Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Just Wanted to Share........

Here's a quick note. Know it's been a while since I blogged ........but........my mom passed away Monday after a weekend in the hospital. As some of you might know she and my dad started Fun Valley Ski Area in Montezuma in winter of 1970-71......which is what launched my interest in the industry and ultimately led to the creation of Seven Oaks. She will be missed.
Here are a couple of great pics taken this weekend after the fresh powder.




More later.......


Enjoy winter.........and your mother........

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Temps are great right now.......

If you are a blogger, you are also probably a regular at Seven Oaks......and know that the weather tonight is supposed to be really sweeeet.

Colder temps coming but not horrible........should continue to be great snow....and I see some snow chances in the forecast too. Saw that in southern Iowa there is basically NO snow on the ground. You and I know we want to keep it white in Boone County.

Ski patrol had their annual chairlift evac refresher last Sunday. Everything went fine....as I said earlier, we have NEVER had to use it but sure want to be ready in the unlikely event we would have to.

I'll try to get more pics on soon.

Enjoy winter.......and we'll see you on the slopes.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Late Nite is CANCELLED & RESCHEDULED

The late nite for this Saturday night has been cancelled and rescheduled for a Saturday in February.....to be decided..........why??........cause it will be more fun if it's not so cold. Yep, the temps are going to be wonderful today tomorrow, and friday then go back to the cellar for Saturday night........so that's what we're doing.

Here are some happy folks...........

Learning, riding, tubing, laughing......



Enjoy Winter......it's Fun......

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

When I was in School....

When I was in school, (a hundred or so years ago) we didn't get to go learn a sport for life like skiing or snowboarding. Yesterday we had two schools on site.....plus the normal traffic. It was a beautiful day for playing on the snow.





There should be a lot of winter left this season so come to Seven Oaks....bring a friend, neighbor or family member that has never skied or boarded or tubed and Enjoy Winter with us!

Late Nite again this Saturday night.....

Winter is Fun

Monday, January 19, 2009

Happiness is...........

.......learning to ski and snowboard at Seven Oaks where the lessons are always free.....

Here's some random pics from this weekend. More pics tomorrow.








Winter is Fun.......

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Quick update without pics

The snow groomed up beautiful this morning. Started at 5 am and got done about 9:45..........and then about 10 am.........when we opened...........the wind really picked up .........but only for about 30 to 40 minutes............then settled down to more of a breeze. Must have been a front coming thru that stirred things up for a little while. The snow was awesome..........really soft. Tried to push some snow above the two jumps in the park where the riders all check their speed and took it down to hard pack but the snow on the side where I was with the groomer was so deep and so powder I almost got stuck.........which isn't easy to do. So I didn't have much success but will try again.

Good group on hand enjoying Seven Oaks today. And we have the Late Nite at 9:30 tonight......fundraiser for the Cancer Society.........hope you can support them with your presence.

Did you notice the "no parking" signs on the fence immediately after you get off the new chairlift? Heard a few ask why those were there since there were no cars :) well .......the intent was to make a statement that we need the riders to strap in a little further away to avoid congestion for others unloading from the chair.

Had a nephew from Indianola come up today with his three kids. Oldest is considering Iowa State in a couple of years so I asked her to spend some time with our board instructor Morgan to get the low down on being an instructor at Seven Oaks while she is in college.........perfect.....for her, for her dad and for us.

Have about 5 birthday groups today...........if you don't know about it, you should check it out on our web as it is a really good deal and a novel idea for the young ones for their birthday party........ski, snowtube, rentals, lessons, pizza and pop........and when I am lucky they share their birthday cake with me!

Enjoy Winter........

Thursday, January 15, 2009

We kinda lost a ski instructor

AJ has been an instructor for us the past three winter seasons but left us a week ago to spend three months studying abroad.........err.......down under as an ISU student.......majoring in....well, I don't remember......maybe majoring in fun! She was a good instructor, the staff enjoyed her and her pupils on the snow regularly commented to us at the end of the lesson what a great job she did.

well .......anyway, she's there and sent us an email...........here it is........

