De-Icing the Lifts and Full Steam Ahead

Greetings,

As I write this, many of our staff are still working on the hill getting lifts and trails open. It was an interesting night of mixed weather. This year has been challenging to say the least, but the hardest issue to deal with is when the lifts are frozen. This requires an all hands on deck response to get things up and going. It is an amazing production of re-grooming trails, cleaning lifts and trying to keep guests and staff informed as to what is going on.

Depending on how much ice there might be, each lift tower might have to be climbed and each chair grip hit with a rubber mallet to loosen the ice. When cleaning the lift towers, each employee wears a safety harness and is hitched in. Radios are used to notify others when to try to move the lift and each man on their tower needs to be sure that the sheaves (wheels) are moving. The biggest challenge is keeping the chairs moving through the top and bottom terminals of the detachable chairlifts. As the chairs go through the terminal, rubber tires move the chair along by pushing the chair grip along on a track. Similar to a car, if there is ice, the tires get to spinning and the chair gets stuck. The secret is to realizing that the chairs are not moving and having enough staff on hand to physically drag the chairs through the terminal and out the other side. The record for chairs stacked up in the terminal is around 6. That guy had to buy drinks for the rest of the crew!

When choosing which lifts to clean first, the mountain manager looks at the options. Most likely, the fixed grip chairlifts are cleaned first and then the detachable. We also take into account what the day is looking like in regards to skiers & riders as well what the weather might be during the day. It is easier to get the lifts going and keep them going even if they won’t be used during the day.

I also wanted to update you on the status of the Okemo Half pipe. Okemo has begun construction on our half pipe. While this year’s pipe won’t be a Super pipe, we are anticipating that the half pipe will be 14 feet tall and over 350 feet long. Snow has been made at the top of the pipe and while there is some more snow that needs to be made, we are well on our way to having a half pipe. Anticipated opening is the middle of next week.

The entire Okemo staff has been working hard to deal with the challenges this year and try to outsmart Mother Nature. Hopefully you, our guests have realized this effort and have not been impacted too much. Snowmaking continues as we are heading into February. Thanks for your support.


As always thanks for skiing and riding with us. If you want to follow what is going on from my desk, follow me on twitter @okemogm


See you on the slopes,

Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM

A day in the Life of Okemo behind the scenes....

Greetings,

Guests come to Okemo for skiing and riding and we work hard to provide the best experience possible. The sun comes up, the lifts get turned on, the snow is groomed and presto, guests are skiing. While it is great if it all works that way, there are many moving parts before any one takes “First Chair” and can head out to the slopes. In an effort to give you an understanding of what happens, here is an example of an overview of 24 hours.

6:00pm
Grooming has been going on for 2 hours. There are normally 5-6 snowcats on the slopes who are mountain tilling and power tilling. On a normal day, the grooming will begin in Solitude and get Jackson Gore done and then head towards the middle of the mountain. Late shift Lift maintenance is taking care of lift issues from the day or doing mid-winter annual checks.

8:30pm
Night Manager Brian Boudro has arrived and is having his nightly phone call with Mountain Manager Eb Kinney. Discussion centers on what is happening around the mountain and anything special that needs to be done during the night. Brian, as the Night Manager, will coordinate the grooming & snowmaking and handle snow removal, lost people, fire alarms and just about anything else. If it snows and the parking lot is plowed when you get to Okemo, it is probably because of Brian.

9:45pm
Snowmaking Manager Ray Kennedy is probably calling his night foreman “Junior” to check on what is going on before Ray goes to bed. Many Okemo managers will check in on their operations during their off time to make sure things are going OK. It is a real team mentality to make the guest experience the best possible on the mountain.

11:40pm
Overnight groomers and snowmakers arrive and punch in. They will meet with the 2nd shift or “3pm” groomers and take over where they left off. If the night is normal, then the overnight team will groom from Nor’easter to South Face. Many nights are not normal and the grooming routine will be different. Snowmakers will do the same thing and get the game plan. There may be some gun moving, as well as shutting down and moving to a new trail during the night.

