Friday, November 27, 2015

We are open!

We are open!  The 51st season at Welch Village has begun.  It was great to open the place today and see people on the chairlifts, hitting terrain features, carving down the slopes, smiling, and welcoming winter. For most of today we had Heidi's Hollow open and the Zero Chairlift.  Around 3:30pm, we were able to open Lookout and the #2 Chairlift.  Not bad for opening day after a warm fall! Thank you to all of you shared opening day 2015 with us.  We are hoping to open Fowl Play tomorrow and we are also looking forward to a clear and cold night for snowmaking. Shoul d be a great weekend to get out here and dust off the cob webs.  At this point, we still planning to close Monday-Thursday for snowmaking and re-open next Friday, probably for good.

Grandpa Leigh (age 87) riding the first chair of the season with my daughter, his great granddaughter.










Saturday, November 21, 2015

Snowmaking & Opening Day Update

We started snowmaking operations late Thursday evening. Today things are looking pretty good.  There are always some challenges and surprises when we start up the snowmaking system for real the first time.  About 3 hours into snowmaking on Thursday night we lost a good size portion of electrical forcing us to shutdown several guns at the top of Lookout.  Also, the water in the river is  pretty warm right now thanks to the warm and wet November.  We also find out where we have leaks in our underground pipes once we place a good load on the system.  All of those things have happened so far but our crew is really making some magic right now.  Today and tonight should be pretty good if it clears off and the temps drop a little more.  Today and tonight will also serve as the measuring stick on when opening day could happen.  It's still too early to talk about opening day.  The "goal" is still next Friday, but we'll see.  Right now, it's not really up to us, its up to the weather.  We'll have an update for you on Monday morning.  Have a good weekend!

 My girls joined me for the walk today. They're spoiled, they get to come to work with their Dad and play in the snow today.  Our youngest pictured in the middle isn't crying, she's mad about having to be in the picture and miss snow time.