Spring at Snowriver

It is officially spring at Snowriver, but while the calendar calls for spring we still have TONS of snow on the mountain. After a few additional feet over the past week, we've now crossed the 200" mark for this season. This is just about two feet more than our annual average for snowfall. This means we'll have great spring skiing conditions right up through the end of the season.

Our plan remains to close down the Jackson Creek Summit side after April 2nd. This early closure will allow us to begin the removal of the Original Double to make way for construction of the new Voyageur Express which is slated to begin May 1st. Over at Black River Basin, we plan to keep things rolling through Easter Sunday. We'll run the lifts from Friday the 7th through Sunday the 9th from 9am-4pm to finish off the season. If conditions and skier demand support reopening for a bonus weekend, we may reopen on April 15th and 16th. Stay tuned to our email newsletter and social media channels for an announcement as that weekend approaches.

Road Trip

We were in need of a large, solid spool to store the haul rope from the Original Double on until it can be reinstalled later this summer on the Bear Creek lift. I knew my friends over at Giants Ridge had one in storage, so I phoned a friend to see if I'd be able to borrow it. Thankfully they agreed and I was able to go pick it up yesterday. The ski industry is such a neat community of people willing to help each other out. It's one of the things I like the most about working in it. Plus it was a great opportunity for me to stop in and visit with all of my former coworkers over there.

Having this spool on hand when we go to remove the haul rope (industry term for cable) from the Original Double will allow us to save it for reinstallation. It was just put on around 10 years ago and has many, many good years of life left in it. Rather than sending it off to scrap like the others, we're going to reinstall it to replace the rope on the Bear Creek lift which still has its original haul rope from when it was installed in 1987.

Triple Time

Triple chairs awaiting their new owners to take them home- 3/23/2023

The mountain crew finished removing the chairs from the triple lift this afternoon. Another step in the right direction. If you haven't bought your very own, hop over to our auction site and place a bid! Next, we'll get to work on taking the Ts off the West T-Bar which should go pretty quickly and then we'll only have the chairs on the double to contend with after closing day. Once all the chairs are off the line, we have a contractor coming up to assist us in removing the cables from each of the lifts. With over 4 1/2 miles of steel cable totaling over 50,000 pounds to wind up, we sure have our work cut out for us.

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July Already?!

In the month since I last sat down to chronicle all the activity on the mountain, we have accomplished A LOT. The team from Ruotsalas has completed pouring concrete and backfilled the foundations for Towers 2-10. This leaves Tower 1 and all four terminal foundations to complete but is still a big milestone as it allows us to revegetate the access roads created to reach tower locations on the side of the hill. The rest of the pours are much more easily accessible via pre-existing and solid roadways, meaning rainy weather is much less of a threat to our forward progress. Tower 9 foundation is backfilled with grass already growing. -7/8/2023 With the Tower foundations substantially completed, the focus shifts to the top and bottom terminal locations. At the bottom, we are undertaking a massive regrading project to improve skier access to the lift from both the east and the west sides. The loading mound of the former triple lift has been completely removed and redistributed at t...

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...

Thanks for a Great Opening Weekend!

We had an excellent first weekend of skiing and riding at Black River Basin. It was fantastic to see so many familie s and friends enjoying time together on the slopes over thanksgiving weekend. The weather was a real treat with warm bluebird days on Friday and Saturday that felt more like early March than late November. It was the perfect opportunity to try out the new deck furniture while soaking in some rays and a cold drink. It's n ot too often we get the chance to do that so early in t he season. While the weather was superb, my favorite part of the weekend was the chance to meet so many of the people that call these hills home for the winter . The soul of skiing was alive and well on the slopes over the past four days reminding me that i t really is the people that make the pla ce . So, now’s as good a time as any to introduce myself to the Snowriver community. My name is Benjamin Bartz , I assumed the position...

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