Winter's return is being engineered in Wisconsin's Northwoods, as crews are ready to welcome outdoor lovers.

Organizers at Mt. Telemark Village in Cable say there's no shortage of reasons to head north. 

"The events for northern Wisconsin, the Birkie up here at Mt. Telemark Village, are absolutely critical. It really drives, as I said, our local economy, our regional economy, and then just bringing people to our area," said Ben Popp.

To make that possible, crews have already been working behind the scenes. Snowmaking started last week. 

"With junior nationals being the middle of March, we need a lot of snow in a lot of different places this year to ensure that we have snow that will last all through March," said Kristy Maki.

Once January arrives, every weekend is booked. The first big event is Shred de She.

"Fat biking is a really fun addition to winter sport. You can do it when there's not a lot of snow, when it's kind of those shoulder seasons," said Maki.

Then comes the historic Seeley Hills Classic, which dates back to 1992.

"Lots of people still classic ski, and we're really glad that we can focus an entire race just on classic skiing and kind of keep that tradition alive," Maki added.

Mid-month brings Ski de She, a women's camp and race.

"We see a lot of women in our shorter events, and not so many in our long American Birkebeiner in the 50k or the 53k so we have been wanting to put on some programming to encourage women to give them the support that they need, maybe the technique or the training assistance that they need to feel more confident to do the longer distances," said Maki.

January wraps up with the Birkie Tour, offering distances from 1k to 46k.

Events will happen, even if the snow is lean.

"Ultimately, by Christmas, if we can have snow in the Twin Cities, snow in Duluth, snow in Milwaukee, that just gets the vibe, the excitement going. People want to go ice fishing, skiing, outdoor fat biking. So my Christmas wish is to have some snowy white blanket for the next four, five months," said Maki.

Organizers say the Ski de She camp is almost full, but the are still plenty of openings for the race and other January events.