Years ago

I am sure years ago when the Bryans opened a ski resort on the family farm, there were many skeptics and naysayers.......critics and gossips.......but you know what....... it worked. Just like our friend that built Lake Ponderosa just one mile north of Fun Valley. But it was not an easy road.......far from it. Four or five of us kids had left home in pursuit of our own dreams and Dad was still farming about 500 acres.........til one day he announced that he could not continue farming, building Fun Valley bigger each year and then operating Fun Valley all winter........so he sold the farm.

Fun Valley was for many years the reason for so many of the family to come home.......to play......and most certainly to work. Few things in the way of improvements were ever hired done. We had the manpower....and little did our spouses realize they were part of it too.....til it was too late....and for many years we contributed to the winter operation as well for no or minimal compensation.........but don't let me mislead you into thinking we complained.......cause we didn't ........it was fun being with family.......introducing our kids to the ski industry.........watching them learn to ski at age 2.......it was fun.

But you know in those very early days of skiing..........there was NO snowmaking........there was NO grooming. Mother nature had to provide the snow and generally did.........although we would often have to go retrieve snow from snow drifts or from the ditches along the road ........piling the snow as high as possible on a homemade sled being pulled behind a snowmobile or other motorized vehicle of the day.......always hurrying because you were in a race with the sun.......finally delivering it on a dirt, mud or grass spot to provide continuity in the white base for the skiers to slide across. Whew........made me tired just writing about it........and it most definitely made me tired then actually doing it. Load after load........curse the hot sun and the warm winds that were melting our snow!

next time.........a couple comments on the early days of grooming

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The countdown has began for when we make snow at Seven Oaks for the first time.......