November is here and with only a few weeks left until our projected opening date the 2022/23 ski season is right around the corner. Our Mountain Ops crew has been hard at work making sure that all of the upgrades on the docket for this summer/fall season could be completed in time for the upcoming ski season and we think you’re going to like what you see!
For the past 4 summers, we have been expanding and upgrading our snowmaking network, by upgrading our pumphouses, adding new snow guns and installing more snowmaking pipe. We already saw a difference in these upgrades last season which led to increased snow coverage across the mountain and even skiing into May! This season we’re expecting even more of a noticeable difference in snowmaking capabilities, this way we can get more of the mountain open faster.
With the installation of 35,000 feet of snowmaking pipe this summer, we have upped the reach of our snowmaking network yet again along with replacing old and worn snowmaking pipe. We didn’t stop there, we continued our snowmaking improvements with the added installation of 160 new low-energy snow guns and nearly 250 new semi-automatic snowmaking hydrants on 12 trails including Niagara, Excelsior and Victoria. Not only do these new guns and hydrants allow us to make more snow, but they also help us to do it efficiently and sustainably. Now we’re patiently waiting on Mother Nature to bring in the perfect snowmaking weather so that we can fire up the snow guns and turn this mountain white again.
This summers’ upgrades also included a lot of trailwork and the addition of TWO NEW TRAILS, Ausable Run which sits on skiers right of Wolf Run and Yellow Dot, which cuts from the top of Victoria to Lower Skyward. Our crew also expanded the width on Lower Thruway and began some of the first cuts for the new detachable lift line. This lift is proposed for installation in the summer of 2023. Not many lift improvements were needed this summer thanks to the vast improvements from the last few seasons, but both Lookout and Freeway did receive new upper bullwheel bearings and Freeway also received electrical upgrades, a new drive and a new transformer.