Conference bgsdev::skiing

So, was there a problem with the lift????

Ooops sorry about that,

Yes, the Green Ridge did crap out on Sunday 1/19 and a full lift evac did 
happen.  As far as I can tell everything went well, although I would imagine 
there is a customer or two who might not feel the same way.

Brad

Check out http://www.okemo.com/coupon.html for a $15 discount coupon.

They say its going away on Friday 3/21 at 2:00PM, though its good until 4/30.
By the way, the projected closing date is 4/20/97.

Brad

Okemo closed Sunday 4/20/97.

After recieving 18" Friday night, the entire mountain was skiable, but only
the main mountain and Solitude were open (everything skiers right of Defiance
was closed, but very skiable, trust me ;^)).  The snow that fell on Friday
night was the wettest, heaviest natural snow I have ever experienced.  A new
definition for Crud in my book.

Rumour has it that next year they will be replacing the SouthFace Quad (K-Quad)
with a high-speed detachable quad.  Also, there will be another Forest Bump
type of trail cut in between Off the Rim and Punch Line.  Lastly, I noticed an
Act250 legal ad in the Black River Tribune seeking a minor modification 
concerning the day lodge at Solitude.  Seems to me that if they are seeking 
minor mods, they must be darn close to building the thing.  I guess we'll
have to wait and see about that one.

Brad

Well, everything I said was rumoured in the previous note is correct.  Got my
employee newsletter last week and they confirmed:

1. New detach quad for S. Face
2. New day lodge at Solitude.  It'll be like the sugar house in that it will
   have cafeteria, sell alcohol, sell tickets and lessons, but no parking the
   car there, and likely, it will be emptied out by 3PM.  It will also have
   a fireplace, something so many new lodges seem to be skipping.  None of
   the other Okemo lodges have em.
3. New gladed trail on S. Face
4. And this I don't understand, but, a new trail between Searls Way and   
   Wardance.  Kind of strange, because Searls leads _into_ Wardance from 
   directly above it (Searls used to be Upper War Dance). 
5. Also, the usual comments about more HTK guns, increase pumping, new pipes
   and other odds and ends to improve snowmaking/snow quality.

1. New detach quad for S. Face

They have already removed the old "top" at the bottom station and the chairs. 
The cable is hanging to the ground off the first tower.

I just hope they find a way to reduce traffic on Rim Rock just before blind 
faith, punchline and lower wild thing branch off as it is normally scrapped to
ice with 50 paniced beginners stopped on it by noon (good practice for gates
;*) ). I'm hoping for a gladed area similar to forest bump from rim rock down
thru upper wild thing to double diamond and snow making on upper wild thing as
a solution.

I'm sure a popular comment on the skiers survey was a request for a detach
in S. Face.  I know I hated the long ride, which really wasn't long but
compared to the other two detaches...  And it is a fact that Tim and Diane
really do listen to the skier surveys, so they went out and bought themselves
a deatach.

But someone isn't thinking here.  Dan is absolutly correct about Rimrock.
I think they need to put snowmaking on Upper Wild Thing and probably grade
it out a bit too.  If not, they best build the patrol a bigger hut at the
top of Glades cause we'll have to bump more than just two or three out 
of there.

As for the new glade, my understanding is that it is going to be between 
Off the Rim and PunchLine, or maybe it was between PunchLine and Wild Thing.
Regardless, I have not heard of plans to open up the woods between UWT and DD.

    So, do the owners take the advice of their Ski Patrol and experienced
    customers in offering new trails and lifts.
    
    Okemo is a great ski area, but the bottleneck on Rim Rock described by
    Dan is a big concern.

>So, do the owners take the advice of their Ski Patrol and experienced
>    customers in offering new trails and lifts.

Advice from - 

Customers: yes, they very seriously consider what the customers ask for.  If
           you are ever offered one of the surveys, fill it out very 
           thoughtfully because they do take them very seriously.

Ski Patrol:  'Who are they?  Oh yes, the ones in the pretty red coats - I've 
              seen them around here, they always ask us to stop selling boos 
              in the Summit lodge right?  Same ones who always seem to want more 
              money in their budget... What do they do any way?'  

              Get the point?                    

    Yeah, I get your point, but find it disturbing!
    
    You are the guys who know what's really happening on the slopes.  The
    Ski Patrol cleans up the mess left by poor decisions, be they skier or
    area developer.
    
    I would like to think you'd be the first line of input sought for
    safety issues.
    
    Whatever...