Hey all, hope everyone has been able to get some gardening done this month (jokes, kind of). I just wanted to put out a little statement about this season and wrap up what has easily been our most challenging year to date.
First and foremost, we do have some snow coming in tonight and tomorrow (3/22-23). In a normal year, this would be a great way to keep the season going. This year, however, we have lost just about all of our base at this point. The storms earlier in the week didn’t hit us like they were forecast to, leaving us with an inch or two across the mountain. Even if we got 12″ tomorrow, which is unlikely, there wouldn’t be much underneath it. The ground is no longer frozen so grooming is not an option and the top and bottom ramps of Ridge Runner are non-existent. With all these factors in mind, we’ve decided that attempting to open for one more day is not feasible. After Saturday’s Rail Jam on Bunny Bowl, we’ll be calling it a season.
It’s no secret that the weather this winter was a pretty big disappointment. In a season when we really needed a strong snow year, we saw our worst one yet. At 125″ to date, this is by far the lowest snow total we’ve seen in the last 9 years. On top of that, mild temps and rain kept us from really taking advantage of the snow that we did get over the long term. However, I am happy with the conditions that we were able to maintain throughout the season. Sliding on snow is fun no matter the weather, and we really did have some epic days thrown into the mix. I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy some of those deep pow days or bluebird groomers!
Next, I’d like to give an update on our tornado recovery and what we have planned for the future. My family’s world got turned upside down last August when that EF3 tornado ripped through our property and damaged 4 lifts, a groomer, buildings, and took down thousands of trees. The future was very uncertain, wondering if we would ever operate again, much less for the ’23-’24 winter season. Soon after, an outpouring of support from across the country started coming in. It gave us the hope and determination we needed to attack the situation and begin moving forward. We set the lofty goal of not only opening this season, but at some point during the season getting back to 100% operational. On February 17th, we accomplished that goal with the re-opening of North Chair. We now have some more work to do on North, but regardless I am incredibly proud of how far we were able to come these last 9 months.
There are a couple of people in particular that I’d like to thank by name. Joe Garnsey and Tom Smith, two very good friends of mine and many at Snow Ridge, were absolutely instrumental in our recovery efforts. Without these two, there would not have been a ’23-’24 season. From the bottom of my heart, thank you gentlemen.
There are so many other people to thank, I would never be able to name them all in one place. But please know, to those of you who donated to our fundraiser, helped on clean up days, shared words of encouragement, or even just bought lift tickets or season passes this year: Thank you! You are all the reason that we are back on our feet and Snow Ridge will continue to operate for years to come.
Finally, as I mentioned, there is still work to do. Hundreds of trees remain down across the mountain and removal of them will undoubtedly take years. The two foundations that shifted on North Chair require more work to ensure their stability in the future. Ridge Runner will receive a brand new communication line and safety circuit this summer, decreasing down time drastically moving forward. And most importantly, we have begun plans for a huge snowmaking upgrade to increase our snowmaking capacity and efficiencies. We are working with our friends at Technoalpin to determine the best path forward to accomplish these goals.
With that said, we are not done. There is a lot to do and we look forward to continuing the work as soon as the weather allows. Additionally, we have a full summer of events planned and a renewed focus on how we see summer operations moving forward. Those are conversations for another day, however, so we’ll leave it at that for now.
We have one final hoorah tomorrow with the Season Ending Rail Jam on Bunny Bowl. Come watch the riders throw down and enjoy some food and drink on the Tavern patio. The jam will run from 11am-3pm and is only $20 for competitors, free to spectate!
Again, thank you to everyone who has stood by us. We are excited for what the future holds for Snow Ridge!
Nick Mir
General Manager
