OkeMoose on the Loose

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The foliage is nearing its peak display of color. Temps are starting to feel more seasonal and critters are on the crawl in preparation for winter. Sightings of dumpster bears have been reported and a lonely little moose has been seen wandering the grounds of Kettle Brook. We know he's an authentic Okemo Moose because ... well ... see for yourself!

Opening Day Just 82 Days Away!

Wow! Where did the summer go? We're closing in on Fall here at Okemo, with the days warm and the nights getting cooler. In fact, temperatures tonight are predicted to drop as low as 37 degrees! Oh yeah, did I mention opening day is a mere 82 days away?

If you have not secured your 09/10 Season Pass - be sure to purchase on or before October 12th to get the pre-season pricing. We've also introduced a new Sunday One-Day Pass this season, so if you're within an hour or two drive from the mountain this might be a perfect starter pass. And, Flex Cards, 8 & 12 packs are also on sale now in the online store.

In terms of what else is new for the 09.10 season, here are a few highlights:

• We'll introduce a new after 2 pm ticket and many more online ticket deals to save $


• The longest superpipe in the East will increase its vertical pitch by 13 feet!


• Fans of Okemo on Facebook and Twitter Followers will have opportunities to win free tickets and take advantage of special offers


• We're reconfiguring our entire HKD tower gun snowmaking system with a focus on enhanced resurfacing response time (this is the East right?)


• We have a ton of ways to ski free, or learn to ski free


• and that's just a start!

Finally, Okemo is holding the line on our slopeside lodging rates for the upcoming season AND offering guests that book early up to 30% off! Get all the details on this ski & stay savings offer here>>>

music,beer, beer, cider, music and beer

What an awesome weekend, that just transpired. Friday night music in the courtyard at Jackson Gore, with the Roots of Creation and a picnic dinner with friends...and cool evening temps. Saturday morning arrived early, with temps in the low 40's (winter is coming).

I joined a small group of cyclists (at 7:30 am) who rode a 62 mile fundraising tour, which took us through Cavendish, Reading (Felchville), back of the Tyson/Plymouth road (also know as the Alps), then swooping down into Echo Lake with a turn north to Rte 4 East. A yummy snack stop at the general store at the corner of Rte 4 and Rte 100A south, then back down to finish our ride at the stone archway of the Jackson Gore Inn. We were pleased to finish in 4 hours.

Once we recovered, some of us contniued on to the 1st Annual Hops in the Hills beer festival for an afternoon of sampling flavors from nine different regional craft brewers. I hope this is OK...my favorite was the Adirondack Lager from Saranac. The afternoon affair was accompanied by the Chris Kleeman Band and headlined by Nobby Reed. Both bands played some soulful blues.

The weather was perfect all day long. I suspect most people had nice tan lines or wicked sunburns by days end. I personally had some lobster lines.....more sunscreen next time.

Take Care.

PS. See you Friday night for more free music at Okemo!

Late bloomers, undergarments and free lift tickets

How's that for a headline? :D

I never skied as a child. I hated the winter. Considering I grew up and went to college right in the snow belt of upstate New York, that’s surprising to many.

After college I moved to Vermont. Go figure. Another cold climate. Anyway, about 5+ years ago I applied for a job at a ski resort. I almost didn’t get the job, not because I wasn’t qualified, but because I wasn’t an “intermediate” skier. Psh. Give me a pair of skis, I WILL learn to ski. Translation: are you challenging me?


I remember my first group lesson, which must have been in the early winter of 04’ – renting skis, buying snowpants for the first time in 15+ years. I think back to that day and remember how intimidated I was. Learning to ski in my 30’s. Was I crazy?

Fast forward 5 seasons, three Women’s Alpine Adventure programs, and about 40-50 days on snow each winter and I am a newfound snow sports enthusiast. I find myself wishing for snow in July#$#?!. How is that for crazy?



Don’t get me wrong, I’m still by no means an expert skier. I just love to ski! There is something about the cold crisp air, the inspiring mountain scenery, and good times with friends and family that can wipe the stress away in one short run. And fitness? Man, skiing keeps your legs in some pretty fantastic shape!

I’ll never forget the last day of the 08/09 season. It was a Sunday – I was here chaperoning a school trip with my son and his friends. A group of 9 & 10 year olds are tough to keep up with – especially by this point in the season when they are feeling pretty darn confident in themselves. Anyway, during that last week a tree had managed to accumulate some undergarments down near the base off the mountain. Well, you can imagine those made quite an impression on these young boys. Underwear? Nothing funnier.

The last few rides past that tree found ski poles “fishing” for a catch. We must have made three laps hoping something would bite. Well, they finally managed to jar one of the garments loose, falling to the ground right on the trail below. You can imagine how fast we skied down to see if it was still there.

One of the boys skied to the side of the trail, immediately clicked out of his skis and attempted to climb up the short lip of snow to retrieve the lost garment. As this was happening, people on the chair above us saw what was happening and began hootin’ and hollerin’ for him, urging him onto his goal. It became quite a show as he scooped it up, attached it to the back of his helmet in the google snap, and skied down the rest of the mountain pumping his arms as if he’d won the lottery.

We laughed for the next hour. It made for quite a good story to tell the girls on the bus ride home.

Do you have a favorite story from last season? Share your story by commenting below. If we get 40 comments with stories by Sept 1 I’ll pick two lucky winners for some free lift tickets.

