Happy Halloween

 

11" New

Now that is a good way to start the season.

 

First Turns

I just made my first turns of the season. Pretty fun. The snowcats still have more work to do, but that was fun.

 

Finishing Touches

The staff is putting the finishing touches on the hill this morning. The snowmakers shut down their system about 2 AM. As of now, they have pulled most of their equipment off the trail. Throughout the day we will have two snowcats dozing and grooming. The lift crew is shovelling snow at the lift terminals and preparing those sites. The ski patrol has starting deploying their pads and ropes although much of their work can't be completed until the snowcats are out of the way.

It is snowing nicely right now and is expected to snow until late afternoon tomorrow. About 3 inches of new snow has fallen so far. The snow forecast still looks deep. I think we are in for a very special opening day.

Opening Day - Sunday

It is official. Arapahoe Basin will open for the season, Sunday, October 29 at 8:30 AM with Black Mountain Express and the High Noon trail.

There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing people have fun skiing and riding. To get open takes an extraordinary amount of work and coordination by all departments and the entire staff. In particular, the snowmakers, the cat drivers, the ski patrol, lift operations and lift maintenance have to shift gears on very short notice and capitalize on ever changing weather conditions to get the mountain open. They didn't miss a beat this month.

Here's to a great season.

 

Snowcat

Scott is starting to push some snow around.

And Again..........

Time to dust off the skis and boots.

We Had A Good Night

We took another big step in the right direction.

Snow This Morning

The temps dropped a little more this morning than they have for the last week. The snowmakers put a little bit of white stuff on the hill. As we move towards the weekend, we should see some very good snowmaking temperatures. I try not to take longer ranger forecasts (more than 48-72 hours) too literally, but we might see some natural snowall too.

Ski Ward, MA Opens For Skiing

Our friends at Unofficial Networks are reporting that Ski Ward, Massachusetts has opened for skiing. With $5 tickets, a couple groomer widths of snow and a carpet, skiers and riders are sliding in New England. Kudos to Ski Ward for offering up some good, slippery fun.

 

Snowfences

Check out these snowfences in Lenawee Parks. These, and the other fences you notice scattered about the mountain, are a critical and major part of our snow management strategy. As snow is blown by the wind across a slope, it may hit one of these fences. Those snow crystal are forced to rise above the fence, and on the leeward side of the fence, they encounter some calmer air and fall to the snow surface. This action creates snow drifts on the leeward side of the fences. Those drifts are available for riders to ski and/or snowcat drivers to compact and push. We place these fences in zones where we want to catch snow. A well placed fence can catch as much, or more, snow as a well placed fan gun can make snow.

Snow fencing, snowmaking, snow compacting, snow pushing, snow farming - these are all components in our snow management tool box to improve the skiing and riding.

Last Bike Post For A While

I think this will be my last bike post for a while. Summer bike trail guru, Trevor, has continued to work on the "Up At Arapahoe" trail as long as conditions have allowed. He had reached the top of Jamie's Face. Above Jamie's, he punched through a talus field and is entering Upper Lenawee Parks above Gentry. On a walk yesterday, I checked out his rock work and it is very cool. Upon its planned completion next summer, this will be a beautiful ride to the Summit.

Another Gorgeous Day

Blah, blah, blah. I am ready for SNOW !!!

Getting Colder

The temperatures dropped just after midnight and the snowmakers fired up the system. We received 3ish inches of new snow so far and it is still snowing. All of the fan guns on High Noon are running. We anticipate making snow for a while. This will be a significant effort.

First Squall

 The first snow squall just blew through.

Favorable Forecast

After a week of stellar, bluebird weather, a change is coming. Wednesday evening we should see a significant drop in temperatures and some natural snowfall.We could see 48+ hours of snowmaking weather. We have the snowmaking team scheduled around the clock and plan on making the very best out of this forecast.

 

24 F And Making Snow

With a wet bulb temperature of 24 F, this morning is a cold one and the snowmakers are making the best of it.

 

Three Lifts on Exhibition

Much of Black Mountain Express flies over Exhibition Trail. For several years in the 60's and until 1978, there were actually three lifts in this location. The photo below from that era shows two double chairs and a platter/Poma approximately where current BMX Towers 4 and 5 are.

As a trivia fact, Black Mountain Express is the 6th lift in this location. The first was a single chair, then the two double chairs and poma shown below, then the Exhibition triple chair and, since 2010, the Black Mountain Express.

And A Little More

 

Another Dusting

Last night we had another dusting with the snowline at about 12,500'. It looks like the weather is a little unsettled through Wednesday. We might see a couple more snow and rain showers. We won't really see much in the way of accumulation, but this potential moisture is great for the ground and the stream and, ultimately, helps out snowmaking by sustaining adequate streamflows. 

Winter or summer, precipitation is always good.

We Are So Lucky