KCSKI

See on the slopes!

Relax..and before this turns into a feeding frenzy let me kill it early. Just spoke to my boss up there.....Sno Mtn isn't going anywhere..seems to me like the paper had a slow news day and because of one or two days of inactivity, probably during the monsoons we all have been going thru, someone decided to do another "Sno is Doomed!" article. Meh, every year it happens..and...every year the place does better. As far as the rest of it...I'm not going to speculate, but obviously the lights are on and stuff is getting done..although..not today as it's raining..again.

Working on getting some numbers for everyone, but I think it's safe to say Sno had a great season for 10/11 Neat thing here at the bike shop, alot of kids know I work on the mountain and are already asking about skiing, the mountain..actually seems to be some early excitement building up. Hope that bodes well for everyone this upcoming season!

Everytime I take a look at the webcam on the site the wave pool is loaded with people and there is a line of rafts going up the steps to the Tornado, and that is only the left side of the park..have no idea what the slides look like or the Ziprider. My number may be off but I do recall hearing that something like 1100 season passes were sold this summer. Granted, they were deeply discounted as we all know but I think the strategy was to get people up there and introduce them to the mountain, and so far it looks as if it is working. A helluva lot more people up there this year than last years previous.

I'm a little biased as I work up there in the Winter, but I was just up there this past weekend to pick some stuff up. Between the Wine Festival and other things going on it was quite busy and from what I understand they had a great opening weekend...and yes, it does look like there are more things going on up there..and the best news is that the ZipRider will re-open this weekend I believe, so..by all means I would say it's a great place to spend the day.

^ Once again, you're welcome....now......if you're not on the slopes this weekend something is wrong!!! Have a great weekend!!

You're welcome, and I apologize for the vagueness but I can only tell what I know so best not to add to it if I don't have all the facts, and I steer clear of internet forum battles as much as possible until things settle down. Regarding lifties: This past weekend we were running 3 on the bottom of each lift operating, and of course the top shack with 1, Tubing had 6, 3 top, 3 bottom...and ticket checkers at the top by Phebe nabbing poachers coming from the parking lot..and of course yours truly here randomly checking wherever I happened to be, so...no liftie issue...except on Sunday night things went goofy, and skier17 did hit a valid point...absenteeism was way up for some reason, but..you can't pin that on the mountain. You can't hold Sno responsible for this. We scheduled them, they didn't show up. All of us supervisors that came in at 6am that morning pitched in and stuck around well past our quit time, and I didn't leave myself personally until around 8pm, even keeping a radio on me as I was taking pics of my team practicing on mainline off the clock, so..no..don't blame the mountain for that, but it is an issue, but not exclusive to Sno I'm sure. The LH lift never runs during the week so that is not the issue. Again, yeah...how would you like to get the electric bill for that thing? I know I wouldn't. Yes, it's a cost saving issue and it works well that way. For all the years I have worked there it only operates Friday night thru Sunday up until 5pm except on major holidays, so again I don;t know what the big deal is over it. Yeah it sux that it's not running ON weekends, but bitching about it doesn't help any really. It will run when it is ready. To all here, I will keep you as informed as I can, but keep in mind I can only report what I know, and also keep in mind what I say is not the official voice of the mountain. I'm a "Weekend Warrior" up there so I'm not privy to everything that goes on and again I steer clear of those that like to create bullshit just for the sake of stirring things up. Don't have the time for that and it serves no purpose. The people at Sno read these comments I'm sure, so by all means keep the suggestions coming, even if it's to bitch about something.

^ Ok..your opinion. Thank You.

^ No problem. It's been a much asked question as to what is going on with LH. Since I only see weekend action and for the most part LH doesn't run during the week much, yeah...I miss it too. Nothing sinister or anything like that nor is it one of those "Sno is Doomed" things either. LH I think is the longest lift of all resorts in this region, just under a mile long one way with usually 190ish chairs on it. Since the lift disaster in New England last month every resort is under the microscope as far as their lifts and operations. Yeah, I hear ya.."Why wasn't it done in the off season?" I can't answer that as I am not there at that time, but I'm sure that there is a valid reason for it. I am assuming it was started and then when that New England mess happened everything is being done over, or maybe they found other issues that need to be addressed. I do know that they did remove some chairs, now down to 170 or so, and maybe it's taking just that long to re-calibrate the distance and then re-number the chairs. (A small thing like chair numbers will fail a lift if they are not in order) As far as failing an inspection? No, as the inspectors were there to inspect the beginner lift...I think it's more of a scheduling issue with the state. Doing an inspection on a lift that long is quite the job, and I'm sure Sno wants it in perfect condition before they go thru that ordeal, again esp because everyone is so uptight now. I know one thing, Sno will not operate that lift, or any other lift on the mountain unless it is completely safe. These guys really take things seriously with this stuff. Sure, a seat pad might need replacing now and then..and I don't know how many times they put a new safety bar on #41 on Phebe (broke AGAIN! Sunday)...but..your safety is paramount to all of us. Sounds cheesy but it's the truth.

^ I think I can safely say the past three weekends since I started my season up there working has been fantastic, with this past MLK weekend the busiest I have seen in 7 years working the mountain. ALL parking lots were full and they were even using the lower lots, something that hasn't happened since I don't know when, and bus traffic was insane. Sunday afternoon, once it warmed up that little bit the place just went off the charts, base area was jammed...lodge was impassable, the race event only added to the excitement, and even the well oiled liftie crews were swamped, but they got the job done and once again Sno ranks tops as far as I'm concerned in getting people to the top of the mountain in record time. Ok, yeah..I work there so you would expect me to waive the flag, but in all honesty I have to say personally, not speaking for the mountain, that I was impressed, and I hope all of you were as well, but please keep the suggestions flowing.

^ Well...the entire Northface is now open and they are still blowing 24/7. Here is the latest condition map: http://www.snomtn.com/index.php/events/snow-report/

http://webcam.snomtn.com:81/view/index.shtml

Possibly, and...since you ski and I don't I'm more apt to take your judgment than my own. *Needs to get back on ski's....said that last year but I chickened out! Anyways..if anyone is interested, the mountain is having their job fair tomorrow (11/6) and from the looks of it a lot of positions are open.

Back when I ran the BMX track up there in Newton, Cedar BMX Park, we were always a night track racing under lights. One year we tried switching to Sodium lights (Orange) and the results were disasterous...too many shadows thrown by the lights and a massive amount of color fade. After repeatedly re-adjusting lamp angles..by a professional, we abandoned the orange lights and went back to the white. It was then the gentleman who was helping do the lights said, and I quote "White light is the best lighting used for any outdoor sports activity" He's right. Look around, how many football/baseball stadiums are lighted in Orange? NASCAR Tracks? And I'm not talking standards of years ago, I'm talking today. That's right, not a one has Orange lighting. Camelback is white, Blue is White, Elk is white as is JF/BB, so..I think that they realize the quality of white over orange.

You're welcome, and thanks all for chiming in. As far as the lights, I agree, they need serious upgrades, not only in the light coverage but even the way they are operated. I haven't attempted to get on ski's since I had a knee replacement back in '90 and those lights are the same ones that were there back then. Sodium lights were the rage back then, not just for ski resorts, but just about everything from parking lots to street lights. Look around, you still see alot of that orangish color light out there but slowly they are being replaced by the new halogen gas lights, or the superbright HED systems coming online now...and yes, even at Sno we now have a few areas lighted in "white", so..the change is coming, might not happen all at once but it is coming. A lot of re-engineering needs to take place and then an insane amount of wiring meaning... a blizzard of $$ to get it done. Keep the faith guys, Rome wasn't built in a day and remember, when the county had it nothing got done except broke, so a lot had to be done to bring it as far as it has come. Think Sno!! Kevin

I can't give actual numbers but I can say that since I joined the mountain back when it was still Montage, it's had it's ups & downs, probably the biggest disaster was the year..think it was 2007, the first year it was under the new ownership, when we did not open until January 15th because of weather related issues. What I can say is that for the 2009/2010 season that just passed, I don't really think anyone can actually say that the resort did not do much better than in past years. We opened on time, had some real great conditions most of the time, plenty of snow, attendance exceeded capacity on most weekends, esp the holiday weekends in January & February. We were put in the embarrassing situation many times of running out of rental equipment..I guess one of those problems that in the same light you feel good about. (I'm sure that will be corrected this season) Lift lines, and yeah, I always read about how we never have any lines and no crowds at Sno..makes me laugh sometimes...I see the lines as I work all of them on the weekends getting people thru quicker...did anyone ever consider that we have line management down that well that we move 8,000 people an hour (our lift capacity at 100%) as fast as possible so unless there are extreme circumstances (Shuttle lift full of noobs falling off at the top stopping the lift all the time )that the lines are kept to a minimum? We all can't deny the overflow lot being used many times this year, the first time in a long long time..so, we were crowded...sometimes overcrowded. I can't say anything about the waterpark as I am not involved in warm weather ops, but yeah...kinda reminds me of the old movie "The Money Pit"...but, at least it's open and they are making a genuine effort and increasing what is there, so..give it some time. We're not Blue, we're not CamelBack..they are whole different mountains, and fortunatly for them they have a bigger area and more terrain. What we have we have to work to the best of the mountains and staff's ability. At least what we have we do very well with and I'm looking forward to a great 2010/2011 season! See you when the Snow flies........ Kevin

