Holiday Week Updates...

Greetings,

The Holiday week is in full swing, so a good opportunity to talk about a few things.

Snowmaking is looking to return Sunday afternoon into the evening.  The first priority of snowmaking will be to head to existing terrain.  We will light up guns on Lower Arrow, Sapphire, Upper World Cup, Nor’easter, Count Down, the base areas of both the Clock Tower and Jackson Gore, and get as many snowguns going as we can.  The next step would be to get guns going on Easy Rider, Rimrock, Lower Limelight and some others.  Once we are satisfied with the existing terrain, we will head to new terrain, such as Quantum Leap, Vortex, Black Out, Sel’s Choice and the Halfpipe. Our plan will be to make snow 24 hours a day. We will be making snow on some slopes and trails that are open for skiing and riding, more than likely higher-level terrain.  We will also try to make snow on lift lines while the lifts are running, as long as the impact is not too uncomfortable for those riding.  We are not planning on closing many trails to make snow, although we might end up doing this on Upper and Lower Chief on Monday afternoon.

The skiing has been spring-like no doubt, and we are mindful of the difficulty that some skiers and riders have seen.  During these warmer temperatures, the groomers have been grooming all the terrain, with the exception of a few natural trails each night.  In some instances, it is probably better that we don’t put a groomer on the trail, to preserve the snow.  Guests may have a perception that the trails have not been groomed because of the spring like conditions.  I can assure you that we have been grooming, the issue has been that the temperature has not been cold enough to have the snow set at night, and thus the surface remains granular when skiers come to ski in the morning.  We also have been looking at doing a noon groom, which has been helpful to smooth things over.  Lower Arrow has been a trail we have concentrated on to try and help make the experience better.

We had a lift issue on the Jackson Gore Express on Sunday, and the lift has been on hold during the morning. The lift maintenance staff is hard at work with freeing an adjusting bolt on one of the towers.  We needed to stop the lift to do the work.  We really appreciate your patience, as we worked through this.  Our shuttle bus staff was Johnny-on-the-spot in getting the buses over to Jackson Gore and getting guests skiing and riding.  We appreciate the support of the Winterplace condominium management, as they allow us to drop off guests at the top of Quad B, which saves us time also.  Thank you for your understanding, as we repaired this problem.

In closing, Snowmaking will be happening hard and heavy beginning Sunday night and 24 hours a day through the week.  We will work hard to provide the best skiing possible here at Okemo…

Happy Holidays to all

Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM