A message from our GM

The 2010 ski season is beginning with a bang... 4th day of operation and the Mountain Op’s guys had to bang off ice to get the Northstar lift running. As we all woke up this morning to the freezing rain, the thought was "what is the mountain going to be like"? The good news was that the freezing rain had not set real hard on the summit and thus, the banging of the sheaves and grips, while needed, wasn’t as bad as it could have been.


Saturday we plan to add Defiance, the upper half of Sapphire, Upper Arrow and Double Dipper along with the Glades Peak and the Green Ridge Triple. Check out Defiance and let us know how it was on Saturday. We let the trail sit another day after snowmaking to hopefully improve the skiing and riding. By letting more water leach out, we feel the snow will lay out better. Kind of like the theory of rush to eat at Thanksgiving and get too full, or take your time to savour the meal and the experience... something like that! Oh and by the way, once we open up Sapphire, the rails will be moved over to that trail from World Cup.

While each season has it’s quirks, this one is proving to be an interesting one. When the snowmakers can’t make snow, they go and work on the Timber Ripper. When the groomers, electricians and lift mechanics have a free moment, they go and work on the Timber Ripper. When Barry and Eb have got the mountain open for the day, they go and work on the Timber Ripper. You get the idea.

Without their dedication and extra effort we wouldn’t be riding the Timber Ripper as soon as we are. We hope to have a better feel for the opening of the Timber Ripper within the next 10 days or so. I’m telling everyone right now that it will be before Christmas.

In the meantime, let us know how we are doing and thanks for skiing and riding with us.

Bruce Schmidt
General Manager, Okemo