Black Mountain Lodge

I never get tired of this place.

 

That Kind Of Day

I think the smiles on Snowsports School Instructors Dave Singleton and Tim Stroh tell the story of what a great day we had up here.

 

Sundance Saturday

Sundance will open Saturday. It has been a very good week. We reported 11" of new snow over the last three mornings. The snowcats are track packing more and more terrain. Friday Afternoon Club is a hit today. People are out there having fun and The 6th Alley is shaping up for a Basin-style après ski session.

Four Early Runs

I just took four beautiful, early, pre-opening runs with Louis. The objective was to evaluate snowmaking and grooming (and have a little fun). Conditions were excellent top to bottom. We are having continued snowmaking success on the Upper Mountain despite a planned power outage last night. The snowmakers did get started on Upper Sundance and Lower Wrangler. We skied those trails and were pleased with the initial effort. Looking at the weather forecast, I am excited about the snowmaking outlook the next few days.

And the corduroy on High Noon was as good as it gets.

Snowmakers and Rando Racers

The Snowmakers are on a roll. They had a very good night enhancing Lenawee Face and Dercum's Gulch. They also got started on Upper Sundance. Tonight they will fire up a couple guns on Lower Wrangler. The next few days look very promising for low temperatures with the possibility of running continuously for 48-72 hours. That would be good.

This morning we had our first race of the "Rise and Shine Rando Series." 107 skiers climbed Sundance and descended Ramrod as many times as they could in one hour. There were impressive athletes out there with some of the women making four laps and some of the men making five laps.

So Nice

It is so nice to be open to the top. This coming week, the Snowmakers will work on "fattening up" Lenawee Face and Dercum's Gulch and get started making snow on Upper Sundance and Lower Wrangler. 

 

Lenawee Will Open Sunday

Lenawee Lift, Lenawee Face and Dercum's Gulch will open Sunday. I am not exactly sure what time it will open, but hopefully by Noon.

We needed one more good night of snowmaking Friday to make this happen. The forecast was not great. True to forecast, temperature only got down to about 31F. Lucky for us, the relative humidity was very, very low and brought the wet bulb temperature down to about 21F. Kudos to Bill LeClair and the Snowmaking Team for taking full advantage of the weather and laying some nice snow down where we needed it most. 

Enjoy the Upper Mountain.

 

Time For The Snowcats

Friday we turned the snowcats loose on the Upper Mountain. While we have been travelling up there with the cats, we just starting dozing on Friday. Scottie and Dorse are really putting the trail together. The snowmaking work has been very good. Still have some work to do at the bottom of Lenawee.