Okemo Mountain Resort opens new 9-hole course

On July 27th, 2009 Okemo Mountain Resort added 9-holes of championship golf to the activities at Jackson Gore. With the completion of this new course Okemo now boasts 45 holes of golf at 3 separate courses. Yes, Tater Hill offers 18 holes of Vermont beauty, including the challenging 15th dog-leg hole (I say go for it every time, the 15th is no place to play it safe). Yes, Okemo Valley Golf Club offers a Heathland-style course unlike any other resort course in New England. However, I'm writing today to talk about Okemo's newest addition The Maples. Designed by resident expert Adam Ford and Spring House Mogul K.C. Gandee, with help from Okemo's own mountain operations crew, The Maples offers an educational twist at every tee box. As you work your way around this par-3 course you'll learn about the maple sugaring process that has put Vermont on the map for years.

Here's the catch. Leave your clubs at home, put on your Birkenstock footwear, grow your hair out a little bit, splash some patchouli on, enjoy a Bob Marley tune on your way to the course, and reminisce about the best Phish show you ever saw as you work your way to the start of your DISC GOLF EXPERIENCE.

Your golf game starts at The Spring House where you can pick up a score sheet, greens fees, and rentals for a recession-friendly price of only $5. If you brought your own the price is only $2 for the greens fee! Head out through the courtyard at Jackson Gore to the first tee, located just off the Coleman Brook Express lift. The course will take you up the hill, across the field that is "Inn Bound" in the winter time, and across Coleman Brook on the 8th before ending up by the Snow Stars learning area for the 9th 'hole'.

A few words of wisdom from someone who has had the opportunity to play:
Shorts - good
Shoes - necessary (okay, you can still wear sandals or flip flops, but you might end up in the brush looking for your disc)
Tie-dye shirts - not necessary, but really adds to the experience
Discs - rentals include "The Panther" a long range driver, "The Shark" a mid range disc, and "The Aviar" for your putting and approach shots.

Holes 1 & 2 - do yourself a favor and play to the far right. This will keep you out of the brush (maybe)

Hole 8 - This is where I laid up and played across the bridge instead of through the trees and over the river (sounds like the way to grandma's house). I would suggest this technique for you and your golf buddies. If your buddy (K.C. Gandee) decides to play over the river, make him look for his own disc. Don't help. You're playing against Par, but you're also playing against your teammate.

One more thing. When course designer K.C. Gandee teed off on hole one he looked like this:









But by the time he got through the 8th hole he more closely resembled this:















Disc Golf will change you!

All joking aside, Disc Golf is fun for the whole family. It took us just under an hour to clear 9 holes, and that included a little search and rescue for some 'misplaced' discs (see the note above about holes 1 and 2). We had a great time testing the course and I'm sure I'll be out trying to improve my score sometime next week!

News from The Hill

Last Monday, Garry Vansiclen, Tony Schwartz, Dave Surette and I attended the Pro-Senior Championship at Basin Harbour. As with most Pro-Am’s that we play in, I always think about the great chances we have on winning! This time is no different. With Garry and Tony “trending” to a low handicap and Surette (well with Dave being the SUPER STAR that he is!) this was our big chance.
As we started our long journey, it was ugly!!! Scrambling to make pars, bogying holes… Nothing was happening! After nine holes, Dave comes up with this grand idea to play for a beer. We begin our, now relaxed journey, with Garry and Dave paring with strokes, I birdie the next hole with Dave paring for a net birdie. The next hole we have pars from Tony and Dave that give us 2 net birdies. After two (basic par holes, ho hum!) Tony throws in a snake birdie for a Net 1! Garry proceeds to birdie a par 5 for a net eagle. The next hole is much the same with Tony and Dave making pars for net birdies. On our last hole,(and at this time, Tony and I are up 1 on the beer bet) dave pelts a 7 iron from 150 yards out to about 2 feet for a birdie / net eagle. So overall, we tie for the beer bet and shake hands and head into the club house. As we go into the clubhouse to pass in our card, I see that our score seems to be 3 shots ahead of the nearest competitive team?
As the BBQ was served, and all the cards were signed and passed in, TATER HILL was announced Pro – Sr Net Champions for 2009. Dave had 2 skins that totaled $110.00. Garry’s Eagle held up for a skin that gave him $45.00 and Tony’s Eagle “1” gave him $45.00. The Team Prize gave us all $118.00 each.
After it was said and done, we shot a 2 ball best ball 70 on our first nine and and 58 on the 2nd. It is fun to play with all cylinders firing. And more enjoyable to see 4 men playing a game and making a bad situation GREAT! PRO-SR STATE CHAMPIONS…… That has a great ring to it! And best of all was the beer toast at the end of the day that we all paid for individuallyJ

Jp

Paradise Found!

By a mere chance of fate I found myself at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Ma on Saturday evening at 7:05 pm. I could not have imagined being in the presence of such greatness even 24 hours before. Yes, I am speaking of the inspiration for Okemo's own Parrothead Party (Oct. 10), Mr. Jimmy Buffet.

A close friend found me after the Friday night VSO performance and told that he had just been given four tickets to see Buffet - and did I know of anyone who might be interested in going at such short notice. So, being the good friend that I am, I offered to make the drive with him to Greatwoods and experience Jimmy live.

As much as I love winter, Jimmy Buffet reminds us that summer is a state of mind. We tailgated, caught up with old friends and made new friends. And I'll admit, I tried Land Shark Lager and enjoyed it. I've also learned that we have it on tap at the Friday night concerts at Okemo. (yeah, yeah, shameless plug - I know.)

And I learned something on Saturday, young Jimmy Buffet fans (as in little kids) or children of Parrotheads are know as Parakeets. Too cute. See you in Vermont's Paradise on October 10th. Bring your fin!

I'll be livin' on pastries, lobsters and love all summer long.

..or perhaps a cheeseburger and a cold draft beer.