Week 16 & March is here!

Greetings,

We are skiing into the 16^th week of the season and heading into spring and it is looking like some great conditions.  Let’s hope that this year spring skiing will be strong. The last couple of years we have not seen the stars align which has meant a slower than expected March into April. This year is going to be different.

The new snow was welcome for all. The glades are holding up pretty good as are the natural trails.  This may change somewhat if the temperature gets to 40 or so by this coming weekend.  Ski patrol has been checking out the trails and does what they can to keep them open.  When we don’t have them open the SF checks them out anyway and gives a report on what we missed.  Okemo hasn’t put away the snow guns for good yet.  We have sent back all our rental compressors for the season.  The good news is that Okemo owns machines that can put out several thousand feet of compressed air, so if we need to touch up some areas, we will be able to do that.  The natural snow has been great to see as the surface is better and the making of it quieter.

What are our plans for the spring you ask?  Reservations are looking good as we head into the depths of March.  The next big event will be Festevol on Saturday March 16^th.  This two band concert will have the doors open at 3pm with DJ Logic coming on at 4pm, OAR around 4:45pm and Yukon Kornelius around 7pm. should be lots of fun.  A new addition will be tent material walls on the side of the Ice house.  A welcome addition as the temperature drops. We also will be running some large scale warm air heaters into the building to hopefully keep things toasty.  Of course the temperature will probably be around 50, but if it isn’t, we will be ready!  Get on line and get your tickets now.  The Slush Cup will be happening on April 6^th and the Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge finals are on March 23^rd.

As we get into March, we will be running lifts to access all of our trails.  At times there are adjustments that will be made depending on business, but with the great conditions, I am hopeful we can keep skiing lots of terrain.  Closing day on paper is forecasted to be April 14^th, but Mother Nature usually has some say in that.

Enjoy the sun and fun as spring arrives. Don’t forget to spring your clocks ahead on Saturday night March 9^th.

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM