Just A Little Colder Please

The Good News. With these warm days, much of the snow on the south facing terrain above the ski area has melted. This has not impacted any of the snow where we have been working on terrain. The streamflow has bumped up and we now have a decent amount of water in our reservoir. In fact, we have enough water to make enough snow to get Ramrod open.

The Not Quite So Good News. The last couple of nights have been pretty warm. The last time we made snow was Sunday morning. This isn't weird or unusual. It is just typical October weather, some great nights for snowmaking and some not so great nights for snowmaking. So, we need the night time temperatures to drop about 5 more degrees and we will get this snowmaking operation cranking again.

Upper Mountain

The Upper Mountain is looking pretty darn good with that two feet of October snowfall. We had so much snow that we had to plow the road to get the final Beavers Chairlift parts to the Summit. This week's snowmaking priority is Ramrod. Once that opens, we will be moving nearly all of the equipment up to Lenawee Face and Dercum's Gulch. I look forward to getting two chairlifts open.

Loveland

Yesterday afternoon I slipped over to Loveland for a few runs. I am very glad to see them open. I had a chance to catch up with some old friends. The snow was really good. The coolest part was riding their new chairlift, Chet's Dream. Those Loveland guys are doing some fine work. Congratulations to them on getting open and building that chairlift.

Beavers Wire Rope

The Leitner Poma crew spent the last few days putting the wire rope on the Beavers Chairlift. The first thing they do is manually run a small wire rope down each side of the line.  The small line is on the sheave assemblies at each tower. They splice these two ropes together at the bottom. The wire rope for the chairlift is attached to the small line and, using a very strong winch, the small line pulls the big line on to the sheaves, towers and bullwheels.  The big rope is now in place and will be spliced this week.

This is a tedious and difficult job, but critically important. It moves slightly faster than paint dries.

Ramrod Is Next

Just about all of our snowmaking resources and energy has been moved to Ramrod. Louis and I walked down it this morning. The snowmaking crew has a good jump on that trail. We could have skied it although it would have been a little tricky. We will do our best to get that trail open as soon as we can. 

A Good Opening Day

The day started early. There was a line for mugs and there was a line for first chair. People are so excited to get back to The Basin and get back on the hill. Everywhere I went, skiers and riders were having fun. Kudos to all of our crew that made the day happen and kudos to all of our guests keeping the spirit of A-Basin strong. Here's to the 2018-19 season.

First Ski Runs

Well, I just took my first couple of ski runs for the season. Had to do that final check before opening, if you know what I mean. 

To get things started, as I was riding Black Mountain Express, I saw a moose in the woods just West of Tower 5. Maybe if you are lucky tomorrow, you might spot this gal. If you do, be sure and stay far, far away. Always give a moose as much room as possible.

The Terrain Park crew is prepping four features. I am not sure what they will be just yet, but those guys are creative. I am sure it will be fun.

The snow on High Noon is excellent. The corduroy was fantastic. I had a blast. It feels good to get the legs moving in a new direction. I look forward to seeing many of you soon. Here's to a great season.

Beavers Lift Update

Even with all the excitement of opening tomorrow, we are still working hard at getting the Beavers Chairlift finished. The wire rope will be installed over the next couple of days and the rope splice will occur early next week. Soon after the splice, the carriers (the chairs) will be attached to the line. Throughout all of this, there is a lot of work being done by the electricians. We anticipate the Acceptance Test (Load Test) to be completed the first week of November. That gives us plenty of time for a Beavers Chairlift December opening.

See you skiing in the morning.