"Just wanted to say Hi from Australia. I have just settled into my place in Broadbeach Queensland after a wonderful week in Sydney. I hope all is going well there and I will send some pictures in the future that I promised to share with Rick. Its very sunny here and about 10minutes outside leaves me very red. The beach is beautiful and I will do some surfing for you all. take care and enjoy the snow!"


A.J. H

Have a great time AJ and we will look forward to the pics and the stories when .......if........you return.

we open Friday at 4.........as in tomorrow.

Enjoy Winter

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

more snow but......COLD...so we....

......have decided to stay closed tonight Wednesday and closed Thursday night.....as the temps are to be -16 with wind. We know most of you would not come out in that weather, our employees don't like to stand outdoors in it and the equipment, especially the chair lifts, don't perform well in those temps.

But we got about 4" last night and we will be ready to rock and roll on friday at 4 pm.......then all day Saturday and Saturday night..........Late Nite for Relay for Life at 9:30 pm.........and open Sunday at 11 am.

Enjoy Winter....

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

This week

Closed today, Tuesday. Ski and Snowboard open Wednesday and Thursday at 4 pm....no tubing.

Then Friday we open at 4 pm with tubing opening at 6 pm.

Regular hours Saturday and Sunday.......with a Late Nite on Saturday night.......fundraiser for the Boone & Ogden "Relay for Life". Hope you will support it with your presence.

And oh yeah, almost forgot we are open next Monday, January 19 for MLK Holiday from 10 am to 6 pm.

Got 3 to 4 inches yesterday and predictor has us getting one or two more today and tonight. Fresh snow for Wednesday.......again....!

Sunday morning before we open the Ski Patrol has a breakfast for patrol members and staff before they conduct their chair lift evacuation refresher......which we do each year just to practice.......never had to do it but we want to be prepared.

Enjoy Winter

Monday, January 12, 2009

Our Goal

Our Goal is to have more and more comments like this email we received. I know it's kinda long but........and thanks for taking the time to share. We have shared this with staff and they all like these comments too.

Here's what was written....."My family would like to thank you and your staff for an incredibly awesome skiing experience at Seven Oaks! We have been thinking of taking our two daughters skiing for many years and kept putting it off. We decided this was the year and looked online for skiing information. We stumbled across your website and was surprised that we had never heard of Seven Oaks. It was only 2 1/2 hours away and it appeared to be an ideal spot for us (being first-time and inexperienced skiers.) The free lessons was the clincher. We decided to visit on January 3rd...it has now been 4 days since we have been there and we STILL haven't quit talking about our trip!
Our experience at Seven Oaks was outstanding from the moment we arrived. We let them know we had no idea what to do and they took it from there. In the rental shop they were very helpful, making sure our boots fit us correctly and giving us pointers. Once outside we were immediately greeted by Maria who asked if we would like lessons. Of course we jumped at the chance! She was joined by another instructor once we reached the bunny hill and they worked diligently with us, always being positive and supportive as we struggled to learn. After a few trips down, I was talking to my husband about taking the ski lift to a bigger hill but wondered if our girls would be too afraid of the lift. Another instructor overheard our comments and offered to ride with them up the lift for the first time. That instructor happened to be working with another group when we were ready to take the lift and I spotted yet another instructor walking by. I asked him if he would help and without hesitation he turned around and took our daughter up the lift. As we made our way down the slope we, of course, fell several times. We were impressed that even the other skiers, who were out to enjoy their day, reached out to help us. What a wonderful small town welcome to new comers!

