Tuesday Snowmaking

I just hiked/boot skied down High Noon. The snow is very good. Last night was cold with a wet bulb low of 19 F. We have made serious progress and are further along than I had expected. With snowmaking, the first couple nights are for practice and to test the system. The next few nights we start to make some real progress. And, after the last few nights, we have something to get excited about. No opening date has been set, but opening is clearly in sight. The forecast the next couple nights is marginal, but starting this weekend, the temperature drops down into the teens. It won't be long.

Also, I just read that two Minnesota ski areas opened for skiing. Congratulations to Wild Mountain and Andes Tower Hills for kicking off the season!!!  If you make snow and open a lift, they will come.

 

Still Snowmaking

We are still snowmaking.  Each night we make snow the closer and closer we get to skiing and riding.

 

Comm Lines

The two comm lines (formally the communication lines) have been installed on Lenawee Express. These lines extend from tower to tower between the heavy and light sides of the lift. They contain phone lines and they also contain intra-lift communication avenues. All chairlifts are loaded with lots of safeties and all of these safeties talk to the control system at the drive station. In case of LenX, the drive station is at the bottom of the lift.

 

Comm Lines

The two comm lines (formally the communication lines) have been installed on Lenawee Express. These lines extend from tower to tower between the heavy and light sides of the lift. They contain phone lines and they also contain intra-lift communication avenues. All chairlifts are loaded with lots of safeties and all of these safeties talk to the control system at the drive station. In case of LenX, the drive station is at the bottom of the lift.

 

Wet Bulb 23 F

The wet bulb temperature dropped down to 23 F this morning. The snowmakers are having a good session right now. The weather forecast for the week looks similar to what we saw last night. Each night we should come close to having snowmaking conditions. Odds are that we have a few decent nights. We are still not seeing that favored forecast of 72 hours of temperatures in the teens, but we will.

 

Wire Rope Has Arrived

This morning another issue that has been making me sweat has been resolved. The Lenawee Express wire rope arrived at The Basin about 10 AM. While most of the new chairlift is manufactured in Grand Junction, a few critical parts and pieces do come from Europe. The 8,000+' rope was manufactured in France. As near as I can tell, it took 6-8 laps around the Atlantic Ocean before it arrived in Eastern Canada. After clearing Canadian and US customs, it was transported via flatbed truck to A-Basin. And another WHEW!

 

Crane Is Off The Top

Building Lenawee Express, there are a few things that really make me sweat. To start, building the lift is a 6 month project and the road to the Summit is only open about 3 1/2 months. It doesn't take much snow and wind to make the last 1/2 mile impassible. So, getting all the lift equipment and heavy machinery to The Basin, to The Summit and fully assembled were some nerve racking tasks. I am very relieved to say all the big work is done and the crane came down the hill. Obviously, there is a lot more to do, but the Summit construction activities that would be thwarted by heavy snowfall are complete. Whew!

 

More Than A Test

The snowmakers fired up about 2:30 this morning. The wet bulb temperature dropped down to 26 F. We have 15 guns running. This is not incredible snowmaking, but it is pretty good. In the next few days, we may see some additional snowmaking windows. This morning was more than just a test.