It takes a Village

Hello,

As the General Manager of Okemo it is expected that I know many things.  When it is going to snow? When is a trail going to open?  When will winter arrive?  Do I know so and so who works in this department?  The list goes on. Now I would say I know most of the answers, or can use my wit and wisdom to convince someone I think I know, but the truth is that I am only as good as the employees who work with me.  Okemo is actually another word for TEAM and that is what we have here.  I talk about snowmakers, groomers and the mountain operations staff a lot, but there are so many others who make my job easier and do so much to make the Okemo experience what it is.  During this Holiday season it is even more important to be grateful for all that everyone does in our lives, and I will surely say that there are so many who make me look good and make Okemo what it is.

 

 

I will answer some of the questions I got this week:

When will Sachem be open? 

The plan is to head there next week after we leave the bulk of Jackson Gore. The snowmakers will continue to make snow in Jackson Gore to get more skiing in that pod as well as the base area, but a bulk of our snowmaking capacity will be heading to other areas such as the middle of the mountain, main base area and towards Rimrock.

When will snow be made on Nor’easter?

Nor’easter takes a lot of snow, so we like to begin there when the temperatures are going to be in the single digits or low teens for an extended period of time.  Between Nor’easter and Upper Chief, the plan will be to begin on one of them as soon as there is some extended cold.

How many trails for this weekend?

The plan is up to 40 slopes and trails with 8 lifts.  Jackson Gore will be opening this weekend with all the services from the Jackson Gore base area.

What is going on with the Terrain parks?

We want to get the terrain parks open as soon as we can. Again, it becomes an issue of snowmaking temperatures.  The park staff has done a great job with making things work on Sapphire, but it is not ideal and we understand that. 

When will the Waffle Cabin open in Jackson Gore?

Saturday!!!!!

As always, keep the questions coming on Facebook, our competent staff will get right back to you as soon as we can.  We are all in this together and it is because of the great Okemo staff and you as skiers and riders that make Okemo what it is!!! Think snow and Happy Holidays.

Feel free to let me know how we are doing and enjoy the snow.

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM

Why I hate Fog and other tidbits........

Hello,

I’m not going to talk about Snowmaking until the very end of my blog to see if we can change our luck!!!   So if you read about the negative NAO tilt and the Arctic Air LaNina syndrome (I made that one up) it would lead you to believe that there is science for all of these weather happenings……….  I think it is a cycle and we are about to break out of it…….

To be honest, I hate fog more than rain. Fog has a tendency to hurt the snow more than liquid precipitation. With the liquid stuff, there is more draining off of the snow, fog seems to eat the snow.  So rain is bad, fog is worse and cold is great.   The other thing that makes a difference in these weather events is manmade snow vs. natural snow. Manmade stands up much better to different weather than natural.  Natural snow is a lot more water and will disappear quicker in the sun, rain or fog.  Think about the last time you had snow on your lawn and woke up the next day and it was gone? 

Christmas is 17 days away.  I’m pretty optimistic that we will be in good shape as the holiday week begins.  The good news is that our other departments are working hard to get their areas ready for the influx of guests.  The mountain operations staff is getting some other lifts ready to operate and we are taking lodging reservations to beat the band.  It is coming together.

Skiing can be enjoyed in all weather!

Noah Schmidt & Dave Creaser

 

So what about snowmaking???   It is going to return at 9:17pm on Tuesday night!  Well that is a guess, but it is going to return.  The snowmakers have made some headway into Jackson Gore.  There is quite a bit more to go, but it is coming along. I would anticipate skiing into Jackson Gore by next weekend.  The plan is to also go "snowmaking strong" on many more trails especially in the middle of the mountain and begin to pick off some of the lodging trails.  We have a long term plan, but each day we reevaluate and see what is going to be the most efficient and best use of our system.  There are a lot of options and you can be assured that myself, Eb our Mountain Manager, Barry our VP of Mountain Ops and Ray our Snowmaking manager hash out a viable plan each day and then adjust as needed.

Feel free to let me know how we are doing and enjoy the snow.

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM

Heading into December

Hello,

I looked at the calendar and I was reminded that today is the last day of November.  Hard to believe…..  I’m not going to bore you with the, “this year is better than last year”.. stuff, you’ve heard all of that and know that this year we had around 5 times as many trails this year vs last...(4 in 2011, 20 in 2012) . I will say that this year has been interesting. Snowmaking has been sporadic and I’m really happy with where we are with trail count at this time. Raymond and his staff have done a tremendous job!  The temperature has been all over the place this past week. You could see the temperature go up as soon as the clouds rolled in.  Then we would chase the temperatures up the mountain with snowmaking guns and back down in the early morning. The snowmakers were on the move this week making adjustments.  This time of the year is tough to move around as they need to use their walking sticks, 4-wheelers or snowmobiles depending on where we are making snow.

 

The plan will be to ski into Solitude on Saturday morning.  It looks like we will be skiing Heaven’s Gate and Coleman Brook and then down onto Mountain Road. From there to get back to Solitude, you will ski the rest of Mountain Road to Lower Arrow and then down Lower Arrow to Village Run and the base of the Solitude Express.  Also looking to add Upper Fall line, Sprint and Moments Rest from the Glades Peak Quad chairlift area.

With these weather patterns, the groomers are really doing their part.  They are out there every night and each morning cleaning up from skiing or snowmaking.  There are only 3-4 working right now depending on the day.  The groomers are also helping out the night custodial staff by getting them up to the summit lodge as well as helping deliver food to the summit lodge.  During a normal winter week we make 2 -3 food deliveries a week and the trash is also brought down each night.  A lot goes on during the night by this dedicated crew of staff.

Making snow in Solitude early morning

Looking at the Crystal ball, it would seem that there will be some downtime for the snowmakers for a couple days after this weekend with snowmaking looking to begin again Tuesday night into Wednesday.  Jackson Gore will be on the list as well as finishing the rest of Sapphire as well as Screamin Demon and also heading towards Lower Chief, Wardance, and Open Slope and begin looking at some of the Slopeside lodging trails.  There are many priorities and we are constantly shuffling and moving around.  This time of the year, there is a lot of chasing the temperatures!

Thanks as always for your support and I'd love to hear how we are doing.

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM

22-25 trails by the weekend!

Coming out of Thanksgiving weekend we are right smack in the middle of some cold weather and making snow 24/7. The skiing has been really good since we opened. The mountain ops staff and snowmakers brought back the conditions very nicely on Saturday after warmer weather changed quickly to a cold and freeze cycle. The conditions on Saturday, while not perfect, were pretty good considering the changing weather patterns. Snowmaking began early Saturday morning and on some trails, guests were enjoying the slopes while the guns were running. This isn’t something we normally do, but we felt it was important to help the conditions in some locations. Snowmaking will continue to be aggressive as we head into the first weekend of December. Our goal this weekend is to get the Solitude area opened up and then head towards Jackson Gore as well as some of the lower mountain trails like Wardance, Lower Chief & Open Slope. I anticipate having 22 – 25 trails for weekend skiing and riding.

I have been asked about the next 30 days which will be Christmas Day, and what is going to happen with snowmaking and skiing terrain. While it is hard to predict, I can assure everyone that we will work hard to meet our objectives. We will be heading towards trails in all parts of the resort. There are questions on the slopeside trails. Our plan will be to work on these as we go to the different pods. I can assure everyone that we realize the need to get those trails done quickly and will be doing all we can to make this happen.

Thank you to all our season passholders who attended the annual appreciation party this past Saturday evening. It was great to see so many returning guests and new faces. Okemo season passholders are a hardy bunch and very loyal to Okemo, and we appreciate your support.

Thank-you to everyone who supported our Hurricane Sandy Relief effort. Okemo will be making a significant donation to the Red Cross in the Tri-state area. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this weather event and especially the Okemo guests who were affected.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the snow.

Bruce Schmidt
Okemo GM

The Plan, the Pricing + the Parks

Greetings,

It looks like the snowmakers are going to be able to spend Thanksgiving Day sharing their feast with their families. This is great for them, but not for the rest of us. Warmer temperatures have migrated in to the area and it looks like the guns will be off until Saturday. The forecast for the weekend is colder temperatures returning on Saturday. When that happens, we will be firing up the snow guns.

The snowmaking plan will continue to be shoring up existing terrain and expanding as quickly as possible. We are planning to finish up Jolly Green Giant and Lower Arrow. There is also some work to be done in the base area off of the top of Quad A. New terrain that will be worked on will include Sunburst, Escape, Defiance. We will then head towards Solitude and Rimrock. The temperatures will dictate where we are headed and how much can be accomplished. Some of the longer range objectives will include Wardance, Lower Chief, Open Slope, and the Galaxy Bowl and of course Jackson Gore after December 1st. We will also be looking at beginning work on some of the slopeside trails around the resort as we head into December. The team looks at what will be best for skiers and riders as well as flow around the resort.

There have been questions on how we decide on ticket pricing. When deciding ticket prices I discuss with our VP of Marketing and Director of Operations some different scenarios. We try to find a balance of the value of the product, competition and market constraints. I feel that guests know that there is an expense to the skiing product which is being offered and expect to pay between 30 – 40% of a normal day ticket in early season. They also understand how the steps happen as more terrain is added. There are numerous discussions on these step increases and we are working on trying to make fewer steps, but at greater amounts as we work towards the normal ticket prices. The other factor we face is that many guests use vouchers or coupons during the early season, so many do not pay even our full-discounted price. I realize we won’t please everyone and there will always be naysayers, but in the end I feel our review and thought process is sound and fair.

Some have asked about the terrain features on Sapphire. Sapphire is a normal trail we use early season. Eb Kinney, Okemo's Mountain Manager; Dennis Brady, Park Manager; and John Boudro, our Park Groomer all work hard to provide a good early- season park that can mesh with the skiing public. We appreciate your support in our parks and understanding of the need to share the trails as we work to add terrain.