If that wasn't enough, we had the wonderful opportunity to meet you personally Rick! You were incredibly hospitable and friendly. Our oldest daughter was leery of the hills and you met us at the top while we were trying to convince her that she could make it down. My husband and I were so touched by you taking the time to coach her and walk down the hill as you made her traverse the hill. When we returned with her to the top of the hill without you, she fell and became very frustrated. She took off her skis and was determined to get down the hill without them. As her dad and I tried to talk her into putting her skis back on, Dan came walking up like a knight in shining armor! He took control of the situation and skied backwards while my daughter skied forward down the hill. When my husband and I made it to the bottom of the hill we didn't see her so we looked in the rental shop, then the lodge. As we were walking around in wonder, you informed us that she had returned to the top of the hill with Dan! Imagine how totally shocked we were! Dan managed to get her to go down the slopes another two times before it was time for us to leave! She was all smiles and has talked non-stop about our ski trip - actually both girls have talked non-stop about it! They said this is one of our best family outings ever. So, thank you very much from the bottom of our hearts for making this such a memorable trip!

We are already planning our next ski trip to Seven Oaks with other family members! My youngest is ready to learn snowboarding and my oldest has said she is going to make it down the slopes on her own this time! We hope to see you all again soon!"

Jerry, Ida, Andrea & Marissa
Swisher, Iowa




The ski students at Seven Oaks......


our guests (on left) with the two instructors , Maria and Dan C. (on right)....... ps. Instructor Dan B was the Knight but no pic of him.

lessons in process.......


learning the basics .......

And at ends day the world has two more skiers.......

Enjoy Winter......

Saturday, January 10, 2009

p*o*w*d*e*r

Enjoy..........


Officially I am hearing 6 fresh inches of snow last night but when cleaning the walks this morning I am thinking it was closer to 7 or even 8 inches! And all powder. Had the great debate last night with staff and several riders and the concensus was while it might be slow........leave the powder.........so I did. Groomed Abby's Alley, School Yard and Kenzies Korner. .........leaving Drop Zone, Freeway and Central Park with the natural snow.




If it is toooooo slow, I might go groom later but we'll see ......and it is what everyone wanted last night. Here are a couple of pics moments ago after the first riders made the fresh tracks for the day.


Late Nite #1 is TONIGHT at 9:30.


Right now the snow has stopped, the sun is out and it is bright white beautiful.




Oh yeah, had six regular riders find me last night and tell me the new double jump is the best Seven Oaks has EVER built........real wide and long. Hope you like it. Took the older top jump and made a roller out of it. It can be lipped for a jump again if enough want.




enjoy winter











Thursday, January 8, 2009

Some Park Pics Today

Several bloggers been asking for new pics of the park and the jumps so here are some taken moments ago of the features in the park today. Still kinda hard to get a picture of jumps that does justice. enjoy.......
we open at 4 today and tomorrow.......


first Late Nite is this Saturday at 9:30pm


Made lots of fresh snow this week.......




new and changed features in the park......




new double jump built.......biggest this year.......



thanks to the volunteers (Nick and Ryan) for all the help and critique on the jumps......


Keep it White.......



Wednesday, January 7, 2009

More snow had been made

Made snow all night Sunday night and again all night Monday night. We had a few places we were thin and a place we were a little narrow as well. We want to get deep while the weather is conducive. Had Corporate Christmas parties at the Lodge both Monday night and Tuesday night. Another school group is on site today and we open with regular hours today at 4 pm. Remember this year we don't open snow tubing on Wednesday and Thursday unless a group makes a reservation...........and the first Late Nite is this Saturday night starting at 9:30 pm........yep, free food.

See you there.

keep it white

Friday, January 2, 2009

Quick update......

Happy New Year everyone. Had a great group here New Years Day and an awesome group here today.............lots and lots of beginners..........which is a wonderful thing to see that many people learning a new sport for life.

Groomed last night and set up two new features after we closed............flat down rail and a sixteen foot box.........both of which are really getting used today.

Still busy as this is written so I'll sign off now............more snow in the forecast for tomorrow.

keep it white.......