Friday, December 27, 2013

Best Conditions in Years

Snow conditions have been phenominal for several weeks now. The last two days, we received warmer and temperatures along with blue ski and sunshine.  Today was just a gem.  It's great to see families out here having a great experience on the slopes over the holiday break.  Every guest, young and old, that I talked to today was having a memorable experience at Welch Village.  And why not.  The snow conditions right now are some of the best we have had in years.  Welch Village offers so much to so many types of skiers and riders.  Tomorrow should be another great day.  Bundle up if you plan to come on Sunday.  I don't care how cold it gets after tomorrow...you will find me on the slopes.






Friday, December 20, 2013

Great Skiing & The Weather People

The snow conditions right now are outstanding.  The Back Bowl opened today and there is a of snow back there.  We should have most of the bowl open this weekend along with just about every other run area-wide.  The crowds have been a little on the small side so far this season probably due to the colder temperatures.  Those of you who have been here this season have been rewarded with excellent snow conditions and a great experience.  I coached 7-year old racers all weekend last weekend in the colder temperatures.  We took frequent breaks but skied for 4 hours each day.  All of the kids and the coaches had a blast and enjoyed the great snow the first week of D-Team. Please be careful when watching and listening to our local weather people on TV.  They tend to scare people away from outdoor winter recreation anytime the temperatures get into the teens and single digits.  Trust me, if you go skiing or snowboarding at 8 or 9 degrees and dress appropriately you will still have a great experience.  We live in Minnesota, the seasons change and it's gets cold and it snows...it's very normal in this part of the country. Grab a friend or family member this winter and introduce them to skiing or snowboarding.  If you know one, grab a weatherman!


Photos taken this week:







Friday, December 13, 2013

Chair #5 and Back Bowl

I made a few runs today back on Chair #5 the triple chair.  This is one of the most popular areas to ski & ride at Welch and it's a favorite of mine as well.  As you can see, there is no shortage of snow back there and we'll still need a few days to push the piles of snow around in order to open more terrain.  Right now Mary Jane and Dike's Run are open.  The snow quality is amazing.  When we can make this much snow at such cold temperatures, the machine-made snow is just as good, if not better than the real thing.  The Back Bowl will not be available this weekend.  It was a long week for our grooming and snowmaking staff due to the fact that one of our snowcats broke down.  Losing a snowcat put us behind to the point where the Back Bowl will have to wait another week.







Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Snow, Snow, and more Snow

This is has been an incredible stretch of snowmaking weather.  I took a tour of the area today and skied all of our major runs that are open.  We are approaching mid-winter conditions on some of the hills and it's Dec. 10th.  The snow quality is excellent and this weekend we will have most of the place open.  It's still too early to tell if the Back Bowl will be ready for this weekend.  We'll keep you posted.










Sunday, December 8, 2013

Historical Snowmaking

We have made more snow at this point in the season than any other season in the history of Welch Village.  This is due largely to the cold weather we have experienced lately but it's also a testament to our snowmaking system that we have invested in every year for so many years. It's also a testament to our snowmaking staff and outside maintenance crew and their hard work, knowledge, and experience.  We have reached the point in a lot of areas where we are having to turn off the snow guns because the piles are just too big.  When the temperatures are this cold combined with the cold water from the Cannon River, our 4 snowcats simply cannot keep up with the volume of snow that our system can produce.  Snowmaking weather like this not only yields a higher volume of snow, it yields a better quality of snow for skiing and riding.  If you were out yesterday, you know what I am talking about. We are supposed to receive a few inches of natural snow today!  That will only make the snow conditions here even more exceptional than they already are.  Enjoy this classic Minnesota winter!



Thursday, December 5, 2013

Welch Weather

We were glad to hear that all of you in the Twin Cities area and points north received snow this week.  Here in Welch we received precipitation but it wasn't always in the form of snow.  We were right on the mixed/rain/snow/whatever line for two days.  What we are receiving now is cold weather for an extended period of days which will enable us to make an incredible amount of snow.  This will help us build our base for most of the season ahead and freshen things up a bit around here.  If you dress warm, weather like this makes for great turns on the corduroy.  We will be opening some more runs this weekend including the Dike's run and the #5 Triple Chairlift on the East Side.  We will also open Dud's Dream, Sweeny and Leapin Liz.  There will be a lot of snow made in the Back Bowl the next few days, we'll keep you posted there.  For those of you who have little ones, we are getting closer to opening the magic carpet area.  Remember, the magic carpet runs during lessons only.  See you this weekend! Looks like we might get some snow on Sunday.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

More runs and Jaxx

We had another stretch of good snowmaking this week.  We are planning to have up to 15 runs open this weekend including Bakke, Lookout, Dan's Dive, Harley's Hollow, Twister, Long Way Home, Anna's Alley, Nanny's Nob, Fowl Play, Paul's Trail and more.  Also opening this week will be Jaxx Chalet on the east side.  If you like good craft beer and classic ski bar experience, Jaxx is the place to be.  We are looking forward to some of the best skiing we have had for Thanksgiving weekend.  Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!





Monday, November 25, 2013

More Terrain

All the snow guns are quiet now at Welch Village, but that won't last long.  The forecast for the rest of this week right now calls for another great week of snowmaking.  It's already been a great start to the snowmaking season and the hills are filled with big piles of snow.  Thank you to all of you who joined us for opening weekend.   We expect to have much more skiable terrain ready for this Friday.  This will include some runs on the east side which will mean Jaxx Chalet will be open for business.  For those of you who can make it down next weekend, you will be able to ski and ride more terrain than we usually have open for Thanksgiving weekend.  Have a great Thanksgiving and we'll see you on the slopes on Friday.





Thursday, November 21, 2013

Training in the Mountains

There are 8 Welch Village race coaches and ski instructors in Colorado this week to taking part in the Harb Ski Systems Tech Camp.  Joining me in this training event is our Welch Alpine (USSA) Head Coach, our Junior D-team Technical Trainer, and key SkiLink Learning Center trainers and instructors.  The training we are getting from Harald Harb and his staff with the PMTS Direct Parallel system is unique and at a higher level than any other training I have seen in the country.  This is the second year in a row that we have sent Welch Village instructors and coaches to this event.  However, some of our instructors have been coming out here for training on their own for a few years now.  We are looking forward to bringing back what we have learned in Colorado back to our race athletes and guests at Welch Village.  Our goal is to offer the highest level of race coaching quality and ski instruction possible.  We are fortunate to have access to this kind of training here in the mountains and very fortunate to have a group of such dedicated and passionate coaches and instructors.