Reminder that Okemo will be supporting Hurricane Sandy relief beginning on Friday, Nov 23 and running thru Sunday, Nov 25. The first 1000 guests who give $50 or more in donation to the relief fund will receive a voucher for a midweek ticket good any day during the season. This comes on the heels of Okemo's $10,000 donation to the tri-state area Red Cross to benefit those in need after the storm. Help us raise more than $50,000 in support of our neighbors who were affected. This is Okemo's way of thanking those loyal guests as well as everyone who supported and helped Okemo, Ludlow and Vermont after Hurricane Irene last year.

Happy Thanksgiving, thanks for your support, and enjoy the snow.

Bruce Schmidt Okemo GM

What a difference a year makes......

Greetings,

What a difference a year makes!   Last year Okemo wasn’t even open until Thanksgiving day!  Things are looking so much better for the season of 2012-13.  Good snowmaking temperatures have allowed the Okemo snowmakers to lay down snow so we are skiing top to bottom.  We are taking the scenic route to the skiing with the F-10 carpet, Sachem Quad and Northstar or Glades being used to get to the summit.  If you decide to ski on Sachem and Timberline, you will need to take the Green Ridge Triple to get back up to the summit.

I get asked quite often what the best temperature for snowmaking is.  The answer begins with below 20 degrees.  Above 20 degrees there are more factors with humidity.  We are constantly monitoring the “wet bulb” temperature which factors the ambient temperature and the humidity.  The lower humidity, the higher ambient temperature can be to make snow.

The long range forecast is for seasonal temperatures and sunny skies. So much for November being the cloudiest month of the year. This November has been sunny since we got out of the first week.  Good news although some colder temperatures would be welcome. 

 



(Many thanks to Ski Instructor Courtney McGuire for sharing this photo with us as she was traveling from Boston to Rutland on Cape Air.)

The plan for snowmaking continues to be heading towards Solitude with our snowguns. Sunburst is being worked on as I write this.  The base area objective will be to get skiing off of one of the base quads and to complete snowmaking on Lower Arrow down mountain road to the Northstar.  The word from the slopes is that the skiing has been very good for early season opening. The snowmakers have done their job, but now it is the groomers who are responsible for keeping the conditions up to snuff!  Snowmaking in the Jackson Gore area will begin as soon as possible after midnight on 12/1.  Due to permit conditions, we are unable to make snow over there on the state land prior to 12/1.

Reminder that Okemo will be supporting Hurricane Sandy relief beginning on Friday 11/23 and running thru Sunday 11/25. The first 1000 guests who give a $50 or more donation to the relief fund will receive a voucher for a midweek ticket good any day during the season. This comes on the heels of Okemos $10,000 donation to the Tri-state area Red Cross to benefit those in need after the storm.  Help us raise more than $50,000 in support for our neighbors who were affected.  This is Okemos way of thanking those loyal guests as well as everyone who supported and helped Okemo, Ludlow and Vermont after Hurricane Irene last year.

For all of you who have Thanks for your support and enjoy the snow.

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM

Okemo Full Steam Ahead

Greetings,

 

By now you know that Okemo has opened for the season!  It was a yeoman’s effort from everyone. While the snowmakers and groomers were doing their job, the rest of the staff were hard at work getting everything ready to open 10 days early.  There are so many departments which must work together to get the resort up and going.  They were all given 48 hours’ notice and pulled it off great.  It is like trying to get the train going, it takes some time, but once it gets moving, it keeps on chugging along.

We have had some good weather for snowmaking and this has allowed our snowmakers to move quickly.  This weekend we are at 7 trails and 2 lifts. While we are continuing to shuttle up to the Northstar lift, I am glad to say that we are no longer downloading as World Cup is open from top to bottom. 

 

 

So where are we headed?  For the next few days it looks like the snowmakers will have a couple days off.  Snowmaking temps look to be returning by Tuesday night.  Once the temperatures return, the plan will be to patch up needed areas on existing terrain and then head for new terrain. We are very close, probably just one night of snowmaking away, from completing the Sapphire, Upper Arrow, Double Dipper connection down into the base of the Green Ridge Triple.  Once this is the plan will be to begin to expand towards Solitude as well as the Rimrock area.  This time of the year we have to follow the temperatures and normally that means up on the summit areas.  If there are any temperatures in the base area, we will head there as our number #1 goal will be to have top to bottom skiing from the base area.  We are very optimistic about having much more terrain for the Thanksgiving holiday. The Terrain park staff has some rails and features out on the slopes and will expand this as we add more terrain. 

Our November 8^th opening was the fourth earliest in the history of Okemo.  The earliest was the 97/98 season when we opened on Halloween, although we had to close as the temps went up.  The earliest opening day and staying open was 02/03 on November 2^nd.  Okemo was the 2^nd resort in Vermont to open and the 3^rd in New England this season.  The work that was done on our snowmaking system this past summer and the capital purchase of new snowguns has paid off with early season snow.

 

Thanks for your support and enjoy the snow.

Bruce Schmidt

Okemo GM