The Village took a beating. But we still here!

This latest round of 2023-2024 El Nino winter weather absurdity this past weekend almost knocked us out. It especially almost knocked out the east side and the Back Bowl.  Almost. 

You will want to check Snow Report at welchvillage.com regularly this week to stay updated on what will and what won't be open this week, later this week, and into this weekend. Our grooming crew will be out again today and tonight moving snow around and patching up the place.  It's one thing to experience 40 degrees, 50 degrees, and even 60's in March.  We have never experienced a weekend of low 70's combined with 30-40 mph wind gusts the first week of March. 

Here is our very tentative plan for this week.  

- We will be open for spring hours again starting tomorrow, Wednesday, 10am-6pm. At this point, we plan to be open 10am-6pm daily through this Sunday.  Beyond is TBD. 

- Only the west slopes will be open this week through at least Thursday.  East side slopes, including Jaxx, will be closed until at least Friday. At this point, we are planning to have east side & Jaxx open this Friday. Again, stay tuned for updates on this.  Our team needs significant time to get the east side patched up.   

- There will be a few areas & runs even on the east & west side that are closed for the season.  Please respect our CLOSED signage.  

- We are hoping to have some/most of the Back Bowl available for one more weekend this Saturday & Sunday only. With the weather we have been dealt this year, we are pretty happy to be able to offer Back Bowl skiing for one final Saturday & Sunday.  

- Pond Skip update. Last weekend's warmth eliminated the snow base required for a pond skip on the east side.  However, we are looking into having a pond skip event of some sort near the bottom of Lookout or somewhere in that vicinity on the west side.  Date, time, location etc is TBD at this point. Stay tuned. 

We have now been open for skiing & snowboarding for over 90 days this season.  90+ days during an historically warm winter.  Thank you to all of you who understand the work it takes every year to make snow, open runs, open lifts, and operate a place like the Village.  And thank you to all of you who keep coming every week this winter and enjoy the the slopes and all of the snow that we still have to offer.  

Still pushing lots of snow

Like I said in my previous message, we literally made more snow in the last few days than the previous two months. And…the temps have still been cold which means our grooming crew needs to take a little more time pushing the snow. 

Heading into this weekend, here’s a couple highlights: 

- Chicken should be open Sunday

- Pete’s Pike should be open Saturday 

- Ski Bob open Saturday 

- Sunrise Triple open Sunday with 1-2 runs

Again, please respect our CLOSED areas and please respect the abundant CAUTION signage around the resort. See you on the hill!

More snow in 5 days than the last two months

We just made more snow in the last five days than we did in the last two months.  That's how efficient & productive snowmaking can be with the right weather conditions. 

Today was a productive day for our team being closed and being able to make snow, push piles, move guns, and do a bunch of work that isn't possible while we are open.  Thank you again for your patience in our closing today and late start tomorrow. 

We have made a ton of snow and will continue to make snow over the next few days. However, please be patient with our team as they move this snow, move more guns, and take the necessary steps to open more runs & areas.  This will take some time with this much snow.  

A couple of news items: 

- Runs like Pete's Pike, Chicken, Ski Bob, Lift Face and a couple others will open hopefully by Friday. 
- We are hoping to re-open the magic carpet beginner areas by Thursday, closed tomorrow (Wed)
- Big terrain park rebuild will happen most likely early next week. 
- Hoping to open a couple of runs and and the #5 Sunrise Triple by this Sunday
- The Back Bowl will not be open this weekend.  We have more snow to make back there and an unbelievable amount of snow to push and move around.  At this point, we are targeting to open the Back Bowl Friday of next week. Stay tuned. 

*We are also busy making snow in a lot of areas and on runs that we have already been open but are in need of added width and base.  That is happening virtually everywhere. 

Again...please be respectful of our policies to stay out of closed areas for safety concerns as our team is hard at work opening additional terrain.  Keep watching social media and our Snow Report for further updates. 

A few pics from today: 

 

Back Bowl Snowmaking

We have had guns making snow when the weather and temps allow for several days now in the Back Bowl.   The now is starting to pile up back there but, like everything with snowmaking this particular winter, it's been a slower process. Normally, we would have most or possibly all of our portable guns back there by now.  However, because of the record warmth so far this winter a the rain storms over Christmas, we had to leave some portable guns on the west slopes to open runs on the west/main side of the ski area and to repair the base in areas from recent weather.  

After the next few days of few days and cold temps this weekend and early next week, we should have a better idea of when we can open some runs in the Back Bowl.  We are also limiting snowmaking right now on the terrain off the Sunrise Triple Chair and prioritizing the Back Bowl in this current phase of snowmaking. Right now, we are concentrating on the Carter's Cliff, Great Scott, And Seven, and Allie's Alley areas.  

Again, I'm biased, but our team and especially the snowmaking crew, is the best around. Stay tuned for more updates on the Back Bowl and other new terrain opening soon! 

Merry (White) Christmas from our family to yours

My oldest daughter and I continued our tradition and spent Christmas Eve today lapping our snow filled runs at Welch Village. We skied all 20+ runs but then lapped our favorites Bakkelyka, Lookout, and Sweeny multiple times each.  Believe it or not, even though we have experienced record warmth this November and December, we are historically close to the amount of runs and lifts that we would typically have open for this time of the year. 

Credit for that goes to the passion and hard work of our snowmaking crew, grooming crew, and our entire team here in the Village. Credit also has to be given to the dedication & continued investment in snowmaking capital & infrastructure which will enable us to offer a "White Christmas" to all of you. 

Last year…in September, when 10 brand new Techno Alpin snow gun towers became available, I visited Grandpa Leigh up has his home and showed him the brochure, related information, and specs for these impressive machines.  I told him that I was considering buying a few of them.  He immediately told me, "Peter...buy all ten of them. Do you have the money to buy all ten right now?"  I replied, "Probably".  Then he said, "One day, there will be a winter, a challenging winter, when you will be very happy that you had purchased all ten of these snow guns.  Just do it."  That winter turned out to be this winter. 

Snowmaking was Leigh Nelson's true passion.  He loved to ski yes.  But he loved making snow and yes...buying modern snowmaking equipment.  He was right.  Those 10 guns made difference this year as did all of our recent snowmaking investments.  

We will persevere through the rain over Christmas and we will have slopes and lifts of great skiing and riding that you can enjoy during the holiday week and well beyond. 

 Merry Christmas from our family to yours! 

    

First "real" snowmaking night!

Last night was our first real snowmaking night of the season.  Our crew fully tested our system and did make some snow. Conditions were not perfect but the guns were running for about 12 hours.  It's challenging and a slow process to make sure right now with mid-20 temps, warm ground, warm river water etc.  However, last night was a big step in the right direction with some better nights of snowmaking in the forecast, the Village is going to turn very white...very soon.  

We will not be open this weekend.  Right now, our hope and plan is to open late next week or weekend.  It's still way too early to give any more specific information than that because it all depends on the weather.  

From all of us at Welch Village, have a Happy Thanksgiving.  We are thankful for colder weather, our awesome employees (especially our snowmakers), and for all of you who make the Village the best place to spend winter.  It won't be long now...winter is almost here. 

 

Summer Improvements Update

It's already August and it's time to start telling you about all the improvements and projects that our team has been hard at work on this spring & summer as well as what is still planned for the remainder of the summer and fall.  

The largest project for this summer has been our new Ski Patrol building. This is a building that I hope none of you ever have to visit obviously :)  However, injuries are a part of our sport and if the situation does occur where you have to visit our Ski Patrol, you can rest assured that you will be taken care of inside a state of the art building.  We are biased of course, but we already know that we have the best patrol staff in the region.  Now our patrol will have new & improved facility to go along with their expertise. 

This building will be multifaceted in that it will feature a large garage and canopy on the northern end which will allow patrol and our operations team to store things like fencing, tower pads, bamboo, signage and other important items more efficiently during the season and during off-season months. The new patrol building will be significantly larger than our old building and is being built in the same location. 

Other projects happening this summer include: 

-First phase of a Jaxx remodel project.  We will have more details for you soon but we are replacing the kitchen, updating the kitchen equipment, remodeling the food service ordering area, replacing exterior siding & doors & more.  Stay tuned for more updates and pictures. 

-Brand new Piston Bully 400 Snowcat which should arrive any day now! 

- Chairlift and snowmaking maintenance work which is ongoing every summer. 

Stay tuned more more updates coming soon!