of the ravine.

Upper Chester, however, is another story. Despite good intentions, there’s been a lot of jumping the gun to clean up or improve things that one could make the argument has ended up doing more harm than good. I’m not going to run down the list, but the latest chapter seems to have taken place largely under the radar, and I think it deserves a public airing.
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Chester Park and Creek

Chester Creek Damage

Shots from Duluth Outdoors

We are trying to put something together to have fun/fundraise/organize for flood damage. The problem is so huge that it’s hard to know how to attack but we are thinking Chester Creek and Park since we are named after that. The damage there is significant and federal money will need to be applied for. This event would be more for seed money to apply for grants and do some immediate chainsawing and so forth. (more…)

Chester Park Dam

The dam at Chester Bowl washed away with the storm, taking canoeing programs with it. Director of the Chester Park Improvement Club, Thom Storm, said without the dam skiing programs could also see challenges.

Chester Bowl Snowboarding

Chester Bowl open for skiing

Chester Bowl Park is open for its 2011 downhill skiing season. Daily lift tickets for all ages are $5.25. Details at chesterbowl.org.

Chester Bowl Historical Photos

So, the brouhaha over the ski jumps reminded me about this project – some historical photos from Chester Bowl. (more…)

Chester Bowl ski-jump dismantling?

Taking my early morning walk, I saw bulldozers taking down at least part of the ski jumps at Chester Bowl Park. My first thought was, “Oh no!” — I love that Duluth sorta thumbs its nose at risk-management concerns.

Does anyone have the skinny???

Chester Bowl Snowboarding

Chester Park Dam

I know someone here will have the answer!

Chester Creek used to pond inside the park due to a dam that broke out many years ago. Does anyone know why they’ve never replaced it?

Challenge: Gary-New Duluth vs. East Hillside / Chester Park

The challenge is to list the Pros and Cons of living in either location. GO TEAM GO!

Neighbors of Lower Chester Park

We are a newly formed nonprofit. Our mission is to revitalize Lower Chester Park get ins. and flood the rink and have open skating again on our rink. There was talk of tearing down the rink from time to time and we would like to have that permanently put to rest with the city.

We also would like to fundraise for a playground and other improvements.

We have a tenative meeting with the Parks Dept./Friends of the Parks and the “NEIGHBORS of LOWER CHESTER” planned for Dec. 2nd. We will have that meeting at Chester Pk. Un. Methodist Ch. at 7:00 p.m. with confirmation from Kathy Bergen of the Parks Dept./Friends of the Parks.

All neighbors including the many students in the area should attend this meeting and make their voices heard. Now is the time to speak up.

We had a play day picnic Sept. 25th, 2010 that was a lot of fun and we intend to have another this coming summer plus many other activities with community involvement.

Contacts are: Mabel Galvin 724-7667 e-mail = mabelgalvin@charter.net and Deb F. at dif10@charter.net.

Third Annual Chester Bowl Wine, Beer & Pizza Tasting

Saturday, Nov. 6, from 6-9 pm, Midi @ Fitger’s

Help keep the youth programs going at Chester Bowl while sampling top-notch pizza, wine and beer. Tickets at Fitger’s Wine Cellars. Info @ 733-0792.

Scenes from Fall Fest

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the PDD Canopy of Joy yesterday. It was a good day at Chester Bowl. Sunshine. Pan flute. Cheese curds. Matching puppies.

Thrills, Spills and Chills: Chester Bowl Wipeouts

I shot this on Sunday, the last day at Chester Bowl for skiing/snowboarding. I’m still trying to dry out my kid’s snowboard boots.

This is mostly the crashing and burning, and to be fair, most of the skiers made it across just fine. But really, who wants to watch that? Success is boring.

Summer or winter, Chester Bowl is the best.