Slabtown's Winter Moves Uphill, to an Indoor Market and a 75th Ski Season That Locals Are Keeping Going

The outdoor farmers market season downtown ended on Saturday, October 31, at Rotary Square. One week later, on November 7, the Saturday market had moved indoors, up the hill from Slabtown into the Mercato corridor at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons. It now runs there every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., November through April. The road between the two got some attention this year. The City of Traverse City lists the Elmwood Avenue mill-and-fill, from West Front Street to West Eleventh Street, among its completed 2026 projects.

That stretch of Elmwood is where Slabtown's winter weekend points. One end of it is the Commons, where the Saturday routine already runs on its own. Farther out Randolph Street is Hickory Hills, the city-owned ski area at 2000 Randolph. Its 75th season is being pieced together this fall, one pipe and one hire at a time. Both places depend on local people turning up to do the work, and this month that's easy to see at each of them.

The first full weekend uphill doubles up

This Saturday the Commons has two things going at once. The weekly market fills the Mercato. Deer Widow's Weekend runs in Kirkbride Hall on Saturday and Sunday, with a two-day indoor craft and vendor show.

The Village says the first 250 people through the doors each day get a free logo bag. It also lists $5 mimosa kits, door prizes and giveaways, and calls the event good for all ages. Sunday's show lands on opening day of Michigan's regular firearm deer season, which the Michigan DNR lists as November 15 through 30, 2026.

When the craft show packs up on Sunday afternoon, the Saturday market stays. The Village's calendar has it every Saturday through the end of the year: December 5, 12, 19 and 26. That includes the Saturday after Christmas.

A market that has run on its vendors for about 15 years

The Village advertises more than 30 vendors selling eggs, meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, homemade breads and more. In a January 2026 piece on winter markets, Northern Express put the count at some 35 regular merchants, most of them from within the five-county region. It reported that the market has been operating for about 15 years, often at peak vendor capacity.

The paper named Diana Jelenek of Spring Hollow Farm in Buckley as the market's co-founder and vendor coordinator. According to that same article, the problem she sees is how few people know the market keeps going after the outdoor stalls close:

"People don't have the mindset that we still have wonderful, healthy food in Grand Traverse County all year. There's so much available—they've just got to come out!"

Northern Express also quoted her description of the Mercato on Saturdays: "It's a good community." That article describes winter tables built around storage crops, including potatoes, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, winter squashes, celeriac and kohlrabi. These are the vegetables whose tough skins and dense flesh hold up in the cold. The market has no big seasonal kickoff. It runs because about three dozen growers and makers keep coming back each Saturday and a farmer from Buckley keeps the vendor list organized.

Out Randolph Street, the 75th season started underground

Hickory Hills will mark its 75th season in 2026–27, according to the Record-Eagle. The same report said the 2025–26 season brought late openings, partial openings and several equipment malfunctions, including a broken tow rope. Over the summer, commissioners approved hiring North Country Alpine Services to run the hill for one season. The Record-Eagle reported that the arrangement fell through. Afterward, commissioners said they expected the hill to open before Christmas, weather permitting.

The city's budget assumes this will be a better winter. Parks and Recreation Director Michelle Hunt projected in August that Hickory Hills would bring in about $419,000 this season. The Record-Eagle noted that is roughly 16% more than the previous year's $360,000. City Manager Benjamin Marentette cautioned that the numbers could come in lower if the weather is poor for skiing and snowmaking.

Snowmaking is where the work started. A later Record-Eagle report said the city signed a temporary contract with Keen Technical Solutions, a local company, capped at $28,000, to prepare the hill's pumps, wells, water distribution system and snow guns. KTS president Tim Pulliam, who also serves on the Hickory Hills Advisory Committee, told the paper his team had already found, isolated and dug out leaks in the underground pipes that feed the snowmaking system. "We're going to be finishing up maintenance on all of the snow guns over the next couple of weeks," he said.

Who the hill is being handed to

The contract covers preseason preparation, not daily operations. That later Record-Eagle report said the city was rebuilding its staff one position at a time. At that point, the roster looked like this:

1. Concessions: a kitchen lead had recently been hired.
2. Slopes: offers had gone to two slope supervisors, who would help make sure the lifts and tow ropes work properly.
3. Lodge: the city was still recruiting a lodge supervisor.
4. Outdoor operations: the city was still recruiting an outdoor operations supervisor, with no interviews yet.

The city's October Bay Brief newsletter advertised seasonal positions at the hill, including snowmaker, rentals and ticket sales, tow operator, and food and beverage jobs, with a season pass, equipment rentals and a shift meal among the perks. Pulliam told the Record-Eagle the prep work is meant to have the hill ready "for whoever they hire, so that those people aren't completely thrown to the wolves."

Volunteers are also part of the plan. Deputy City Manager Valarie Handy told the paper that Hickory Hills has "volunteers coming out of the woodwork." She added, "This community is filled with wonderful, professional-grade people. I'm amazed at how much support there is to get Hickory Hills opened this year for its 75th anniversary season." In the earlier report, Mayor Pro Tem Laura Ness described the hill as "Traverse City's winter playground for so many children and families."

The hill's programming partners are also getting ready. The Grand Traverse Ski Club has opened registration for its 2026/27 season.

Two schedules, both kept by neighbors

For someone living off West Front Street, November lines up like this. The outdoor market closed on Halloween. The indoor market at the Commons started the next Saturday and runs through April. The ski hill out Randolph Street is aiming to open before Christmas, weather permitting. One of these runs on a schedule a vendor coordinator has kept for about 15 years. The other has local contractors repairing snowmaking pipes and volunteers offering to help.

The Mitten Group is based here in Traverse City, so we watch for the same things you do: the Saturday the market moves indoors and the first night the snow guns run on Randolph Street. If you're thinking about how life around Slabtown changes through the winter, or what being close to the Commons and Hickory Hills is like day to day, The Mitten Group is happy to talk it through.