Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Okemo Survives the Sandy Visit


Greetings,

 

I wanted to let our guests know that Okemo was spared the brunt of the wrath of Hurricane Sandy.  For the past few days all we have heard about is Hurricane Sandy.  We watched the graphics, the maps and the experts tell us what was going to happen and how bad things were going to be.  In the end, the State of Vermont, Ludlow and Okemo dodged a big bullet. To see the photos and videos of the destruction in Southern New England and New York relives memories of Hurricane Irene over 13 months ago.


After Hurricane Sandy came into Vermont, the damage assessment was minimal. The storm was more like a good rain storm with some wind.  There were trees which blew down around the mountain towards the summit. Some of these were on the Mountain Road up near the look outs as well as some window damage at the top of the Jackson Gore Lift.  A couple trees came to rest on some lift cables. The mountain Operations staff has most of them cut down and the damage cleaned up.  Many thanks also to the Facilities maintenance staff. Some stayed through the night to be sure all was well.  There was also a generator set up outside of the IT department server room which ran through the night so we would have power to our phone and computer systems. Of course the local phone company had issue and thus it was hard to call into Okemo or call out.


It is evident that Mother Nature is in charge when you see what happened to our neighbors to the south and some of the towns that our guests hail from.  It goes without saying that we should be keeping those people in our thoughts.

 
Nor'easter Terrain Park Early Morning

Snowmaking temperatures may be upon us early next week. The snowmakers are prepped and ready to go. We will keep everyone informed as to when snowmaking begins.  Until then I added a great photo to let you know what things will look like soon! Opening day is scheduled for Saturday November 17th.  Many thanks for your support

 
Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM