News and explanations, as we head into January...

Greetings,

I wanted to take some time to talk about a few things here at Okemo, as we come out of the Holiday week and head full bore into January.

Okemo will continue making snow aggressively.  During this time, we most likely will make snow 5-6 days a week and take a day or two off, depending on several factors, such as weather, where snow should be made, skier traffic and planning of trail usage for the Spring.  Over the next 10 days, we are planning on making snow in the South Face area, mostly on Dream Weaver and a couple others, opening Triple Sec with snowmaking, making snow on Big Bang and finishing Timberline, and we also will be making snow in the Jackson Gore Base area to create the snow playground area.

This past week saw some different weather events, as well as cold weather.  I know there was some grumbling about last Sunday’s opening after the weather we had, which included, snow, sleet, freezing rain and then some rain.  At our 6:30am briefing, we knew there might be a few lifts that might open late, but I never expected what ended up transpiring.  The temperature never went up much and thus the trails had a slight glaze even after we groomed them.  The issue was less a lift issue and more about re-grooming.  Our staff adjusted, and we groomed and got slopes and trails open as quickly as possible. 

On Thursday, the temperature was cold, what some might call a mid-winter Vermont ski day!  Unfortunately, due to an electrical issue which may or may not have been a factor of the cold temperatures, the Sunburst Six was down for an extended period of time during the day. We had put half the chairs onto the cable and then the problem developed.  No doubt a solid inconvenience for many of our guests, and especially those participating in the in college ski race Okemo was hosting.  I apologize for what happened. We are hopeful that this was a one-time issue and are monitoring all the systems to prevent a reoccurrence. 

January brings with it many racing competitions programs, and Okemo supports these programs with the use of our trails.  There will be some times when some trails are on hold.  I want to thank you, in advance, for your support of this.  Okemo tries to not have a significant impact when we put the trails on hold for competitions. There is a balance, and we work with the Okemo Competitions department and try to not close too many trails. 

The extended weather forecast is for some nice weather with sun and winter temperatures.  This should make for some great skiing and riding.  The Amp Energy Superpipe is scheduled to open by Saturday January 17th.

Best in 2015

Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM