BC-Mark
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Posts posted by BC-Mark
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It is snowing harder than I have ever seen it snow up here today! Two true powder days in a season is rare, two in a week is a unheard of. Let's hope this pattern holds for the rest of the winter.
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The big propane tank is 100,000 gal. tank. We also have a 70,000 gal. heating oil tank near the loading dock. We can't get natural gas at the mountain so we use boilers to heat the entire facility. They can run on either fuel and we switch back and forth based on market price/efficiency.
We also use propane for all the cooking appliances and fireplaces in the building. Definitely not a fun bill to pay.
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Yesterday I finally made it out for more than a run or two and I have to say the conditions were phenomenal!
With the consistently cold temperatures and nightly snowmaking, the snow felt perfect under foot. No ice, no chatter, just well groomed packed powder that, if I closed my eyes, could have passed for a great day out west.
I hope everyone has had a chance to enjoy this cold spell and the incredible conditions. If not, get out tomorrow and take advantage!
To answer the question about competitions, we did not change insurance carriers, we are actually with the same carrier as in previous years. Our carrier does not permit us to run our own competitions. In the past we have been able to find 3rd party promoters to put on the competition and get around the insurance barrier. Last year and the year before we had EMS and USASA. This year, we have a USASA competition againg but EMS decided not to organize the rail jam series.
Hopefully next season we can get a carrier that allows us to once again host competitions. Until then, we have a few ideas but nothing solid yet.
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No need for a petition. We are taking the cliff out this summer.
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The previous strategy was make as much as we can for as long as we can, right up to opening.
Missdemeanor is correct that this would sometimes lead to inconsistent and sticky conditions through the early morning until the snow had a chance to dry out a bit. On the positive side, it gave us more production on a nightly basis and you will still see us employ that strategy when we need to make huge volumes of snow to open or recover from a warm spell.
Our hope with this new approach is to have even better, more consistent conditions and fewer features in the parks buried at opening.
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The conditions the past two days have been great. We really got lucky with the NYE storm being snow and a bit of sleet rather than sleet and rain.
This coming week looks really cold and we will be making snow nightly. It is rare we get such a prolonged stretch of teens and low 20's. A forecast like this we will allow the snowmaking team to really bury the mountain. Having more than a single night or two to make snow, we will be trying something a bit different with our snowmaking strategy this week.
Starting tonight, we will begin snowmaking at 10pm each night and shut the guns down by 6am. From 6am to opening, the groomers will have a chance to smooth out the piles and clean up any mishaps from the night before. Obviously we can only sacrifice the extra 2 to 3 hours of snowmaking each night when we have favorable forecasts and/or a decent base, but if the conditions are markedly better than making snow right up until opening we will make this the new standard. Let me know how you think the strategy works.
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My Saturday night was filled with nightmares about driving into the mountain on Sunday morning to find bare, muddy trails. To my amazement, I crested the hill in the drive to find the slopes still covered and mostly white. I knew we had a lot of snow out there but even I was surprised by how well we weathered Friday
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Thanks to everyone who came out for our 10th Anniversary Celebration.
It was great to see everyone who has supported us over the last 10 years and this cold weather has been the best anniversary gift we could hope for.
The next 10 days look good overall with a slight exception on Saturday. After the natural snow and the cold weather this week we have plenty of snow to weather the light rain forecast for Saturday.
We return to snowmaking temperatures right after the brief warm-up and should have great mid-winter conditions for the holiday week.
Thanks again for helping us succeed.
Tom continues to add to the parks. After the end of this 36 hour snowmaking period he should have plenty of snow to work with and build some great features. Our plan is to make snow tonight and tomorrow night with a break until the next cold snap starting Sunday night.
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We usually try to leave fresh snow on Upper Grizzly, Extreme and Kodiak but the winds last night forced us to groom it to keep it on the trail. If we had not packed it in we would have lost the majority of it. Sasquatch was a bit more shielded because of the wind was coming out of the northeast and it faces almost due south so we were able to leave it untouched.
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Good news, Sasquatch is open today. The new snow made it rideable and it still has some fresh lines on it. Get 'em while they last!
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Today looks like a great day. We got 5" to 8" of natural snow yesterday and last night. The exact measurement is tough due to the winds and drifting but it is definitely light, dry snow and should make for great conditions.
We will be adding to the parks tonight. With the heavy, blowing snow last night it was not possible to get features in and set-up properly.
Four of the next five nights look like excellent snowmaking and we should have the full mountain open by Monday or Tuesday at the latest.
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Up to this point the roads have been pretty passable. We had about 2" of snow and then it stopped for a few hours. Within the last 45 minutes it has really started snowing hard and looks to continue like that for a while and I haven't had any new reports.
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We have had a couple good days for opening and now are getting blessed with 5" to 8" of fresh, dry powder. We opened most of the trails today, the major exceptions being Sasquatch and Extreme. We will have those open on Sunday or Monday.
Tom is planning major park construction projects for Saturday or Sunday nights depending on the weather.
The majority of the 10 day looks really positive so we should be able to lay down a great base over the coming days.
Thanks to everyone who has come out so far and I hope to see the rest of you soon.
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We are still looking good for Thursday. Brad and his team are going to try to make snow tomorrow nightif the low of 27F really materializes. Temperatures from Wednesday night throught the 10 day look good.