Lol...in my business, I'm kinda stuck between Snow & No snow, esp this time of the season. I own a bike shop so working at Sno is a perfect off season job for me, but now no snow is ideal for me as we needed to get busy fixing & selling bikes and getting out riding. I'm not on the mountain during the warm months now but that might change as we're discussing Mountain Bike riding and lift service with the management (Why not..2 lifts run all summer) Might not happen this summer but it is coming! Once again guys, enjoy the rest of the season..have fun, be safe!

I feel almost guilty as Saturday was my last day on the mountain for this season as my own business starts to get crankin' around now. To see the parking lot completely filled and the back overflow lot filled on Saturday made me think that Sno would definitly finish off the season in good shape. Also, we blew through the past 6 weekends in a row ALL the rental equipment....embarrassing but at the same time a good problem I guess to have and I'm sure that will be taken care of for next season with more equipment/rentals. The conditions were perfect, at least on Saturday, lift lines got a bit rediculous, esp on the shuttle lift (tons of noobs falling at the top stopping the lift) Already looking forward to the 10/11 season and to all here have a great remainder of this season and a great Summer! KC

Well, I can't speak for today as I wasn't there, but to be honest there is no way anyone that was at Sno this past weekend can say it was not crowded. I think it was the first time that I ever saw the parking lot completely filled since I have been working there. We did do a few different things in the lift areas that sped up the lines, and I think it was a Godsend with the amount of people we were sending up the mountain. Having extra lifties, ticket checkers, and the new ticket checkers at the top of the parking lot where Pheobe is, which is now I believe a permanent position, also helped the lift lines move faster at the bottom. Saturday we were crushed, there is no way to deny that fact, and although I know for the most part tubing does not factor in to any of the discussions here, those that were in and around the bunny slope saw that line, which ran well past the lift station all day and well into the night. Sunday started out a bit slow, and that is normal, but by 12 or so we got buried again. Shuttle's line at times was up to the deck of the lodge as it was Saturday, Lol, I know you guys don't ride the bunny slope, but you couldn't miss that line either on both days as that got insanely long, and Iron Horse, as it handles 8 slopes at that point, got real backed up on both sides of the lift lines. Even Long Haul, just because of it's lenght normally doesn't have a line, on Saturday it did. The lifties and us supervisors did a fantastic job I think this past weekend keeping things moving smoothly. Many of us pulled double shifts and were more than willing to pitch in to keep it running smoothly. Even you the customer I have to say Thank You to as there were minimal ticket issues or skier issues. It was like everyone just wanted to have a great time, and did. Commenting on your last line there that I quoted, By all means yes, everyone get out and hit the slopes. Not much time left in this season, so please enjoy it while you can! KC

Don't know if this will help put to rest this topic, but the lift capacity at Sno, with all lifts running at 100%, which for the most part they have done this season, esp on weekends, is 8,000 people an hour up the mountain. I think that is safe to say fast enough. My honest opinion, again, not speaking for the mountain in any official capacity here, a HSL would be a waste of time & $$ for the size of the mountain. I think we could all agree there are more, better investments that would make the mountain more exciting than a HSL.

An early morning pic of WL, Saturday 1/23/10

Hope this is allowed. I was up at the top of tubing during the practice runs for the railjam on Saturday, and since I always have my camera with me I thought it would be nice to snap a few shots. I'm always doing bike park comp pics so I decided to try some snow shots. I'm not a pro and I only had my small Canon A620, and since I was standing at the top of the carpet most of the shots are a bit distant, but hopefully I caught one of you that post here a lot.

Thank You trackbiker for the input & kudos to the lifties....and never think we don't listen to comments and suggestions. I'm the person you see walking around on weekends at Sno with that goofy cowboy hat on. I'm a low level lift supervisor and it's my job to float around the mountain making sure things are the way they are supposed to be. If not, don't be afraid to let us know. For the most part we have a good group this year, but there is always room for improvement I'm sure. I can't speak for management or on the light issue,nor are any of my comments endorsed by Sno management but I'm sure it's something being looked at, so...once again, keep the comments flowing.