What Goes Into The Decision To Close

While there are a few minor considerations that go into the decision to close, there is one major factor we consider. That factor is determining the quality of the snow in the future. This year on June 8 when we made our final closing decision, we were trying to determine the quality of the snow on June 16, 17 and 18. We don't just look at what the conditions are right now. We look at the weather and how the snowmelt is trending. We physically look at the snow. From June 4 to June 9, the base dropped 15". We look at runoff. The Snake River Spring runoff is climbing dramatically (that river water was our snowpack a few hours earlier). The snow is good right now but, looking forward to next weekend, we think our conditions will be such that we shouldn't be open.

There are some minor factors that didn't really play into the decision.

Consistently, when the snow is good, business is good and vice versa. Deciding to close was not a financially driven decision. This snow was and is melting quickly. In fact, we are better off financially when we stay open with good conditions. As the snowmelt continues and intensifies, we are running out of snow.

Personally, I love being open and preferred to stay open another weekend. At our May 31st staff meeting, I even told the crew it is likely we will be open June 16, 17 and 18 and they should make plans accordingly. Unfortunately, after reviewing the snow and the trends with the snow, it became apparent we were not going to make another weekend.

The Beavers expansion did not play a role in the decision. We cannot get started on The Beavers project until the snow has melted. Whether we were open longer or not does not impact the The Beavers Project. The snow has to melt to get that program rolling.

The day after we close, like we do every year, we will start plowing the service road to The Summit. The road takes a while to get clear and to dry out. We are anxious to get going on our Summer maintenance projects but, that did not impact the decision to stay open. Had we stayed open, we could have plowed key portions of the road and still be prepared for Summer maintenance projects.

So, it all came down to looking at the snowmelt trend, did we think conditions would be good enough to re-open for another weekend? We thought no. I look forward to your comments.

Lake Reveal has popped out and there are plenty of wet ski boots out there today. I hope we see you out for one final day of snow, mountains, skiing, sunshine, water, food, friends and fun.

Lake Reveal today