Friday, February 29, 2008

Bet this group of riders will be at the Late Nite...

...but the question is will you be there? Last Late Nite of the season. Free pizza while it lasts, DJ putting out the tunes on the slopes, bonfire, prizes and ski, ride, tube til 1:00 am. this Saturday night beginning at 9:30 pm.



Open at 4 pm tonight......Friday after Five at Coal Creek Lounge. We will continue to have our Friday after Five as long as we are open for winter fun........then we will have Friday after Five on the first Friday of the month only.

Keep it White

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Fresh snow today

Looks like Seven Oaks is targeted to get one to two inches of fresh snow this afternoon and into the evening. Had a nice crowd last night. Should be real good tonite (open at 4 pm) with the new snow and decent temps. Remember last night was our last Wednesday for being open this season and tonite is our last Thursday for being open this season.

Late Nite is this Saturday Night from 9:30 pm to 1:00 am with a DJ........last one for this season.

Get ready for the annual Seven Oaks Spring Splash next Sunday March 9 from 3 pm to 5:30 pm. Pond skimming with prizes - no entry fee for the pond skim- just your lift ticket, (sorry no Seven Oaks rentals allowed in the skim), costume contest, a DJ will be crankin tunes outdoors , Coal Creek drink specials, outdoor grill going on the patio.......should be FUN. Again, the pond will be loooooonger this year!

Keep it White

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Hello South Hamilton

South Hamilton school will be here this morning for a full day of skiing. Greetings to them.

We open at 4 pm today and remember this is the last scheduled Wednesday that we will open for this season. Come on out tonite and play.....I think the countdown is on......probably two or three more weeks to this season. Play to the max cause it will be a long hot summer before we can get white again.

And..........Late Nite......Saturday Nite........9:30 pm to 1:00 am.........free pizza while it lasts.........bonfire...........music............free ski and snowboard lessons.........Great Times Saturday Nite!

Looks like the Spring Splash will be Sunday March 9..........more to come on that.........

Keep it White

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Last LN and Last WTH Coming Up

Couple of updates for everyone.

This Wednesday (2-27) and this Thursday (2-28) will be the last Wednesday or Thursday that we will be open for the balance of this season. We will continue to open Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday (regular hours) for the balance of the winter. Student prices will be offered for Friday nights.

Also this Saturday, March 1 will be our final Late Nite at Seven Oaks for this winter season as well, starting at 9:30 pm......this is it......be there, tell your friends, have a great time. Weather looks like it will probably be the best we have had for a Late Nite. I am going to plug this Late Nite every day this week. Free pizza while supplies last for the Late Nite.

Got two more inches of snow yesterday. Looks like Joel was in the groomer when the temps started to drop to keep the snow in good condition.

Keep it White

Monday, February 25, 2008

Great Weekend and Great Week coming UP

Started with Andrea Lee playing guitar and singing in the Lodge Friday night....she was even joined a couple times to make a duet.....nope it wasn't me joining her. Great performance and well attended by the Friday after Five supporters. Too bad she is moving to Colorado, as it would be great to have her perform again. Maybe she will when she is back visiting one day. Also had a good crowd tubing and riding Friday night.

Saturday and Sunday were right in there with perfect-------snow, patrons, temps, sunshine....what more could you want. Got a little overcast Sunday but the day started with brilliant sunshine. Felt good. The snow groomed so nice I couldn't resist.....put the skis on and made four runs. That felt good too.

More schools on the calendar for this week and next......as well as several groups and birthday parties.

This Saturday is our LAST LATE NITE for this season......be there to enjoy the atmosphere. Free pizza while supplies last.

Working on the Spring Splash....thinking Sunday March 9....but not 100% sure on that yet..for sure the pond MUST be longer this year.....watch the blog for more info as it develops.

Keep it White

Friday, February 22, 2008

Well it's a heat wave!!!!

Well, here we are ...friday morning and the weather is definitely improved. We are hosting Martensdale St Marys school, Colfax Mingo and AGWSR school this morning.

