Monday, October 24, 2011
There are many signs that winter is not far away. Leaves fall, days get shorter, woolly bear caterpillars appear, geese fly south. But for the past three years, my winter indicator is Rumble's energy level. Bernese Mountain Dogs love the snow and cold and they barely tolerate even cool mountain summers. I have noticed Rumble each morning for the past week and he is clearly perking up. Snow is definitely on the horizon.
We have finished excavating our snowmaking pond at Mt. Ellen and it is full of water and ready to go. We still have to repair the equipment in the pump house at Van Loon which was damaged by the flood, but that will be completed in a couple of weeks. This week, we will finalize the placement of heavy rock on the upstream embankment of the Mad River Pond so that we are better prepared for the next high-water event and then finish replacing the electrical lines that were torn down by Irene. Fortunately, we did not have any damage to our pump house there.
So the pond is full and we will be prepared to make snow on-schedule in early November when the temperature allows. We are shooting for an opening day of Saturday, November 19th at Lincoln Peak.
Our crew did an incredible job of repairing everything after Irene hit on Sunday, August 28th. With over $800,000 in damage, it has proven to be a costly storm for Sugarbush, but in just eight weeks we have managed to get ready for winter.
We had our seasonal orientations last weekend for veteran Ski & Ride as well as Ski Patrol staff. It was great to see so many familiar faces back again this winter along with some wonderful new additions to the team. We are starting our job fairs and will be holding the rest of our orientations over the next few weeks, so winter is getting into full-swing.
This year we are the east-coast sponsor for the new Warren Miller film, "...Like There's No Tomorrow." Attendees of Sugarbush-sponsored shows will receive a complimentary lift ticket (weekdays, non-holiday) for the upcoming winter season. There may be a show near your home, so check out the schedule and let your friends know about it.
SugarDirect cards are currently on sale until December 16th. For only $99, you get direct-to-lift access, 20-25% off day-ticket rates, and other benefits. Also, our College Pass deadline is November 1st.
With Rumble giving me the sign that snow is not far away, I am focusing now on finding some new boots for Lili and me and getting our skis tuned and bindings checked.
See you soon.
Win
So what would you expect a former Executive Vice President of Merrill Lynch to do when he retires? Lay low in the islands? Nope. He moves north and works seven days a week right here at Sugarbush. Check out what he's been thinking.
