Soon To Be A New Kitchen

With the utility and foundation work behind us, our kitchen remodel is starting to take shape. We have walls and trusses. This project will probably go into November a little bit. While it will be one very big kitchen, it will function as two kitchens, one for each restaurant. Once finished, this will make a tremendous difference in the Legends Cafe and The 6th Alley. The project isn't quite as sexy as The Beavers, but is still a very important one.

By Dawn's Early Light

And we are flying at dawn this morning. Concrete, building materials, steel, sand, all kinds of stuff. This will be a very big and productive day.

September Snowmaking

We fired up last night. The wet bulb temperature got down to 25F for about six hours. The snowmakers have been training and testing for the last week. They put a little bit of snow on the ground. It wasn't a big night, but it was a very productive and important night. We will probably have a few more nights like this. It is good to run the system and work out any kinks. A snowmaking system has miles and miles of machines and equipment. Most of that gear lives outside and is exposed to weather and wildlife. Testing is good, running the system under real conditions is even better. The objective is to be fully ready when we get that 36 hour period of temperatures in the teens. We will be ready.

...............And there is a big old civilian Blackhawk in Early Riser this morning.

Soaking Up The Fall

Earlier this week I caught a glimpse of these goats soaking up the Fall morning sun near the Summit. We have seem some tremendous weather, but a little bit of change may be coming. We may see temperatures below freezing Friday morning. As I drove to work this morning, there was snow on Torreys Peak (14,275')

Rainy Fall Afternoon

After some very warm and sunny weather, we finally got a little rain storm this afternoon. It was nice. Fall is certainly in the air. The snowmakers were out testing their pipelines today. They even watered the grass a little on High Noon. The crew will be watching the weather forecasts very closely. We might even see some snowmaking temperatures by the weekend. Yes, it is getting to be that time.

Flying Towers?

While we will be doing some more concrete work very soon, most of the tower foundations are ready for steel. We anticipate a second day of helicopter work to start erecting towers. This could happen within a few days of the concrete work. In the next few weeks, we will have many, many big steps, setting the bottom bullwheel, placing the motor room, installing the wire rope, putting on the chairs, etc etc. etc. This will look like a chairlift soon.

Beavers Lift tower foundations ready for steel

One More Day Of Concrete

It has been a tough summer for getting helicopters. With this season's intense wildfire activity, helicopters have been busy fighting fires. Slowly, the machines have become available for other helicopter projects. It looks like we will see a bird late this week. The object is to fully finish flying the concrete. The biggest chunk will go to the bottom terminal (pictured below). There is a little bit more concrete needed at a few towers. We have to pour concrete for a couple of columns for a couple of small solar systems (bottom Beavers Lift Op house and Pali Outpost). Lastly, we have to pour the columns for one of the picnic decks out near Beaver Bowl.

Beavers Lift Bottom Terminal

Aspens in 1st Steep Gully

Due to our elevation, we don't have many aspens. We are just a little too high. There is a small grove way low in the Zuma Hike Back. There is also a nice patch in the 1st Steep Gully. For this part of Colorado, the aspens are in peak Fall colors right now. In addition to the aspens, there are willows and other small plants in beautiful autumn color. This is a stunning time of year.

1st Steep Gully

Pali