The temps and winds for Saturday and Sunday look like they are going to be near perfect as well.

Want to remind you that we offer kids ages 5 and younger a free package for each paying adult package (one for one) today and tomorrow......and same is true for Sunday EXCEPT it is for kids ages 8 and younger on Sunday.

AND REMEMBER.....LIVE ENTERTAINMENT in the lodge tonight........Andrea Lee performing from 6 pm to 8:30 pm

Had more conversation yesterday with a guy in Missouri that will be involved in splicing the haul rope for the additional triple seat chair we are installing this summer. The gears of progress are turning!

Not this Saturday but NEXT Saturday will be a Late Nite.......for YOU.

Keep it White

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Only One Question

How do you like the new website?

We will add more pics as time goes along. Want to give our visitors all the information they are looking for so we will expand more as time progresses as well. We will also keep the web current with updates and pics on the chair lift installation this summer.

Let us know your thoughts.

Open at 4 pm today......schools here today and tomorrow.

Keep it White

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Closed tonight.......geez

With the forecast for frigid temps for today and tonite, we made the decision yesterday to NOT open tonight Wednesday, February 20. Too cold for you, too cold for our employees and too cold for the equipment to operate properly.........so we will open Thursday at 4 pm. The good news is we have had NO snow melt since you were last at Seven Oaks! And the forecast for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week looks great. Not too sure what Monday and Tuesday precip is going to amount to. Let's watch it close in on Iowa as the week progresses.

Keep it White

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Live Entertainment Friday Night

Mark your calendars for Friday night, Feb. 22nd, to witness Andrea Lee perform live from 6 pm - 8:30 pm at Coal Creek Lounge inside the Lodge at Seven Oaks. You can check out her music at: http://www.myspace.com/ - go to 'search' - 'find a friend' - and enter her email address realeefree@hotmail.com. Click on her photo and it should take you to a player that will let you sample her groovy tunes. We hope everyone enjoys this little "extra" at our Friday after Five.

So what do you think?.......is it going to be nice both days this weekend? Sure looks like it. I gotta tell you that the snow sure did groom nice Monday morning.......in spite of the winds......so I gotta believe it will be great later this week and weekend too.

Yep, another Late Nite on March 1........starting at 9:30 and going til 1:00 am........and we will have the fire out front too!

Our families, I mentioned last week, that was planning to come to Seven Oaks from South Dakota and Nebraska to spend the weekend at Seven Oaks made it in just fine. All of them skied and tubed......even the old guys got it down......but there was a problem getting home. They planned on leaving Sunday evening but with the weather stayed til Monday morning. The family from South Dakota reported in when they got home ....after logging in seven and one half hours drive time for their normal five hour trip. Glad they all got home safe.

Keep it White

Monday, February 18, 2008

The WOW Factor

WOW - what an awesome Saturday. Temps, snow, breeze, sunshine, attendance.....all of it was just perfect.

WOW - what a Sunday - Ugly Ugly winds and a little snow with it so we made the call early and closed for the day.

WOW - tried to open today as scheduled and did for a little while but the relentless winds made operating lifts too chancy (is chancy a word?) so we closed. Snow groomed really nice this morning though.

So anyway....

WOW - heard from a lot of you on the blog, via email and in person Friday night and Saturday....so yep we are having another Late Nite on Saturday March 1.......see you there.

more later.

Keep it White

Friday, February 15, 2008

Geez Louise......look at that forecast now

Incredible. thought it was going to be FRIGID today and tonite but now we are looking for a high of 17 with bright sun all day today.......and we open at noon today as well........then Saturday is a high of 34 with sun.......that will be absolutely perfect.......and Sunday is a high of 31 with overcast skies........and maybe a flurry of snow at Seven Oaks.........however Southeast Iowa is going to be kissed, they say, with freezing precip then more snow on Sunday. Hey, Seven Oaks will take the snow but we are not interested in the freezing precip.

Expect a normally good number of people tonite for Friday after Five. It is great to visit with everyone each Friday night.......everybody seems to be in a really good mood and relaxing at the end of the work week. Lots of talk about Andrea performing in the lodge NEXT friday night.

Monday is the last holiday for us this winter. We will be open from 10 am til 6 pm.

You know, this winter has all in all been awesome. Got open on December 2 and never closed once due to crappy conditions. Had lots of regular snow falls which has been just awesome. Grooming has been such a pleasure .... leaving the cordouroy each day just waiting for the first patron the next day to put down the fresh tracks.

We are soooo pumped about putting in the next triple seat chair this coming summer.

Had one niece cancel for this weekend, the one from Chicago has a son that broke his hand messing around on Wednesday, I think, maybe Thursday.......so no riding for Luke this winter! I still think they should come to Seven Oaks even if they just hang out in the lodge with us......hope you are reading this Steph!

And for those of you at Seven Oaks on Sunday be sure to wish our Outdoor Manager - Steve - a Happy Birthday. I think he will be 23.........errrr something like that.

It's my guess that we have about four more weekends of winter fun at Seven Oaks this season.....but that is just my guess. You know with all the snow we have we will weather several days of warm temps whenever that in fact happens.

Keep it White and make plans to enjoy the tail end of the season when conditions are wonderful this weekend or Monday - Presidents Day.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Did ya think I forgot??

I was waiting for pics of the West Marshall school kids to include in todays blog....all 150 of them...since I haven't had any fresh pics for a while.
We open at 4 tonite. Snow was awesome last night.......groomed after we closed...........weekend looks like it is going to be sweet.
We will announce our decision on another Late Nite by the first of next week.



Learning a sport for life!


Look at all the SNOW we have at Seven Oaks!


And the Seven Oaks snow tubing SUPER CHUTES are ready to thrill you too!

Keep it White
ps. happy valentines day

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Need to hear from more of you....

I watch three weather forecasts on a regular basis. They almost never line up with each other but all three are calling for more snow late Thursday night.....most of it along the Iowa/Minnesota border.......and all three predict the Saturday and Sunday temps to be between 27 and 29 degrees for a high on both days. Doesn't get much better than that.

We open at 4 pm today.

Thursday and Friday have schools coming to ski.

Friday we open at noon.

I have nieces and nephews coming this weekend from South Dakota, Illinois and Nebraska for a weekend of skiing, boarding and tubing. Should be fun.

Thank you to the three that replied on the blog regarding whether any of the Seven Oaks group wanted us to schedule another Late Nite......but we need to hear from more of you.......as a Late Nite with only three skiers or riders would be a pretty lame party. Come on now....those of you reading the blog........give us a quick comment so we know how many of you really want us to schedule it.

New web site is about ready. I am not going to announce it prior to rolling it out...you'll just have to check for yourself.

Seven Oaks sweatshirts are on sale. Still have a pretty good selection of sizes and colors so if you have been putting it off, this week would be the time to get yours.

Keep it White

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Season passes

Here we are in February and you might be wondering if it made any sense to purchase a Seven Oaks season pass for the balance of this season....not knowing how much longer the season will be. Well, part of the equation is how frequent you find yourself coming to Seven Oaks now, how much you would come if you had a season pass and you should also remember that we have a great sister ski area program that allows visits to those ski areas as I am going to list below. And remember, several are north of Seven Oaks so their season may go longer than ours.

You can have three visits to these ski areas: Powder Ridge and Buck Hill in Minnesota plus Deer Mountain and Great Bear in South Dakota.

You get half off your lift ticket price at these areas: Wild Mountain in Minnesota; Snowstar in Illinois; Devil's Head in Wisconsin and Sundown over at Dubuque.

.....and you receive a 10% discount at Waynes Ski and Cycle in Mason City.

Think it over and decide if it makes sense for you.

Keep it White
ps. got another 3" of powder yesterday/last night!

Monday, February 11, 2008

More snow today/tonight

Had a surprisingly great weekend with the temps and wind being what they were. Friday night was rocking - both on the snow and at Coal Creek Lounge. Saturday and Saturday night is what surprised me the most. Several said the snow conditions were the best they had seen all winter! Wow......and some even said Sunday snow was better than Saturday. I do know it groomed up nice.

Looks like Seven Oaks is the 3 to 5 inch range for today and tonite. We'll take it. Temps are predicted to be a roller coaster over the next seven days. Rising to a 33 high on Wednesday and then down a little Thursday and Friday with another rise Saturday and Sunday making for what appears to be another awesome weekend.

Remember we open at noon on this Friday February 15.......closing at 9.....

....AND Monday the 18th - the holiday - we open at 10 am and close at 6 pm.......that's 6 pm.

With the cold temps last Saturday night for our last scheduled Late Nite, we are thinking of throwing another one in the schedule in a couple of weeks......if you want us to........so let us know......and we would probably do the free pizza again.

Let us know.

Keep it white

Friday, February 8, 2008

The next few days......

The next few days look to be fairly active. Here is a quick review.

Today - a large school group comes at noon. We open at 4 pm. Friday after Five is tonite. Two groups coming tonite that we know of. Should see a little melt on the roads and roofs with todays high predicted to be 33.

Saturday - partly sunny day with high of 29. Open at 10 am and close at 9:00 pm........and reopen at 9:30 for Late Nite with free pizza while supplies last - - we close at 1:00 am. There are ten different groups coming Saturday.

Sunday - colder but full sun is predicted. Two more groups coming to celebrate birthdays on Sunday. Open at 11 am (tired from the Late Nite but we'll be there) and close at 8 pm

Monday- another school
Wednesday - another school
Thursday - another school
Friday - we are opening at NOON on the 15th and close at the regular 9 pm.
Saturday - regular hours
Sunday - regular hours
Monday the 18th is Presidents Day - open at 10 am and close at 6 pm

Looks like we will get some sleep in mid march.

Keep it white.......and we will see you sometime this weekend.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Live Entertainment at Coal Creek Lounge

You might want to mark you calendars for February 22........as we will be having live entertainment during Friday after Five from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. A young lady "Andrea Lee" is moving out of state and this will be her departure show. No cover charge. Easy listening guitar and great voice. I've heard her on the web or you tube....don't remember for sure. More as we get closer.

Have a school today and then open at 4pm for our regular Thursday hours. Seems the predicted weekend temps are again on the rise....and maybe a little more snow tomorrow.

Had an email wondering why we don't allow reservations of tables for parties......while we would love to, we just don't have enough tables on the busy days to do that. One day we will either have a seperate party room or another addition to the main lodge so table reservations could be allowed. Thanks for understanding....

Keep it White!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Got another 4 to 5 inches

Looks like the low pressure system has moved on down the road from Seven Oaks leaving behind another fresh 4 to 5 inches. Groomed last night til 1:00 am this morning. We'll get the sidewalks cleared and ready to open this afternoon at 4 PM - I think you will find the conditions pretty sweet tonight.

REMINDER - Seven Oaks will be open Monday February 18 for the Presidents Day Holiday from 10 am to 6 pm. .....so if you are one of the lucky ones with no school or the day off from work, come on out and play on the snow!

Booked like five more birthday parties yesterday. Do you have a child with a winter birthday? It is a pretty popular package we have for skiing, snow tubing, pizza and pop......and you can bring your gifts, birthday cake, etc for an unforgettable birthday experience.

And speaking of groups, we have lots of groups on the books for February and taking more reservations daily. If your group from the office, 4H, sorority, scouts, church, etc hasn't been to Seven Oaks yet this winter, there is still time. Call today and make your reservation to take advantage of the big discounts (especially afer 4 pm) we offer groups.

