December Outlook
Okemo Friends,
December has arrived at Okemo and with that some great early
season skiing and riding as well as a strong snowmaking push. While the weather
has been up and down, the Okemo Mountain Operations staff has been able to open
up almost 80 acres of terrain.
We have had 18 days of making snow since early November and
we have made snow on more than 20 trails – with 11 currently open for skiing
and riding. While the crew worked hard to get top-to-bottom trails, they also
have been working to head into the Solitude area, and now Jackson Gore. The
snowmaking game plan is broken down into the Upper Mountain, Mid Mountain and
Base area. Imagine the mountain being broken into two sections: trails above
the Black Ridge, Solitude and Jackson Gore all being upper Mountain, and trails
below the top of the Black Ridge the lower Mountain. As you can imagine, I get
lots of questions on what is happening as we head into the holidays. Here are
some answers.
What is the
snowmaking Plan? That is a pretty broad
question, but I can tell you that we balance the best possible skiing and
riding with the addition of new terrain as quickly as possible. Presently, we
are working with our patrollers and other departments who are on the slopes to
decide if we need to make snow on existing terrain. Some of our capacity is
committed to that while the rest is committed to adding terrain. We are headed toward
Solitude with snow being made on The Plunge, Heaven’s Gate, Screamin’ Demon,
Mountain Road, Sweet Solitude and Roundhouse Run. This will get us into
Solitude as well as toward Jackson Gore.
Why make snow on The
Plunge? The Plunge is an easy continuation
down from Sapphire. We use the Plunge for both a way into Solitude, and as
access to our Maintenance shop. We need a trail near the Maintenance shop to
get the snow cats out on the slopes as well as move food trailers to the Summit
Lodge. While we could make on Village Run, the Plunge is a better skiing trail
than Village Run is, so it makes sense to head there. It also allows us to make
Moguls if we wanted to earlier in the season.
When will Jackson Gore
be open? Snowmaking guns are set up
on some of the Jackson Gore trails and we will be making snow there most likely
Saturday night. Snow will be made first on Blue Moon, Sunset Strip, Lower
Limelight and, if possible with HKD temperatures, Vortex and Quantum Leap. If
the temperatures come in like we expect, we will also make snow on Inn Bound,
Fast Track and Expresso. The plan is to have the Jackson Gore base area open by
Saturday December 12. We will have a better feel by early next week.
How much longer do we
have to ride the Sachem Quad? I know
the ride on the Sachem is not the best, but as I always say, it is better than
riding the shuttle bus! I am hopeful that we will be riding the Base Quad and
skiing down Lower Arrow within the next couple days. The mountain skis better
when the quads are operating, so we want to get there as soon as we can.
What about snowmaking
on the slopeside lodging trails?
Believe me, I understand the importance of this. The plan will be to get to those trails before
Christmas or soon after. We want to get more terrain open to give more skiing
and riding options, and we will pick off some of those lodging trails when we have
some capacity.
What about Wardance? Once we have Lower Arrow open we will begin
to work on some other mid-mountain trails. This most likely will include Lower
Chief, Wardance, Black Out and Village Run. I want to have the racers in their
own area so training can begin and Okemo can begin to hold competition events.
What about Terrain
parks? We have discussed where our
first terrain parks will be worked on and most likely that will be either the
Crazy Train Terrain Park or the Lower Tomahawk Terrain park. Both require lots
of snow, so we would be doing this only if, and when, we have colder temperatures.
How long will the
features stay on Nor’easter? Okemo
is working hard to create some terrain features and rails to balance out the
skiing and riding, and have options for everyone. We plan to have terrain park
features on skiable terrain until we have a terrain park built and open.
When will there be
beginner terrain? As there are snowmaking temperatures in the base area,
more of the base area, mountain road and open slope will be widened. We will
focus on the F-10 learning area first and then the Mountain Road from the top
of the Base quads.
Is Okemo grooming
every night during the warmer weather? Yes, Okemo is grooming slopes and
trails every night. There may be some areas with less snow that we are working
around, but the majority of every trail is being groomed. When it was colder,
Okemo ran some mountain tillers to help the surface. We will do this again as
the temperature drops to keep the surface softer. Okemo grooming and snowmaking
are making for a great skiing experience.
What is Christmas
holiday period looking like for slopes and trails? Whenever I am asked this question I am quick
to let everyone know that, contrary to popular belief, Okemo does not have a
crystal ball. I will say that Okemo will work hard to get as much terrain open
as possible. We will work hard to have a great skiing product on our existing
terrain. Our goal would be to have some terrain open in all the different
mountain pods. You can be assured that
Okemo snowmakers will be making as much snow as possible whenever
possible! There is no issue with water
supply, we have our generators in place, and there is a great snowmaking team that
is supported by a strong Mountain Operations team to give all they have every
day.
This is a sample of the questions I hear and am asked. I am
hopeful that I have answered some of your questions. As always, if you have a question send it
along. The entire Okemo team will do our best to give you the best skiing and riding
possible!
Enjoy
your days on the slopes,
Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM