Terrain Parks, Pipe and Thanks......

Greetings,

Another snow day here at Okemo. We could get used to this.  Snow on top of snow.  As we head out of the holiday week the new snow will make for some great skiing and riding.  The new snow has made for a happening ski resort and lots of guests enjoying some fun in the mountains.

Snowmaking is going to begin tonight with snow being made on Black Out, Halfpipe & the base area trails. We will be focusing on some of these locations to build base depth. Bull Run needs snow to get the Nastar course in place, Black out and Nor’easter needs snow for the building of the features for the parks, the halfpipe needs snow to begin construction and we also need snow on mountain road and open slope.  We don’t anticipate going on any of the other trails as we don’t want to affect the great skiing we have now.  Next week’s weather is looking colder, so we will work on areas that need a lot of snow which we can make more efficient in the cold temps.

The parks staff is headed towards Black Out and Nor’easter to get the terrain parks in place. I would anticipate having the Black Out park ready by next weekend with the Nor’easter Park following soon after.  The Superpipe construction will begin this week after snow is made during the week.  It takes some time to get the Superpipe made, so no estimate on time yet.  We also expect to see some mogul trails this week.

This week has seen some good crowds on the slopes. I also realize that there have been some traffic concerns at the end of the day.  Some of this is expected due to it being Christmas week. We continue to work with the town of Ludlow on making the exit off the mountain as smooth as it can be. 

Guests have been very patient this week and I can’t thank you enough. We train our staff for this week, but there will always be challenges.  I am hopeful that even though we haven’t gotten everything correct,  how we recover from those challenges is what sets us apart.

On behalf of all of us here at Okemo, Thanks for skiing and riding with us and we hope that you and your family have a very Happy New Year.

Talk soon,

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM

Bring on the snow...............

Greetings,

We’ve got the snow!  Well we have waited over 600 days for this and look at it now.  Can you believe it? (The last significant snowstorm was over 600 days ago, actually in March of 2011).  13 – 15 inches of the fresh stuff out on the mountain.  This morning went pretty well, as well as the first major snowfall of the year can go. There were some groomer breakdowns, plugged power tillers, a few snowplow issues and your basic clusters at times, but all in all the guys and girls are pretty up to speed and know what to do.

We should be skiing over 110 trails for this weekend.  The ski patrol staff was on active duty today checking trails and opening up the skiing.  This storm had the wind as most Nor’easters do and the wind made for some large drifts on the slopes. More than one guy on a snowmobile got stuck today trying to go through a drift.  There would be no snow and then a 5 foot drift.  We needed to check the trails because of this and either had the groomers come along or have patrol ski pack out the drift.  Lift maintenance works hard on these mornings as the detachable chairlifts sometimes need a little coaxing to get the chairs through the contour of the lift.  Just a little bit of snow on the tires can cause havoc and once one chair gets stacked up in the terminal, there are normally others which follow.  I think the record is 7 or 8, but we don’t count when that happens.  The only way to stop that is have enough people to pull the chairs through and get things moving. Kind of like waking up in the morning and getting moving.

This weekend is shaping up to be a good one. Good ski and ride conditions, great weather and many of our friends visiting. A perfect combination. There are still some openings for ski and ride lessons and other children’s programs, but they are filling up fast.  The phone has been ringing today and I don’t mean maybe………  Snowmaking is taking a night off as the snow winds its way out of here, but we will begin again probably on Saturday.

After all the snow we got last night and today, you were out skiing and riding because many of the Okemo staff shoveled their way out and got into work.  It takes a team and Okemo is the best.

A hearty Thanks to all our Okemo supporters and guests who have the confidence in the job we can do to make skiing the best there is and provide a great experience for you and your families.  As always, let me know how we are doing.

Talk soon,

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM

Snow Update - Man made and Natural

Greetings,

It is amazing what a difference a few days with cold temperatures makes.  This Christmas week is looking good with the skiing being top notch, trails being added and a snowstorm on the way.  The snowmakers and groomers worked right through Christmas getting the slopes and trails ready.  We are now up to 60 trail and 11 lifts.  I anticipate us probably adding another 3-5 on Wednesday and more within the next few days.  In speaking to Chris on Ski Patrol, he feels that many of our natural trails will be able to be added. Ski patrol has been ski packing many of them during the day and with a foot or more of natural Wednesday night into Thursday, I would anticipate we should be between 85 – 95 trails.  I wouldn’t anticipate us being able to open our gladed trails or the real steep trails like Ledges or Big Bang, but we should get others.

Snowmaking will continue as temperatures permit.  My guess is we may have to cut back with snowmaking during the snowstorm depending on the intensity of the snow. The forecast is for 8 - 12 inches of fresh powder by Thursday night.   Looking at the weather forecast, the temperature will be rising but then falling again as we head into Friday.  Looking at the next couple days I would anticipate opening on Wednesday, Nor’easter, Exhibition, Moon Shadow, Wardance & Homeward Bound.  By the end of the week we should be skiing several more including Upper and Lower Chief, Chute, Line Drive & Daybreak. As an FYI, last year during this holiday week we had about 50 trails!

Many thanks to all the Okemo staff who shared their Christmas day working at the resort.  It is because of the dedication of our hard working staff members that we are able to provide the best skiing and riding experience around.

A hearty Thanks to all our Okemo supporters and guests who have the confidence in the job we can do to make skiing the best there is and provide a great experience for you and your families.  As always, let me know how we are doing.

Happy Holidays,

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM