Resorts of the Canadian Rockies make a move!

Read a very interesting press release about 10 days ago. Resorts of the Canadian Rockies(aka RCR) are undertaking an initiative to eliminate all man-made snow jumps in their terrain parks ..........effective immediately. Intriguing move in view of the high demand for such features in the market place. Interesting how we have gone full circle and then some. Back in the mid 80's when I first came on the scene, the Pelletier boys blazed a trail for free-style skiing that included all kinds of big air jumping. Oh what fun it was. We then had the hammer drop from insurance providers and we soon found ourselves in an environment where skiers were not allowed to leave the snow surface. Get some air and you were considered a bad boy. Notice I said skiers as at that time boarders were few and far between at that time. We have since seen the board growth sky rocket and along with that the rails, boxes and all the crazy features they like to grind and get air from. The X-games became a driving force.
Where do I stand on elimination of snow jumps? I believe we have made tremendous efforts to improve safety on the terrain features and that such features enhance the experience for our guests. I believe kids are going to find a way to jump and that educating users is the most effective way to reduce injuries in the use of terrain features. I would rather educate our guests than take away the excitement. Equipped with the right info, users of freestyle terrain can do a great deal to improve the safety of their experience. The bottom line is that the user is in control. By empahasizing this through education campaigns, together we can make terrain features a more enjoyable and exciting experience for our guests.
Safety initiatives place particular emphasis on knowing where to land, knowing the intended use of the terrain chosen and knowing the user's actions are key no matter how a feature is designed.
NSAA highlights the latest educational message by focusing on "Make a Plan" before using any terrain feature. Know that your speed, approach and take off will directly affect your maneuver and landing.
We cannot remove the inherent risk associated with skiing and boarding, but we can significantly reduce the risk through education.........
ed

Turkey Night Snowmaking is a Turkey

All summer long, most of my staff has faced the unemployment blues....... no work or working only a couple days here and there. So, along comes Thanksgiving.......a great time to relax with your family. What do I ask of them..... none other than to be in here Thanksgiving night to make snow. Gotta do it...........all forecasts called for clearing by midnight with temps dropping into the teens.......
Then we deal with reality.......Temp at midnight is still 28 and still cloudy. Temp at 3am is 27 and still cloudy. Temp at 4am back up to 28 and of course cloud cover still with us. Temp at 5am is still 26 with clouds appearing to break. By now it is too late to be productive the 8 hour window of opportunity has now shrunk to a mere 2 hours. By 5:30am, the sky clears and temps drop to 23 and by 6:30am to 19.
Temps bottom out at 17 by 7am and quickly start to rise ad the sun takes over.
Not a great start to the snowmaking season, but ya gotta keep trying!
ed

Forecasts

Yesterday...........I responded to PK in regards to the winter weather forecast. I look at the forecasts constantly.............not sure why, however!
For the past 5 days we have anxiously been following forecasts(7-10 day variety). All the hub-bub was about significant snow storm to hit us on Turkey Day. That was to be followed by an extended period of very cold temps.
AccuWeather showed significant snow for our region and at one point indicated low temps in the low to mid teens for more than a week following the snow. That sounds like a skier/boarder's dream forecast ..........does it not!
Let's see how that shakes out.........this morning's forecast showed temps about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than predicted a mere 5 days ago.
In view of that, I am not sure how accurate 30 to 90 day forecast really is!
stay tuned...............ed

Notes to PK

A big thank you to PK, an anonymous blogger. PK asked a few questions and it reminded me that I have not blogged for a while.

We hope to have a shot at snowmaking in the very near future. One thing to remember......early season snowmaking is often somewhat less that optimal because of warm ground temps and warm surface water temps.......
Below are excerpts from the Old Farmer's Almanac

Winter will be about two degrees above normal, on average, with slightly below-normal precipitation. The coldest temperatures will occur in early December, early and mid- to late January, and mid-February. Snowfall will be near normal in Iowa and below normal elsewhere, with the heaviest snowfalls in mid-December, early to mid-January, and late February.

November 2007
Avg. Temperature: 45° (3° above avg.)
Precipitation: 2" (0.5" below avg.)
Nov. 1-9: Sunny, cool, then warm
Nov. 10-13: Rain and snow, chilly
Nov. 14-19: Sunny, mild
Nov. 20-27: Showers, then sunny, warm
Nov. 28-30: Rain, then snow showers, cold

December 2007
Avg. Temperature: 29° (1° below avg.)
Precipitation: 1" (0.5" below avg.)
Dec. 1-7: Snow showers, then sunny, very cold
Dec. 8-13: Sunny, mild
Dec. 14-17: Rain, then sunny, cold
Dec. 18-21: Snow, then sunny, cold
Dec. 22-28: Rain, then sunny, seasonable
Dec. 29-31: Freezing rain