2:00am
Water operations Supervisor Rod Miller arrives. He will begin testing of the Okemo potable water systems, perform routine maintenance as well as check all the Okemo water well stations around the resort.

4:00-6:00am
The day shift staff and managers begin to arrive. This includes lift operations supervisors, mountain managers, snowmaking management, ski patrol, lift maintenance, lift electricians, terrain park, facilities operation, shuttle operations, road maintenance, vehicle mechancis and others. Snowmobiles are started, trucks get moving and the day operation begins to wake up.

7:06am
Night Manager Brian Boudro heads home after putting in his day.

8:31am
Overnight groomers are back at the maintenance shop,  have refueled snowcats, and have had their daily conversation with the snowcat mechanics on any issues they had last night.

8:58am
Ski patrol has looked at all the trails, lift maintenance is riding their lifts (every chairlift is ridden every day), and skiing and riding is happening.

10:01am
Water operations supervisor heads home.

11:40am
Noon snowmakers shift have arrived and are debriefing the midnight shift. Gun locations are discussed, trails for night snowmaking are talked about and any issues are put on the board.

3:31pm
Afternoon grooming shift arrives and heads out on the slopes. Night facilities maintenance arrives and reviews issues with the day crew. The night facilities guys will be responsible for maintenance at the Jackson Gore Inn, Okemo facilities and many condo units.

4:03pm
Ski patrol begins sweep of the trails. Toboggans are put away, ropes coiled and bamboo markers put to the side of the trail.

4:35pm
The night cleaning staff begins working in the base lodges as well as begin to unload the food and beverage product and prepare it for transport by snowcat to the summit lodge and sugar house.

4:00-6:00pm
The day comes to an end for lift operations supervisors, mountain managers, snowmaking management, ski patrol, lift maintenance, lift electricians, terrain park, facilities operation, shuttle operations, road maintenance, vehicle mechanics and others. Snowmobiles are put away, trucks parked and the day operation wraps up for the day.

So there you have it, a quick overview of what goes on during a 24 hour period at Okemo. It is because of the above mentioned staff as well as so many others that the skiing and grooming is top notch, the lifts operate and are maintained, the trails are patrolled and the facilities operate.

The entire Okemo staff have been working hard to deal with the challenges this year and try to outsmart mother nature. Hopefully you, our guests have realized this effort and have not been impacted too much. Snowmaking continues as we are heading into February. Thanks for your support.

As always thanks for skiing and riding with us. If you want to follow what is going on from my desk, follow me on twitter @okemogm

See you on the slopes.

Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM

Staying the Course...

Greetings,

Mother nature finally came through with some snow. 5-6 inches was forecasted for Thursday and then it kept snowing. There was a lull on Friday and then more snow Friday night and then into Saturday morning. 10 – 12 inches of new snow is always welcome.




We have compiled some data on snowfall and temperatures for the months of November and December:

Season-to-date snowfall – For the months of Nov. and Dec. Okemo received less than a third of normal accumulations (21.2” this season vs. 68.4” avg. of last 4 years a
decrease of 31%).

Season-to-date temperatures – Nov. & Dec. were 5.1° & 5.7° above normal respectively while the first 13 days of January were 8.2 ° above normal.

As you can tell things have been different this year. Of course to add on top of this the snow we got melted 4 times so the net impact has been 0”natural snowpack! As for the temperatures, when hovering at 32°, this is literally the difference between making snow and not chance of making snow!

So what have we been doing about it? Here are some stats:

--Hours of snowmaking are about 75% of last year. We will be continuing to make while temperatures permit

--We have pumped about half the amount of water we normally would have at this time. Obviously due to less hours and the temperatures being above normal.

--And we have had about half of our normal acre foot production. Due to the information above.


The entire Okemo staff have been working hard to deal with the challenges this year and try to outsmart mother nature. Hopefully you, our guests have realized this effort and have not been impacted too much. We appreciate your allegiance and hanging with us.