Had another employee breakfast last Sunday morning and opened up the lift for the employees to ski and ride all the trails by themselves. It was great! We'll probably do one more employee breakfast yet this winter......making me hungry just thinking about it.

Okay, One more thing today - this Saturday night at 9:30 we open for our last scheduled Late Nite event at Seven Oaks. We go til 1:00 am and the conditions should be awesome.

Keep it White,

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

We are watching it just like you

Pretty exciting stuff this year watching one low pressure system after another come across the state this winter bringing snow in varying amounts each time. Looks like the front of this system will find Seven Oaks about noon or a little before.....then the wrap around gives us more later tonite. If you haven't had the opportunity to ski and ride fresh snow yet this winter, tomorrow night should be awesome. Temps look to be really good Wednesday thru Sunday as well. The weather predictors have lowered the temps for this weekend from the 40's to the 30's due to the amount of snow on the ground and the amount of the state that has snow on the ground. That is why Seven Oaks will see cooler temps than some of our neighbors too.......we have a lot of refrigerant in the form of snow on our north facing slopes.

So with that said, the next five (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday nights and Saturday - Sunday) we are open should be pretty sweet. Friday after Five events have been pretty active for the past several weeks......and oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, looks like we will have some live entertainment in the lodge for Friday After Five on February 22.

This coming Saturday is another Late Nite with free pizza while it lasts to those with lift tickets. We are using Pasquali Pizza made in Humbolt Iowa and it is oh so good. My favorite is the pepperoni. Pasquali's and our food distributor Northern Lights are sponsors of this coming Late Nite....thanks to each of them for partnering with Seven Oaks.

Yep, the new web is getting very close to rolling out. I want to mention again we are following our brochure theme and look. Even the hot buttons on the top of each page are in the same style as the brochure.

Let's enjoy the snow today and tonite.......slow down when driving.......be safe.......come to Seven Oaks and enjoy the snow and great outdoors!

As always......Keep it White.

Monday, February 4, 2008

More Snow - More Great Conditions

Todays contribution will be short. Seven Oaks had a great weekend with great conditions. We got a little less than an inch of snow yesterday. Watching the weather like you for what Tuesday's snow will amount to. All I can say is that Wednesday thru Sunday looks to be shaping up for ideal conditions.
Late Nite this Saturday night at 9:30

Keep it White

ps. In Oskaloosa we got 13" yesterday afternoon.........wrong county!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

I know it is unusual but.........

I just had to make an entry even thought it is Sunday.

Friday the snow was perfect......

Saturday, yesterday the snow was Perfect.......

Today the SNOW IS PERFECT....... it groomed up so sweet last night.......all cordouroy......

So anywho, if you are into the SuperBowl, there is time to get four or five hours of riding in first....and if you are not "into" the game, you can get eight hours in..........it really is great snow.

..and we are watching the doplar as the snow creeps its way north.........!

Keep it White......and don't forget the next Late Nite next Saturday........free pizza while supplies last.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Welcome to February

Gosh it seems as tho the season is moving along at a rapid pace. The conditions at Seven Oaks on this first day of February are awesome. We have a large school group today....and are they ever hitting great weather/great conditions for their outing. Then we open at 4 pm today with Friday after Five in the Lodge starting whenever you get there........or 5 pm.

Have the last scheduled Late Nite in ONE WEEK......Saturday February 9.......and Joel is researching maybe having one more a couple weeks after that.

Looking at the 15 day forecast appears to be decent weather.....seems the frigid cold may be behind us now but of course we will all have to wait and see...but no major heat waves predicted during that time either.

I will try to get some fresh pix this weekend. Haven't posted any since the 7" snowfall last week. I am thinking it might be time for me to put the skis on again soon too.....before February is also gone.

Believe it or not we are now getting lots of inquiries for the summer activities from canoe floats to weddings to corporate outings.......but wait, we still have five or six weeks of skiing, snowboarding and snowtubing!

Keep it White and we will see you this weekend.