An 80's Band, Halloween and The Basin

I don't think I need to say anymore.

Halloween Weekend and Music

Skiing on Halloween is always good fun. The A-Basin crowd always rises to the occasion. We have a good weekend in store. There will be a costume contest at 3 PM. On our new stage, The Goonies, a rocking 80's cover band, plays from 1-4 today. Tomorrow, bringing a folk and soulful rock sound to The Basin, The Robby Wicks will also be jamming from 1-4. Come and enjoy the scene. Make a few turns, enjoy some food, listen to some music and enjoy an A-Basin Halloween.

Good Snow News

I am probably one of the few people out there that thinks it is a pleasure to drive to work in a snowstorm. This morning it is snowing nicely and we are expecting a couple of new inches of snow today. The snowmakers had a very good night last night. They were focused on two areas. Every Ramrod snowgun was running in an effort to get that trail open sometime next week. Also they were running the fan gun next to the High Divide Terrain Park in an effort to widen that zone and add a couple more features.

Again, thanks to everyone that joined for opening day yesterday and thanks to those of you that plan on joining us soon.

We Are Open

We had a very nice opening. Thanks to all of our friends that came out to join us. The snow was good and the people were even better. At 7 AM we had 6 people waiting in line for 1st Chair and 50+ people waiting in line to join the "Mug Club." I guess that is A-Basin.

Other good news - the snowmakers are already cranking on Ramrod. I will keep you posted on progress there.

It is good to get this place rolling.

Park Features Opening Day

We will have features in the High Divide Terrain Park opening day. The Terrain Park Crew is still figuring out exactly what that will be. The cat drivers are pushing out the snow right now. Once Tyler and crew see the finished snow product, they are going to match the snow to the most appropriate park feature in the quiver. There is some artistry here and they will make it right. Guaranteed to be fun.

Let's Open

We are going to open tomorrow, Thursday, October 29 at 9AM. As we get close to opening, we spend a lot time looking at the snowmaking numbers, pumping rates, stream flows, reservoir recharge rates, temperature forecasts, etc. We try and figure out just when opening can occur. By this past Sunday we were thinking we could get open by Thursday or Friday "IF" everything went well. Well, conditions since then have been ideal and we received several more inches of snow. As of this morning we have enough snow, so...........................tomorrow it is.

While there is plenty of snow on the trail, it will take every bit of the next 23 hours to get the place ready. There is lots of snowcat work, ski patrol work, lift op work and general ski area work to get done in that time. Thanks to all of you for your support. Here's to a great opening.

Opening Day Mug Club

These very snappy 20 ounce "Mug Club" vessels go on sale at 9 AM Opening Day.

All Day Long

The natural snowfall intensified this afternoon. The temperature stayed cool enough to keep the snowmaking system running all day. Patrick and I just walked High Noon. There is substantially more snow, both natural and man-made, on the trail than when I walked it yesterday. It is cold and the temperature is dropping. The reservoir has plenty of water in it. The outlook is "SNOWY". I will walk the trail again first thing tomorrow morning to check out the snowmaking. This is very good.

Snowing Lightly - Snowmaking Heavily

We had another good night of snowmaking. Tonight should be colder and ever better.  I have heard several comments about the willows (brush) at the very bottom of High Noon. They are 5+ feet tall. Right now the snow in the willows is about 2 feet deep. They are very flexible and will easily bend over as the snowcats start pushing snow around. There is a large pile of snow just above them that will be used to cover them. So here is an insider tip for you - The willows are not a very good indicator for how well snowmaking is doing. You will see the willows until the cats start dozing..........and the snowcat drivers are going to start dozing tomorrow, Wednesday. Having snowcats on the hill "IS" a good indicator for how well snowmaking is doing.

Kudos To Loveland

Good job Loveland for announcing a Thursday opening. About mid-day I drove over there and visited with a few friends. The place looked good. They had some snow pushed out and are gearing up for a nice opening.

Prior to that, I walked down High Noon. It looks pretty darn good. We have a few small whales and snow coverage all across the trail. Our forecast still looks great with, perhaps, sub-freezing temperatures into Thursday.  Keep your fingers crossed. We will have some good news on opening soon.

As Forecasted

As forecasted, last night was a little warmer. As you might expect, we made a little bit of snow. Starting tonight after dark, we should see some very good temperatures and some natural snow. If the forecast holds true, we will get this place open soon.

Enjoy these photos Michael McBee took yesterday.

Couple More Shots From This Morning

View From The Hairpin

I frequently drive to the hairpin turn on Highway 6 above the ski area. There is a great perspective of the Lower Mountain, The North Side and The East Wall from there. It is a good place for me to check the progress of snowmaking, avalanche work, grooming, etc (and this morning's snowmaking progress was quite good). The view from there isn't too bad either. This morning was exceptionally beautiful.

Time To Get Excited

Last night was another very good night of snowmaking. It got cold enough a little bit earlier than Friday night, so we started sooner and made even more snow. Tonight may be a bit warmish, but the rest of the week looks very good. For the last three weeks I have been counseling patience on the snowmaking front. Time to convert from being patient to being antsy. After the last two nights and looking at the week's forecast, we have something to be really excited about. This is so good.

Sunshine and Snowmaking

More Snowmaking

So this was a terrific snowmaking session for us. I love hearing all the various blog comments on snowmaking. Everyone should feel comfortable knowing that we are going to get The Basin open as soon as possible. There are no advantages for us to delay opening. I know people want to hear an opening date. For me to predict that at this time would be somewhat foolish. We are going to take advantage of each decent weather window and make the best of whatever Mother Nature throws our way. I like what I see in the forecast.

A Great Night Of Snowmaking

Looking Good

Here's to a good weather evening out there. I will post a snowmaking / snow report in the morning.

9" and Snowmaking

This is good. We received 9" of new snow the last 24 hours. Beautiful, good stuff. Great for the Earth. Great for future snowmaking. Great for skiing this season. We made snow last night on the upper half of High Noon. It is still a little warm at the very bottom. At the coldest point in the evening we had 10 fan guns running. Right now, the upper 5 fan guns around Black Mountain Lodge are making snow.

The forecast shows a notable drop in temperature around dusk this evening. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a good, cold night.