Thursday may be a bit thin on the upper parts of the Kodiak and Black Bear due to some heavy losses from the rain. Conditions should get better each day and we are still hoping to have the majority of the mountain open by the weekend.
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Thursday's opening will depend on the grooming situation. If the plan holds, we should be open in the morning. We will know more on Monday.
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Oh, I forgot to say that we are still making snow on all trails. We lost power last night for a few minutes and, even though the generators kick on, the guns still shut down briefly. When this happens, the snowmaking team has to scramble to keep the hoses, pipe lines and guns themselves from freezing. The process to get everything restared takes about 45 min to an hour.
My guess is you were seeing the guns turned off during the restart period. This time of year we can never have enough snow and will run every chance we get on all trails.
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I just finished speaking with the snowmaking team and here is the latest:
We are planning a Thursday opening. Believe me, we would love to open early in the week and give ourselves a chance to find any bugs that may pop up before the Weekend. No matter how much you train and plan and test you just can't simulate what happens when you have guests on the mountain.
We do have enough snow to open from Cascade to Drifter at this time. Our reasoning is based heavily on what happened three years ago. We were in a very similar situation and went ahead an pushed out all our piles to get open. We then received a full day of rain followed by a prolonged warm spell. For those of you who were around then, you remember the rest. For those that don't remember, the rain and warm weather took us down to bare ground and we weren't able to reopen until January 18th. If we had kept the snow in piles through the rain we would have had a much better shot at riding out the warm spell.
This forecast does not look as dire as 3 years ago and the 3 day warm spell is forecast to be followed by more snowmaking temperatures. Nevertheless, I would rather play it safe and give ourselves the best chance of preserving as much snow as possible rather than risk it to open 3 or 4 days earlier. After all, we are in PA and the next heat wave can be lurking at the end of the 10 day forecast.
The plan is to keep the snow in piles through Sunday's rain. Evaluate Tuesday's forecast on Monday morning. If Tuesday stays as scattered showers, we will begin pushing out the areas that need more prep time, like the parks, on Monday and Monday night. Once the snow gets a chance to dry out and firm up a bit on Wednesday, we will begin pushing out the piles on the rest of the trails Wednesday. Wednesday night we will put down some fresh snow and do a final groom for a Thursday opening. We should open with the trails from Cascade to Drifter. There is a possibility for more terrain on opening day but not certain. We should have most, if not all, trails open by the weekend if the forecast holds.
Thanks for the patience.
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the weather forecast has taken a bit of a negative turn over the past 16 hours.
Sunday is currently forecast to have showers and freezing rain followed by two relatively warm days and more showers on Tuesday.
We are currently making snow and will continue through the day and tonight, perhaps Saturday through the day (temperatures permitting) and Saturday night. The next cold spell arrives on Wednesday. This should give us plenty of snow for opening the majority of the mountain.
Given the forecast for Sunday, we will not be opening Sunday. I will meet with Brad and the Snowmaking team tonight to discuss the best opening strategy for snow preservation and opening day conditions.
Monday would be the earliest potential opening day at this point. I will have another announcement tomorrow to update everyone.
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Sorry for the silence, it has been a busy few weeks up here.
The good news is winter has finally arrived at Bear Creek and we are looking at some excellent snowmaking temperatures over the next 5 to 7 days.
We seem to have missed the worst of heavy rains over the last 24 hours and our snow loss was surprisingly minimal. Based on the current forecast and the snow we have on the slopes, we are hoping for an opening between Saturday and Monday.
The opening date will be much more clear after we get through Thursday night
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Ahhh, spring is definitely in the air but that doesn't mean the season is over. Keep the clubs in the garage, the bikes on their storage hooks and the rakes and shovels in the shed for another week and get out and enjoy some great spring conditions. We will be closing on March 22nd at 4pm so squeeze in your last turns for the season before the opportunity is gone for another 9 months.
I was out mid-morning yesterday and the snow was perfect spring corn that had the magical ability to make me look like I know what I am doing on a snowboard.
Today offers up the great combination of $25 tickets, sunny skies and great spring conditions. Combine that with our Customer Appreciation Day on Saturday and Pond Skimming on Sunday and I can
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Whoops, we had it tentatively set for the 22nd and forgot to delete that calendar entry. It is definitely the 15th.
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Just to verify, just because we are having pond skimming on the 15th does not mean that will be the last day of the season. We just wanted to make sure we have plenty of snow to build a nice big pond this year.
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Another great night of snowmaking. I just got off the mountain and the guys really put out some massive piles last night. It looks like we have one more night tonight and then the warm weather arrives.
I would skip out on any obligations you might have and get here today or tomorrow, conditions are prime.
I shot some morning photos of the guys handy work. They really deserve a round of applause for their efforts this season.
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Thanks, the snowmakers and groomers have done a great job this year. I will pass on the compliments when I see them tonight.
Season Updates
in Bear Creek
Posted
We tried to make snow last night but our lowest wet bulb was 29F. We are trying again tonight, hopefully the forecast low actually materializes tonight but I am not holding out much hope since we are holding at 39F right now.
Tom has a park build scheduled for Monday night and all day Tuesday. The plan right now is to do Black Bear on Monday night and have it open by mid-morning Tuesday. After Black Bear is finishes they will close Cascade and do a rebuild on it during the day.