Sunday, March 11, 2012

Heading into Spring

Greetings,

Spring skiing is fun as it is always different every day. Mornings are different than afternoons, Mondays are different than Thursdays. I’m sure you know what I mean. Even though the first day of Spring isn’t until March 20th, we are seeing some good weather headed our way.

So it is official….NO more Snowmaking this year. We were anticipating making snow in
March, but we just didn’t get any consistent cold temperatures to fire up the
guns. The snowmaking crew is now finishing up sending back the rental compressors, draining the water and air lines were need be, dragging in the hose and guns and cleaning things up.

As for grooming, the guys powertill the trails this time of the year. The winch cat
goes out on the slopes 2 – 3 times per week to pull snow up from the bottom of
the steeper trails and deposits it on the top and the halfpipe is cut 3-4 times
per week. Eb, Okemos Mountain Manager, also has the groomers start in different areas of the mountain to keep things different. One day it might be Jackson
Gore, it may be Nor’easter or perhaps South Face. This is also the time of the year when we make changes out on slopes and other operations.

A few examples:
- ePIC restaurant is closed for the season.- Top Shop Ski shop is closed for the season
- Timber Ripper is closed Tues & Wed - Snow Tubing is closed Tues & Wed
- Ice House is closed for the season - Amp Air Bag is open Fri/Sat/Sun only.

As many of you know we do make adjustments to lifts and trails. These will be on an as needed basis due to snow conditions. If
the weather forecast is somewhat correct, the trail count will probably be adjusted during the week. Guests are encouraged to call ahead or check Okemo.com for the latest updates.

Reminder that Okemo will be holding our FESTEVOL concert weekend with the Bare Naked
Ladies performing on Saturday 3/24 and Big Head Todd and the Monsters with Guster on Sunday 3/25. Tickets are available on Okemo.com

Okemo plans to stay open into early April, Mother Nature willing. Now there are many
things that can happen no doubt, but you need to be confident that all of us here
at Okemo will do all we can to keep skiing and riding. Okemo will be there to continue to provide the skiing product so our very important guests can have a place to take to the slopes.

Think snow and thanks for skiing and riding with us. If you want to follow what is going on from my desk, follow me on twitter @okemogm

See you on the slopes

Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM