Operations Update: Building Out Terrain

We’re in that exciting early season push at Blue Mountain, and our teams are busy opening terrain and making the most of every cold window. A lot of strategy goes into what you see on the Mountain Report. We focus first on connecting ski trails so guests and staff can move between ski areas. Crossover trails like L-Hill, Waterfall, and Happy Valley are wide and take a lot of snow to cover. Luckily, we’ve had a strong snowmaking stretch, so Valley is opening today and the North is lined up for this weekend. Much of that progress comes from work done in the off-season. Our operations team placed high-temperature guns on many crossover trails and at the loads and unloads of lifts. That setup lets us rely less on ground guns and react more quickly whenever temperatures drop. Even once a trail is open, we don’t stop snowmaking. We keep building snow depth so trails can handle thaws, skier traffic, and whatever the weather throws at us. Natural snow looks great, but it melts and compresses much faster than manmade snow. A solid machine made snow base is what carries us through the warmer swings, and the more snow we can make now, the more flexibility we have later in the season. We’re also working towards the goal of having Orchard open for Christmas, which is always the target. It’s not just about the ski trails, either. Woodview Skating opens today, with strong snowbanks helping keep water on the trail instead of running off the edges, putting us in a good position for consistent ice. Over in Yahoo Park, we’re actively making snow, and the park crew will start adding new features when conditions allow. In Badlands, we’re also seeing steady progress whenever the wind cooperates with snowmaking. In short: Valley is open, the North is joining it this weekend, Woodview is ready to glide, and we’re pushing toward more terrain, more parks, and the Orchard open for the holidays. In case you missed it, winter is here! We’re excited to be making the most of it.