This would have been the 23rd consecutive year for the hunt, had last year’s not been canceled because of COVID, said Susan Stiffler, who runs Mont Ripley’s pro shop.

“When it got canceled, there were so many sad faces, and it broke my heart,” Stiffler said. “I just felt like this was happening … even if it was mud up here, we were going to have an Easter egg hunt.”

Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., 1,000 eggs were stashed around the ski hill for children to find.

Thirty-three gold eggs contained slips enabling people to enter a drawing at the end of the day, with prizes including a mountain bike from The Bike Shop.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Susan Stiffler, who runs Mont Ripley’s pro shop, receives a golden egg from Hannah Williams, 12, of Houghton during Mont Ripley’s Easter egg hunt Saturday.

The search areas were cordoned off from the main slopes. But within that, anything was fair game.

“I have to check the map to remember some of them,” Stiffler said.

By 11:30, about 300 people had joined the hunt, Stiffler said. Most of the morning’s eggs had been found by that point, but incognito helpers were already busy stashing the next shift.

It was the first Mont Ripley Easter egg hunt of Wyatt Jansen’s life. The Houghton 19-month old found plenty of eggs with his parents Jamie and Tyler, including a golden egg in a pipe by the rail graveyard.

Wyatt has already been learning to ski.

“We figured we’d come do this first and then ski on the last day of the year,” Tyler said.

Wyatt had already been walking around the year putting pine cones in a basket. He carried those skills forward to Saturday’s hunt.

“We were surprised at how many he actually found and picked up,” Tyler said. “We just assumed we were going to walk around and see what happened.”

“Nope,” said Jamie. “He spotted them and picked them up. It was great.”

Stiffler was thrilled with the support from sponsors and the community.

“It’s a great community thing,” she said. “It’s a giving back. We have such a great group of kids that come hang out at this hill, and it’s a safe place for them to come.”