Snowmaker to the Rescue

Okemo Mountain Resort operates on a 24/7 schedule 365 days a year. Sure, during the winter months we open a ski area during the daylight hours, but there is so much more that happens throughout the night. In fact, most times our guests are not even aware - but there is always something going on.

On the day of the big snow storm last week (Dec 26-27th) a guest who was staying at Trailside had her two beagles escape from their unit. Of course the wind was howling and the snow blowing, making it nearly impossible to find them. She called Okemo and the word went out to the night staff to be on the look out for these two dogs. Unfortunately those little characters weren’t seen at all that night... they must have had their nose to the ground looking for rabbits!

Well on the evening of January 2nd Jason Burton (who was the snowmaker on the noon to midnight shift) spotted them on the Buckhorn trail. He immediately called Brian Boudrou, our Night Operations Manager and he came and picked the dogs up and took them down into his office for the night. He laid some jackets on the floor and turned the heat up. Except for a few porcupine quills from an encounter in the woods, they weren’t too worse for the wear - just two very tired pups.

Brian called the owner the next morning, who was ecstatic to learn they had been found. He then arranged them to be transported to the local animal clinic where they could be looked over while awaiting their "people".

Many thanks to Brian, Jason and the entire Night Operations crew - you went above and beyond in making this happy ending.

Bruce

Weather, Wind and What's Ahead

The year 2011 began with our first January thaw. I guess we should have expected such a "gift" since the weather has been ever changing for the past 6 weeks. One major snow storm, some mixed precipitation and a very cold December. Typical weather in Vermont. But a quick turnaround is the name of the game here, and snowmaking was back on as of last night. Our focus will be on both re-surfacing and patching existing terrain and working on new terrain.

Trails that have been open the longest will get first priority. These include Upper and Lower World Cup, Sapphire, Defiance as well as Upper and Lower Arrow and the base area. Some trails will get the full treatment and others will receive attention in certain sections, depending upon need. The weekend's warm weather opened up some thin spots on heavy traffic areas, so it will be obvious as to were we need to make snow.

New terrain to focus on will include the Pipe, Dream Weaver and the lift line trails. We will also revisit our slopeside lodging trails and do what we can to keep them open.

Now to wind. It goes without saying that our thoughts are with those who were injured in the Sugarloaf ski lift accident. Since that accident many of our guests have asked us what the wind procedures are at Okemo.

First, our Lift Maintenance department is staffed with top notch, experienced lift mechanics. Our Head Mechanic has been with Okemo for 20 years. His longevity is a strength not to be underestimated. He and his staff ride each lift everyday and focus on preventative maintenance all year long. Okemo's commitment to safety is both well-documented and respected in the industry.



Ski lifts are affected both by direction and speed of wind. Whenever there is a potential for a lift to be shutdown due to wind, our lift mechanics and mountain operations staff team up to constantly monitor the situation. Mechanics are vigilant to watch changing weather, operations staff ride the lift line on snowmobile to constantly assess conditions, and our ski patrol (riding the lifts) maintain a direct line of communication with mechanics. At any point any member of the team feels that wind is causing dangerous conditions they have full support to cease lift operations. Constant vigilance is not only very important, it is a priority.

This past week was very busy and hopefully you were able to enjoy some great skiing and riding. Receiving a snowstorm around Christmas is always a blessing and helped enhance the holiday week. The Okemo staff will now be working on making things better as we head into January. Thanks for your support and feel free to drop a note on how we are doing.

Bruce

Okemo Groomer Featured in Popular Mechanics

"After suffering through a day's worth of skiers, a resort's slopes can be in disarray, full of uneven trails and clumps. To get them back to prime skiing condition, resorts employ snow groomers—big, hulking plow-like machines that use massive engines to push snow back up steep inclines. On a recent visit to Vermont's Okemo Mountain Resort, we got to ride in the passenger seat of one of the biggest and baddest ones on the market—the Prinoth BR500, or simply "The Beast," as Okemo's employees call it."

Read the full article.

Holiday Update from the Hill

This time of the year around a ski resort is busy. New staff to be trained, weather to contend with and at the same time, we all have our own busy lives preparing for Christmas. It is an exciting time.

As we head into the holiday week after Christmas, we anticipate skiing and riding on 80 trails and operating 18 lifts. The snowmakers are receiving a well-deserved day off around Christmas, it has been 14 days straight for them working! We will be firing the snowguns back up beginning on Monday.


From all reports, the skiing has been good. I have been out a couple times this week and found some good surface, a couple trails a little firm in the middle, but all in all from the edge of one side to the edge of the other, the skiing was mid-winter conditions. The snowmaking effort has been non-stop and our plan during the holiday week is to begin resurfacing some of the terrain. The idea is to make snow for a window of time and then let it be skied. Also in our plan will be to begin making snow on Dream Weaver & Easy Rider (since Upper Mountain Road from Easy Rider on down is skiable).

Some other tidbits...
--Moguls will be seeded on Sel’s choice and Big Bang over the weekend
--The Pipe will continue to get snow, with opening targeted for early January
--The Nor’easter Park will open Saturday with plenty of jumps, rails & features
--Snowmaking will also begin on Black Out & Ledges within the near future.

The Timber Ripper Alpine Mountain Coaster has opened and everyone is very excited. A big round of applause for all the hard work and extra effort that all the Okemo Staff put into this as well as the staff of Wiegand Coasters and Alpine Recreation Ventures. We could not have done this project with out their support or the support of our guests.