You may see a few operational changes around the resort, but for the most part, our plan is to stay the course and continue to provide the best possible skiing and riding experience possible and we will continue to make snow. As always thanks for skiing and riding with us. If you want to follow what is going on from my desk, follow me on twitter @okemogm

See you on the slopes

Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM

Looking into the Crystal Ball.....

Greetings,

I’ve stopped complaining about
the weather. I was told when I was young
to only worry about things you can control.
No doubt the weather is out of our control. Okemo is continuing to make snow when we can.
We are well on our way to the 400 million gallon number that we normally use
for snowmaking each year. Snowmaking
will continue to be aggressive as temperatures permit. Okemo snowmaking has been working on
completing the snowmaking trails and we now are headed to the Morningstar
trails, Upper and Lower Nor’easter as well as finish up some of the smaller cut
thru’s. 25.7 miles are now open for
skiing and riding.

With the sporadic snowmaking
temperatures we have faced during the season, the Grooming staff has been
bringing the trails back to life each night.
We are doing a trail or two a night with the winch cat. When this
process is done, the winch cat either hitches off another cat at the top of a
steep trail or hitches into a cable which is drilled into the ledge during the
summer. The winch cat then brings the
snow up from the bottom to help spread the snow out. Midday grooming is also happening on most
weekends to freshen up the snow and enhance the skiing and riding experience.

Looking at the long range
weather, my crystal ball is showing a change.
I anticipate a change beginning after Martin Luther King weekend and
looking colder and stormier. We are
hoping to begin making snow in the Superpipe during the next cold snap. Everyone should also be on the lookout for the
Amp Air Bag. This unique feature will allow skiers and riders to ski down a
ramp and do your favorite trick and land in an airbag similar to what Hollywood
stunt men use. Should be fun to do and
watch.

As always thanks for skiing and
riding with us. If you want to follow what is going on from my desk, follow me
on twitter @okemogm


Happy Holidays and see you on
the slopes……….


Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM

Spreading a little post-holiday cheer

No doubt the last week has been challenging. I am super proud of the Okemo team for making it through the week. So many employees went above and beyond to make the Okemo experience the best it could be. Here are a few nice notes I received...

I was not sure who best to send this to, so I will ask you to forward on to the right person. I just wanted to send a great big thank you and job well done to Mountain Operations and the grooming team. I am a Ski Instructor based at Jackson Gore. I was so impressed with the conditions this past week, when you consider the challenge Mother Nature gave us. We may have had limited terrain and yet what we had was safe and skiable. I was able to find fun and teachable terrain for my clients and we had a great week. That would not have happened without the tremendous effort put forth by the grooming and ski patrol teams. So again please pass on my personal note of thanks.

Barbara Newton
Ski Instructor – Jackson Gore

---

Hello Shannon-
I would like to thank you again for working with me to re-book the lift tickets and lessons for our 5 kids this morning. I know how difficult days like today can be with bad weather on holiday weekends and having customers like me who "didn't know" can only compound the problem. I also saw and heard you dealing with a particularly offensive man before me and you are to be commended for your handling of that situation as well. (I'm not sure I would have been as polite as you were after he
started swearing at you...)

Anyway, thank you again for accommodating us with a smile and we look forward to coming back here many more times.

Very sincerely,
Erik Liebegott

---

I teach snowboarding at the Jackson Gore base. Late this morning I happened to be along the Coleman Brook trail with private lesson clients as the mid-day groomers traveled up the trail, leaving behind a terrific new snow surface. The four grooming machine cast an impressive image in their own right, but the accompanying team of snowmobiles, ski patrollers, safety patrollers, and mountain ambassadors is truly awe inspiring. I can’t imagine how much choreography is required to move that team around the mountain so efficiently, but golly-gosh it is an impressive show.

I know our guests appreciate the freshly groomed snow at lunchtime, but even more than that, witnessing the massive Okemo Snow-tilla gives them a firsthand look at the skill and professionalism of our mountain operations team, and helps them understand how important this often hidden work-group is to their Okemo experience.

