Early Riser Waterline

If you have driven by The Basin lately, you may have noticed some heavy equipment and gravel in the Early Riser Lot. We are replacing the waterline that runs from the Kids Center building to the shop. The water that line carries is critical for our vehicle maintenance shop and our wastewater treatment plant. If you have been around a while, you may remember two or three times when we dug very large holes in the parking lot to repair water line breaks (during ski season of course). I think this line was installed in 1978 or maybe earlier. We are taking the big step and doing a complete replacement. Not necessarily an exciting or sexy project, but a really important one that needs to be done.

BMX Bullwheel

This week the Lift Maintenance team ticked off one of their bigger projects of the summer. Immediately after closing on Oktoberfest Sunday, they began the process of replacing the bearings on the bullwheel at the bottom of Black Mountain Express. This is not an easy task. First, they have to de-tension the lift so the haul rope can remain on all of the towers and the top bullwheel while taking the rope off the bottom bullwheel. Once that is complete, they lower the 5,000+ pound bullwheel to ground where they can actually remove and replace a very large set of bearings. Upon completion, the team  reverses the process, putting the bullwheel back in place, putting the rope back on the bullwheel and, finally, reversing the de-tensioning process.

And The Willows

And the Willows have also been exceptional this fall.

Aspens 1st Steep Gully

While there are lots of aspens along the road as one drives towards The Basin, there are not actually very many aspens within the ski area boundary. There is a nice little grove at the bottom of the Zuma hike back. There is also a nice patch at the bottom of the 1st Steep Gully. They are not big and stately, but are more small and shrubby. When they turn gold in the fall, they really stand out from Highway 6.

Found A Single Chair

The blog post worked. Rob Diehl reached out to me to say that he had one of the original single chairs installed for the 1947-48 season. He was excited that we were interested in it. We are going to take some time to refinish it and then display it in a place for everyone to enjoy.

Another Snowmaking Photo

Another fun snowmaking photo from Saturday morning.

Washington, DC

For several years now I have been lucky to be on the Board of Directors for the National Ski Areas Association. The Board and, especially, the staff have done great work on a variety of issues like COVID management, employee training programs and government relations.

Every few years, I break out the suit and tie and join the Board for a trip to DC to meet our legislators. I flew into Dulles last week for several congressional meetings. We connect with as many senators and representatives as we can from both sides of the aisle. We talk about important ski industry subjects like Climate Change, keeping work visas available for international students and workers, and "let's make sure the ski areas on public lands can remain open in case the government shuts down." It is a good idea to work with and know our elected officials in advance, before there is a crisis.

This is the fourth time I have participated in a trip like this and I learn and grow so much every time. 

And I can't wait to get that tie off.

Oktoberfest Action Shots

And Sunday we have another day of Oktoberfest........