All of us here at Okemo want to wish all our faithful skiers and riders a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season.

Bruce Schmidt
VP and GM
Okemo Mountain Resort

Got a nice present...

I've taken a lot of heat the past few weeks on getting the real estate trails open, so when I got this message yesterday it made my day. Thought I would share it:

Dave from Kettle Brook here.

First much thanks for getting KB trail open!

Second, your mountain ops team deserves high praise for the outstanding conditions. I was lucky enough to be the first skier over at South Face this AM, and the conditions were absolutely spectacular. Not what I expected for the first day of skiing on those trails.

Right now you have some of the best conditions I've seen for this time of year in a number of years which is saying a lot considering the lack of significant natural snow to date... Granted we've had a good spell of cold weather but so has your regional competition and right now you are providing a far superior product. It's not
always about the number of open trails, but the quality of what's on those trails.. and right now your guys have nailed it.

Merry Christmas to you
and your team!

Dave & Cathy
Kettle Brook

For tonight, snowmaking will continue on Big Bang, Eclipse, Tuckered Out and Southern Crossing. (Our snowmakers should have an awesome view of the eclipse!)
We anticipate opening the Morning Star lift and trails by Friday. For the holiday week look for Dreamweaver and snow tubing to come online. And last but not least... look for the Timber Ripper to open before Christmas. As soon as I have the day, I will pass it along.


Take care,
Bruce

Grooming - the unsung hero

I’ve had several guests mention to me that the skiing and riding conditions have been better than what they expected after the weather conditions the past 10 days or so. That is great to hear. To say that this early season has been a difficult one in terms of weather is an understatement. Our first measurable snowfall was actually the second week of December!

Following an early season weather event we have the luxury of being able to go back and make snow on the small number of trails that are open. When we have 50 or more trails open, it is just not possible, especially if we are also trying to open new skiable terrain. Enter grooming.

The groomers have several ways to work their magic in this circumstance. The first option is blading the trail. This entails bringing snow in from the side of the trail and working it back into the middle. This brings fresher crystal and better snow back into skiable areas. Another option is to run the blade deeper than normal while mountain tilling. This brings more snow up to the surface to be worked over. Another trick used on steeper trails is called "winching" the trail. This is a little more complicated.


The winch cat is a groomer with a large spool of cable on a drum on the middle of the machine. This cable is attached to another grooming machine, a tree, or in some cases a cable inserted into the ground (during summer months). By regulating the winch cat's speed while maintaining tension on the cable, the cat operator can pull himself up the trail with minimal spinning and a full blade of snow. This tactic allows the groomers to bring snow which is at the bottom of a trail, back up to the upper half of the terrain.

Okemo groomers are second to none. Essentially they are the caretakers of our snow. The two work in tandem, each relying on the other to make our snow surface the very best it can be.

Back to snowmaking. We are now blowing snow in the South Face area and anticipate opening up that area this coming weekend. Snowmaking has also begun on (drumroll please......) Sachem and the Superpipe! I am also hopeful that the other slopeside trails will be open by the weekend. Our next step will be making snow on Tuckered Out and heading down towards the Morning Star lift - with the goal of having that area open for skiing and riding around Christmas.

I continue to thank you for all your support and comments. We realize we are only as good as our last run, and continue to work hard to meet your expectations.

Happy Holidays.


Bruce Schmidt
VP and GM
Okemo Mountain Resort

When are we opening Sachem, and other snowmaking objectives

People ask me if I get out skiing at all. The answer is somewhat. I try to get out on the slopes 2-3 times a week, but unfortunately it doesn’t always happen. Tim and Diane [Mueller] encourage managers to get out and experience the snow so we can better answer guest’s questions and concerns. Barry Tucker and Eb Kinney, our VP of Mountain Ops and Mountain Manager also try to get out the same each week so they know what is going on. I haven’t gotten out this year yet, but plan to this weekend.

Besides "when will Sachem open", the most frequently asked question I get right now is what is the snowmaking plan?. Our goal right now is to get as many different types of terrain open as we can before December 26th. That means beginner, intermediate and expert trails. How we make that happen is essentially based on the weather forecast.

The forecast for the next 48-72 hours is usually the most accurate forecast, and the one we look to constantly. If the forecast is showing winter temperatures in the teens or below, the tendency is to go after the larger trails with more acreage that require more snow. If the temps are not as cold, we may look towards the shorter trails. At any one time, we have trail objectives for the lower mountain, mid-mountain and upper mountain so when the temperature is right, we are ready to move.

By this weekend we are hopeful to have Upper and Lower Chief open as well as Sidewinder. Nor’easter will be very close behind (BTW don't forget to get your P.S.P Pass, now required for entry into Nor'easter). Being 16 days from Christmas, we are also making sure that some of our snowmaking fire power is directed toward maintenance of trails that have already opened. Maintaining the surface on those trails, while at times challenging, is very important.

Another important objective is to make sure we get snow made on the trails with slopeside homes. Sachem will definitely be the one we head to as our mid mountain objective with the Kettle Brook and Ledgwood areas being our lower mountain objective. We complete the loop by heading over to the trails in the Morningstar/Solitude area.

Bottom line is that every single trail is important to us as well as you. We do our best to prioritize and balance what we feel will make the best skiing and riding experience possible. Please continue to let us know about your skiing and riding experiences and Happy Holiday’s.

Bruce Schmidt
VP and GM
Okemo Mountain Resort