Opening Saturday - 2 weeks early

Historically, our goal is to open the day after Thanksgiving every year.  This year, opening day will come two weeks early. Our crew spent most of yesterday dealing with a major water leak so we lost a few hours of snowmaking.  By 4pm Monday, the guns were back on and they are still on now.  Looks like we will be able to make snow until mid day today or so. Our Snow Report is updated with what will be open this weekend. Can't wait to rip down Lookout this weekend.  Thank you weather, and thank you to Perry, Emmett, and our team for making an incredible amount of snow.  

What a night!

We can't remember a first night of snowmaking like last night.  It dropped to 2 degrees in the Village this morning. The first night of snowmaking is always a mystery, especially with all of the work we put into the system, lots of new pipe, new electrical etc.  So far so good with the improvements. I took a tour of the property with Perry or VP of Operations first thing this morning.  I wanted Perry to go turn on a chairlift!  Great night by our team last night and the guns will be roaring all day and into tomorrow morning. We have a lot of work to do in order to open the ski area this early in November; lots of projects to finish up; but we are making progress.  Still too early to project an opening date, but we have our eyes on the 16th...a lot can change so stay tuned...but based on the forecast I see for next week, you may want to get those skis and boards ready.

What's new in the Village this year? A lot.

We are still finishing the welding of a lot of new snowmaking pipe & finishing the electrical work as part of a snowmaking system upgrade. We are targeting next week to start snowmaking if current forecasts hold true. It's still early and it's still October...but we will be ready next week.

Speaking of upgrades, it was a very busy spring, summer, and fall in the Village.  We almost bit off more than we could chew this year with improvements. We are excited to share with you all of the improvements we made to Welch Village since last year.  Here is a summary of the investments we made this past "off-season"...

Beginner Area Expansion & new Magic Carpet Lift

We are more than doubling our beginner & teaching area which is long overdue.  This will include a brand new 200 ft long Magic Carpet lift.  Our other magic carpet is 100 ft.  We cleared the trees and the old cabin area to make room for this new teaching space and lift.  Our plan right now is that on busy days, both carpets will run.  Each side of each carpet will have space that is open to the public and space that is reserved for lesson guests only.  The space almost ready for the magic carpet which is supposed to arrive on Friday.

The Sweeny Project:  2nd Terrain Park & Jr. Racing Training Hill
With the help of Luhman's Construction, we spent over two months regrading Sweeny & Jon Jon in order to change the pitch of the hill to a 22-23 percent grade.  The slope is also much wider.  The entire slope will now be classified as free-style terrain.  Skier's left will be home to a new line of jumps.  Skier's left will be used for our growing junior race program.  We also improved the snowmaking capacity with new pipe and added more lights.

New decks on the Main Chalet
With the help from Otte Construction (Cannon Falls, MN) we now have two brand new decks on the main chalet. The deck near the Black Diamond Bar, pictured below, was expanded in order for us to add tables and patio heaters.  The new decks will be perfect to enjoy your favorite beverage in the winter but also in the summer & fall perhaps at a wedding event.

New Rental Boot Fleet
Last year we replaced the rental ski fleet.  This year, all new boots from Nordica.  We have also been slowly improving our snowboard rental fleet with Burton LTR equipment.

Snowmaking Upgrades
We added some more snowguns but also added a lot of snowmaking upgrades that you won't be able to see in the form of more pipe, new pipe, bigger pipe, hydrants, electrical etc.  Long story short...will be able to make even more snow!

Lights
We are adding and replacing hill lights and chalet lights. Popular runs like Bakkelykka, Sweeny and others will have new lights.  We are also replacing all of the main chalet outdoor lights with all new LED's.

New Jaxx Bathrooms!
Saved the best for last. Yes...its true.  The bathrooms at Jaxx are brand new.  Here is a photo of the tile work this summer...

Watch social media channels next week....hopefully the weather forecasts are true and we can start turning the Village white....

Great Snow & Back Bowl!

One week ago today, two days after Christmas, we received well over an inch of rain.  Rain.  Between yesterday and today, I skied most of the runs we have open and the snow conditions are incredible.   The snowmaking & grooming crews led by Emmett & Perry have done a remarkable job producing this kind of snow and skiing/riding experience after the weather conditions they were dealt last week.  There isn't a lot you can do with that much rain followed by a cold front but our crew made it happen.  Heading into this weekend, we are planning to open parts of the Back Bowl at some point during the day on Saturday.  Keep checking our snow report for updates.  Also, it's that time of the year when I ask you to help us educate your non-skiing friends & family and remind them that we have plenty of snow and great conditions despite the fact that they don't have snow in the their yards.  With the warmer temps and sun in the forecast, the Village is going to the be place to be...we'll see you on the slopes.