Please share my appreciation, and please pass along the wonderment of my Ski and Ride School clients. Everybody involved in the mid-day grooming operation deserves a big pat on the back!

Tom Buchanan

---

12/30,

Mom called at 4 pm to book a snow star lesson for 12/31. She hadn't intended to book for tomorrow when...little Owen....stated "I have to go back!" He had such a good time and didn't want to miss tomorrow.

His instructor today was Phil Peterson in Snow Stars. Just thought you'd like to hear a nice report from a parent!!!!

Fredda in the Call Center

---

Finally this one is a bit small, but I thought it was worthy of sharing.




Good job everyone,
Bruce

Makin' it Happen

Greetings,

These past few days have seen some different types of skiing no doubt. The old adage of we can’t catch a break is having some true meaning this year. Snowmaking has been continuing aggressively when the temperatures permit. The Okemo snowmakers have been on almost every trail that was opened during the wet weather and resurfaced it with new snow. The skiing was better no doubt on Thursday than it was on Wednesday.

Grooming has been working non-stop to keep up with the snowmaking that is being done. The cats were working on Stump Jumper during the day (Thursday) to get the trail opened in the afternoon. The guys have also been putting in some extra time doing the mid-day groom. There have been positive comments on the mid-day grooming. This is a real commitment from Okemo Mountain to our guests to try and keep the conditions a little better during the ski day.

There have been some questions on the completion of the lodging trails. These ski in/ski out trails are important and we realize that it has been a challenge for some homeowners and guests with not having this direct access. Our plan continues to be to put snow on these trails as soon as possible. Some of the guns we have been using in the South Face area will be moved into some of these lodging trails.

The snowmaking plan for the next few days will be to make snow on Upper and Lower Chief, Sachem, Heaven’s Gate, Exhibition, Boomerang, Moon Shadow, and then head towards Quantum Leap and Vortex next week. The long range forecast is for good snowmaking temperatures during the first week of 2012

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank you for skiing and riding with us during this holiday week and the ski season. Remember Okemo has the "MOST" skiing in Vermont and we’ve got the most snow.

Happy Holidays and see you on the slopes...


Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM

MOST Snow

Greetings,

I wrote an apology letter to Old
Man winter. I expressed my sincere apologies for all the bad things I have said
about him through my life. The letter
came back as undeliverable! Now that is
concerning…. So back to reality. Okemo has the MOST snow around and we are
proud of it. Heck, even the Abominable
snowman has taken residence at Okemo because we have the snow!

Snowmaking is continuing to be
aggressive. We have been able to open 46
trails which is over 17 miles of ski and ride able terrain. 16 lifts are operating on several mountain
areas. Our plan will be to make snow on
terrain such as Stump Jumper, Vortex, Quantum Leap, Kettle Brook, Chute, and
Lower Chief as well as on existing terrain.
We are well aware of the need to resurface on some of the more popular
trails with snowmaking to keep the skiing and riding up to par. Although there may be some time of no
snowmaking during the next 24 hours or so, once snowmaking resumes on
Wednesday, we are optimistic of having open 50 – 52 trails by the New Year’s
weekend.

Our experiment with mid-day
grooming has been working out well. In
case you don’t know, Okemo has been taking the groomers out around noon and
grooming a few trails to enhance the surface.
This is an effort to make the experience of skiing at Okemo better
during this holiday week.

Work will continue as quickly as
possible on the ski in/ski out trails. There
is no one set of trails more important than the other. We have discussed how we
can best utilize our snowmaking system, length of trail; air capacity and time
of getting snow on the trails as we make decisions on were to make snow.

As the New Year approaches, I wanted to wish everyone a
Happy New Year and thank you for skiing and riding with us during this holiday
week and the ski season. Remember Okemo
has the “MOST” skiing in Vermont and we’ve got the most snow

Happy Holidays and see you on
the slopes……….


Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM