Thursday, December 15, 2022

Triple Chairlift Project

For the third year in a row, we have invested into a large chairlift improvement project. In addition to new motor project on our #1 quad lift, we are also hoping to begin a big project with our Triple Chair on the east side.  I say "hoping" because continued supply chain issues have delayed the delivery of post of the equipment & parts needed for this project. 

Basically, what we are doing are installing new 2-part chair hangers themselves as well as adding restraining bars to the chairs. That will mean that every lift at Welch Village will have restraining bars. We are also slowing the lift speed a bit and removing a few chairs from the line.  That should mean easier loading and a better overall experience using the chairlift for guests. 

All parts and equipment were ordered last spring about the time we closed.  We were told that they would arrive in October.  Some did.  We are still waiting for some parts and we are hoping this project will be done in time for the holidays. Thank you for continued patience as we improve this important chairlift. 



Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Opening weekend runs & lifts

Our snowmaking crew has done an outstanding job getting a few runs ready for opening weekend and our entire team is still hard at work today getting this place ready to open for the season.  Here is what we know will be open starting Friday. 

Runs: Lookout, Long Way Home, Paul's Trail, Fowl Play, Harley's Hollow (East Side), Heidi's Hollow, Terrain Park w/ a few features, as well as one side of our larger magic carpet beginner area. 

Lifts: #2 Lookout Quad, #4 Cannon Valley Quad, Zero Beginner 2-person chair, Rope Tow, Magic Carpet. 

*This is first time we have ever opened a run on the east side (Harley's Hollow) and the both the Rope Tow and Magic Carpet available 

A few other notes: 

- We have the snow to open both Sweeny and Nanny's Nob.  However, we ordered a new electric motor for the main drive of the #1 quad chairlift.  Of course, because of supply chain issues & delays, we just received the motor.  Our crew needs about a week to install the motor and conduct  the necessary inspections and tests.  We are planning to add the #1 quad chairlift and Sweeny & Nanny's Nob sometime late next week. 

- Jaxx is not open yet.  Jaxx parking lot is CLOSED.  

- Black Diamond Bar and food service will be open with a limited menu. 

- Our season pass office will be open two hours prior to the ski area opening this weekend for pass pickup. Get here two hours early if you don't want to wait in long lines. Please be patient with us and our staff, thanks. 

-WV Passholders only and Halloween ticket vouchers only Friday and Saturday. Thank you passholders!

All trails this weekend and for the time being in the early season are skiing one classification up in terms of difficultly.  Please be advised that Lookout, normally a blue trail, will be skiing more like a black trail for the first two weeks at least.  Harley's Hollow & Long Way Home, normally green trails, will be skiing more like blue trains etc

From all of us at Welch Village, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and we'll see you this weekend. 





Thursday, November 17, 2022

Opening Day 2022-2023

Welch Village will open for the 2022-23 season on Friday, November 25th, the day after Thanksgiving.  

We were thankful to receive snowmaking temps this last weekend and early this week but the conditions were not ideal.  Much more ideal snowmaking temps are headed this way tonight through Monday of next week.  The best of those snowmaking days coming Friday - Sunday this coming weekend.  

We are choosing to leave guns running on the hill and pile up the snow in many places and offer a better skiing and riding experience for all of you for the following weekend.  his is our goal with opening day every season, to offer the best early season skiing/riding experience possible. 

The day after Thanksgiving is always our target date for opening and we are happy to be able to hit that target this season. 

More details will be coming soon for opening weekend.  What we can tell you is this: 

  • We will be open Friday, Nov. 25 and Saturday, Nov. 26th for Welch Village Season Passholders ONLY.  We will also accept Halloween ticket sale vouchers.  Industry Passes will not be accepted on these days.  Lift tickets will not be available for these days. 
  • We are planning to make lift tickets available for Sunday, Nov. 27th
  • More info coming early next week regarding which runs, lifts etc will be open. 
The forecast looks awesome for snowmaking the next few days.  Season Passholders will receive more information via email and social media on when and how to pick up their season pass cards. 

Another season at Welch Village is just around the corner....get ready!


 

Thursday, November 10, 2022

New Tower Guns

We received our 10 new TechnoAlpin TT10 tower snow guns units.  Two separate trucks with 5 guns a piece.  One truck arrived yesterday, the other today.  These things will not only make a lot of snow, they also look really cool.  If you are a Transformers fan, it almost looks like 10 Bumblebees just landed in our parking lot. 

We have 6 foundations installed and ready for 6 towers and we are hoping to get as many of these tower guns installed in the short window of time we have until the start of our season.  Stay tuned.  It's exciting to have these machines on our property and snowmaking temps just around the corner. 





Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Portable guns on the hill

Our fleet of portable guns are in position and our team is waiting for cold temperatures, which look like they are going to arrive sometime late Friday or early Saturday.  When the temps drop this weekend, the Village will start turning white.  Right now, it looks like we will get several days & evenings of snowmaking weather into next week if current forecasts hold true.  Still too early to predict an opening day but I would start getting your stuff ready, it won't be long now...

New tower guns?  We are still waiting for them. A big shocker....there is a slight supply chain delay.  We are hoping to see them late this week or early next week.  Good news is that the pits that they sit on are here. Several pits are already ready for tower guns when they arrive.  Below is a pit (footing) on Fowl Play that is patiently waiting for it's new TT10 tower gun. 





Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Working at a ski area

Like most businesses, it's challenging finding enough employees right now.  We are in the middle of our hiring process and we are making some progress but we still have a lot of holes to fill before the start of our season.  Well before the pandemic and several years ago now we began working on a plan to not only attract more employees but to improve the employment experience for all of our managers, supervisors, and all of our part-time and full-time employees.  We believe strongly that the more our employees love coming to the ski area to work, the more our passholders and customers will love coming to Welch Village to ski and snowboard. 

Working in this industry at our ski area is special.  It's unlike any other part-time, full-time, or seasonal job.  We could say the same thing about the sport of skiing & snowboarding itself. 

One of the best decisions we made a few years ago was improving and investing into a larger scale annual Employee Appreciation & Awards Party.  In a lot of ways, this has become the highlight of our season.  All of our department managers award a department MVP.  We hand out an overall WV MVP award.  We giveaway tons of cool door prizes like Twins tickets, flat screen TV's, Solo Stoves & more. We cater in food (last spring is a full-on buffet from Chipotle in Hastings), and we celebrate another successful season together.  

If you or anyone you know is looking for a fun & rewarding part-time job (& a free season pass!), or looking for a community of really cool people this winter, visit our Employment Page and join us this winter for a few months.  I may be biased, but there are few things as fun & as rewarding as spending your winter at a ski area.  Our wages are competitive and we are flexible and will work with your schedule as much as we can.  











Friday, October 7, 2022

Big Snowmaking Announcement

It's time to share some very exciting news with our season pass holders and all of you who enjoy skiing & riding at Welch Village! 

As part of a multiphase snowmaking improvement investment, we have just purchased a significant amount of new, state of the art TechnoAlpin fan gun towers.  This investment is an addition to the 4 portable snow guns that we already purchased this past summer and additional snowmaking pipe and infrastructure improvements this summer.  

Adding 14 new snow guns of this caliber will add a significant amount of more snowmaking capabilities which will be a game changer for us and for those of you who want to ski more of the Village and sooner in the season. 

We were not planning on moving forward with this phase of this plan this soon.  These ten new tower guns became available about two weeks ago now and we were not planning to buy these now.  By now, we are all aware of continued global supply chain issues and things like new snow guns like this were not supposed to be available until about a year from now.  We were fortunate and were told that 10 tower guns were available now....and we jumped on the opportunity and purchased all 10. 

We are not sure how many of these new tower units will actually be installed this fall for use this season.  Again, we were not planning on a massive project like this now.  The tower guns are still 2-3 weeks from arriving and looking at the calendar, it will be a challenge to get even half of these units installed.  However...our team will do what we can to get as many towers installed now as possible in addition to all of the chairlift maintenance and ski area wide work that has to happen to open Welch Village for the season ahead. 

Looking into the future, the next phase of this plan will be adding additional water supply next summer & fall which will really showcase the capabilities of this new fleet of snowmaking equipment. 

Below are some photos of what these guns look like as well as a video.  

Stay tuned for more updates in the days and weeks ahead.  Thank you for choosing Welch Village. Winter is coming. 












Friday, February 4, 2022

Kare 11 Olympics coverage commercial



During the Winter Olympics coverage on Kare 11 over the next couple of weeks, you may see a Minnesota ski area that looks familiar in a commercial promoting the Minnesota Ski Areas Association.

My family was asked to provide the “talent” in the commercial along with our Financial Controller & his son.  My girls were happy to take a day off school for this :).

We are blessed to be part of a strong ski industry in this state with so many great ski area owners & operators that work hard together towards the common goal of growing the sport we love. It’s exciting to create projects like this that will benefit all ski areas in the state. A big shout to Matthew Zabransky and his team for creating the video and to my wife who dusted off her snowboard for this. She  converted to a full-time skier a few years now but is still buttery smooth on that board. 








Friday, January 7, 2022

Skiing between chairlifts

You are now able to ski and ride in between the new quad chairlift and the #5 (Triple) chairlift. This was one of the added bonuses with this project when we decided to move the bottom terminal of the new lift to the west about 30ft or so. We are still adjusting to this so please control your speed at the bottom of Harley’s Hollow and be on the lookout for Caution signs & banners. Enjoy the snow and the Back Bowl this weekend!


Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Staffing Shortages

This is one of those posts where I am going to be as transparent as I can with you. 

Our team is preparing a series of contingency operations plans as covid cases surge in our area. Like all businesses, we were already experiencing staffing challenges and the recent surges in covid cases in our area is getting us concerned that our operations could be impacted.  Things are okay right now, but we are very thin with our staffing levels. 

Our highest priority is maintaining a certain staffing level of employees in key areas like lift operations, ticketing, grooming, and patrol to keep our passholders and guests skiing and riding.  However,  we may need to modify the availability of some services like food & beverage, rental, ski shop, and lessons if things continue to trend in the wrong direction.  Food and beverage is the department that is being affected the most right now. 

We have a passionate and experienced team of leaders here at Welch Village but we have really never faced the types of challenges we are facing right now.  

We are preparing for a variety of possible scenarios right now and remain confident that we should have enough staff to enable all of you to ski & ride.  However, just know that it's possible that we may be limited on how many chairlifts we can operate at certain times and we may be forced to adjust our hours of operation on certain days if we experience more severe staffing shortages. 

The good news: We now have 6 quad chairlifts so we are already in a better position to deal with these issues. 

Our team just thought it was the right thing to do in providing this "heads up" message. We are trying to be as proactive as possible. 

Stay updated by checking our website frequently as well as our social media. Thank you for understanding.