Skip to main content

Christmas Eve Blizzard

As I sit down to write this afternoon, Winter Storm Elliott is bearing down on us here at Snowriver. Winds and snowfall have increased steadily throughout the day today and are now reaching true blizzard-like conditions. The overnight forecast is calling for increasing winds and heavy, heavy snowfall. Road conditions are expected to deteriorate overnight and be very poor for our employee's commutes tomorrow morning. For their safety and the safety of those guests traveling to ski with us tomorrow, I have made the difficult decision to close our ski area for tomorrow, 12/24/2022. Our staff is reaching out to those who made advanced purchases and will assist in changing dates or issuing refunds as necessary. I'd like to wish a very Merry Christmas Eve to our staff and all of our guests. I look forward to opening again on Christmas Morning - more details on that in a minute.

National Weather Service forecast for the next 48 hours as of 3pm - 12/23/2022

For those guests staying with us tonight or arriving tomorrow, we will continue some operations to to serve them through the storm. The Legacy Restaurant inside the Lodge at Jackson Creek will still open tomorrow for breakfast service from 7am-10am. Jack's Bar and Grille will be open from 10am-8pm to serve lunch and dinner. The Lodge and the pool will remain open during their regularly scheduled hours. All other facilities will remain closed for the day.

A Very Merry Christmas

The forecast may not be the best for being open, it is looking very good for reopening on Christmas Day. If you add it all up, the forecast is calling for an additional 22" of snow to fall between now and then. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping these winds pair perfectly with Lake Superior to deliver all of that lake effect powder under our trees for Christmas. What a gift that would be! One I'd certainly want to be present for ;)

Despite the storm today, the team continued preparing to open additional terrain at Jackson Creek Summit. Our patrol, ski school and rental staff partnered to ski-pack the East T-bar lift line this afternoon. This helps establish a solid base and get the lift line ready for guests to ride. We also used our Tucker and roller to pack the flatter sections of both the East and West T-bars. 

An all in team effort to pack the line. - 12/23/2022

When we reopen on Christmas, we're planning to open the Bear Creek Double serving most, if not all, of the terrain in that pod. We'll also be adding in the East T-Bar for what I'm told will be the first time in years serving all of its terrain other than Cascade (Agogebic). The cat crew will be out on the prowl tomorrow as conditions allow to push out our snowmaking piles on Nimbus (Winnebago), F.I.S. and Tomahawk. Depending on their progress tomorrow we could see some or all of those runs opening up in the very near future. Again, our goal is 100% open for the holidays, and if we can do it, we will. I know I'll be skiing powder this Christmas, and I hope you'll join me!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Opening Weekend at Jackson Creek Summit

 Yesterday was opening day at Jackson Creek Summit. It was exciting to welcome guests into the renovated Summit Center, now named the Sugar Maple Chalet. It was fun to watch our long time season pass holders check out all the changes we'd made to a place they've been so familiar with over the years. Who knew carpeting and anti-slip vinyl flooring could be such an exciting change.  The rental shop is finally finished and welcomed it's first renters yesterday. The space turned out great thanks to the hard work from many hands. It's so neat to see families get outfitted in their gear before heading straight onto the beginner slopes, just a few steps away. Our staff particularly appreciates the opportunity to watch their customers take their first turns, instead of being stuck in the windowless shop they previously called home.  We did have a few hang-ups in our plan that caused us to modify our operations for opening day and the rest of the weekend. As part of the construc...
2 comments
Read more

A Flurry of Activity

The Sugar Maple Chalet (former Summit Center) is really starting to come together, with renovations wrapping up in preparation for our opening day this Friday. Between contractors and our own team, there is quite the flurry of activity going on as I write this morning. We're going to be running down to the wire with a number of finishing touches. The new ticket windows are nearing completion, with just the windows themselves yet to be installed. Delivery is scheduled for Wednesday, and the crew will get to work on installing them as soon as they arrive. In the meantime, we'll be working on setting up the computers with our point-of-sale systems to be ready for our guests on Friday. Once complete, all day tickets and rentals will be sold out of these windows. Season pass pickup will be available at the guest service counter inside the chalet. The new carpet, paint, and furniture has made a tremendous difference inside the chalet. The classic charm of the building really shines w...
1 comment
Read more

Just Getting Started

I had the opportunity to get out skiing with my Dad and my Sister on Sunday to wrap up the weekend. It was great to be out on the snow. Shanty Boy was a blast. Smooth, fast, and steep. Was fun to think that we're really just getting started, with so much more terrain to open and enjoy this season. The conditions were made even better by my brand new boots from Big Snow Outfitters in Bessemer. Growing up, my first few pairs of skis and boots all came from BSO's retired rental fleet, so of course it was the first place I thought to look to get my slightly packed out boots fitted properly. Walking into the store brought back so many childhood memories of stopping by the store after a day of skiing to enjoy the warmth of the wood burning fire and browse around dreaming of what equipment I'd buy when I grew up. The nostalgia must have got to me because it wasn't long before I was walking out with a new pair of Lange boots. Apparently the boots I'd been rocking for the pa...
1 comment
Read more