Thursday, September 30, 2010

Last Day of Sept and the Checklist

Well, today is the last day of September 2010 and here is where we stand with regards to winter readiness:

Snow guns ready - DONE

Chairlifts ready - DONE

Surface lifts ready - DONE (only have to put the rope on)

New surface lift installed - Not DONE - layout completed, will be done by end of October

Two snowcats ready - DONE

Additional snowcat purchased - DONE - Delivery second week of October

Earth work for Carters Crossing and Valley View - DONE

Rental Shop remodeled - Not DONE - Scheduled for November

Skis in rental shop tuned - Not DONE - Scheduled for November

Grass on all trails mowed - Not DONE for final time - will be in October at end of growing season

Winter advertising established - Half DONE

Additional skis, boards, boots and helmets for rental - Ordered - Delivery November 1

New feature(s) for park built - Not DONE

Sister ski area program established - DONE - posted on our web on ski rates page

Season Pass Sale & Swap scheduled - Yep, it's Sunday October 17 from 10 am to 5 pm

First 2010-11 season pass sold - DONE - Happened August 18

October Friday after Five - Yep it's tomorrow Friday October 1........see you then..........

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Looks like it's going to freeze.......

According to a couple of forecasts I saw yesterday it looks like there is a good chance that some in northern Iowa will get to or below 32 either friday night or saturday night. Guess that's a good sign that summer is over and autumn has taken over.......

.....spent a couple days last week in the Duluth area watching the ships come and go; listening to the waves pound against the shore; taking in the awesome fall colors; .......and checking out another SNOWCAT.........liked what I saw and feel we are 95% certain this is the unit for us.......

.......OMG........the groups using the lodge is busier than ever.......keeps Carol hoppin working out the details of what each wants for their meeting, their reception, their reunion........

........the weather this week is incredible.........so we are taking full advantage working on a lot of outdoor projects.........

........annual ski swap and season pass sale is rapidly approaching..........Sunday, October 17........it's gonna be a great winter season.............

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Snow is on my mind

How can you not be starting to think about the upcoming winter season with temps falling as they have the past few days? Crisp all day today........and cooler yet tonight........even saw some lows in the 40's coming up........wow......

.......got the layout for the second surface lift in the school yard done today.......I think the beginners are really going to like having two lifts in the yard........should make all the long lift lines go completely away........

.......also made a change to the unload on the Valley View chair lift.........built a flat ramp on both sides of the unload to give all the snowboarders a place to strap in out of the way of others unloading from the chair..........should make a nice drop off to start the run too.......

.......Monday and Tuesday of this week we got 20 truck loads of rock worked into the camp road........level.......flat.......well almost flat.........should be nice for the peak camp season next summer.........

........speaking of camping we got the additional camp site finished earlier this week too........and seeded just in time for last nights rain........this camp site will be for "quiet camping"........families, church groups, scouts, etc............we like it and hope you will too.........

......doing some negotiating on another snow cat........gonna have to move on this acquisition as the time is coming close to needing it..........it's going to be so nice having a second unit ........giving us more assurance we can always get groomed the way we like it........even if one unit breaks down........knock on wood.......

.....make sure you check out our web site for these all important dates......


  • season pass sale and swap date
  • the five Fridays we will be open all day for ski and snowboard in 2012
  • the days and hours we will be open around the Christmas and New Years holidays
  • our New Years Eve party........first ever........and alcohol free........

.........kicking off the annual Dragoon River Romp Saturday morning........lots of volunteers on the water and on the land along the river doing river clean up........great effort............thanks to all the volunteers........

........Kris is back from is honeymoon overseas..........he seems largely unchanged........now he can oversee the honeydo lists......

.....Lodge is going to continue being busy right up to winter season.........lots of fun things scheduled by a host of different folks.......

.......see you soon.......

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Have just a minute.......

......been running hard today but I wanted to take a minute to post a quick update......

......the Friday after Five with the Blues band was a good time last night........lots of tent campers last night and some of the mountain bike riders started arriving yesterday afternoon.......

.....the wedding party for tonight has been here and gone...........what a neat couple getting married and celebrating with family and friends tonight..........lodge decorating is finished........band for the wedding just pulled in.............in about 20 minutes the 12 and 24 hour mountain bike race starts..........been a steady stream of bikers arriving this morning and getting their tents set up...........one paintball group in the field now .......with another one coming just after lunch........and we have taken four bus loads of people to the river for their canoe, kayak and tube floats.........

.........phone is active with bookings for tomorrow and Monday river floats..........we have some in inventory yet so get yours booked quickly.........gonna be nicer tomorrow and Monday..........wonderful Labor Day weekend weather...........

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Summer ends with a bang

As we are rapidly approaching the end to the wet summer of 2010, things continue to be busy here..........had a great weekend last week and then went into a schedule for this week that is going to keep everyone on their toes.........

.......as many of you know the 2010 Farm Progress Show kicked off yesterday........just east of here on highway 30...........with West Central hosting a customer appreciation dinner in our lodge last night......catfish, steak, pork chops and lots of sides and appetizers ......smelled and looked wonderful........had a couple of hundred here for the night........great bunch of customers and also had the pleasure of meeting a lot of the West Central gang.........and they too were a great bunch to be with.............then the rain came in about 8 pm last night and dumped a couple of inches........

......I saw on the news this morning that the start time for the Show was pushed back a couple of hours to allow all the vendors time to get dried out and ready for today's crowd..........

.....if you haven't seen the location for the Show........it is BIG........looks like a city popped up.......and man do they have a lot of high dollar state-of-the-art equipment being shown and demonstrated..........it is amazing what technology has done to and for the ag industry.......

......this afternoon two more companies........Vetters and LTK........are hosting their customer appreciation in the lodge.........should be another good time........and you know the food will be great cause it is being catered by Seven Oaks........

.......we get Thursday off........kinda.......to get ready for our Friday After Five...........with a blues band from DSM that has played here a couple previous times..........and then Saturday noon starts the annual 12 and 24 hour mountain bike race.........with a large wedding reception in the lodge Saturday night............and the race finishes at noon on Sunday.........in time to get the lodge ready for an afternoon wedding anniversary party/celebration in the lodge............not to mention the people that will take advantage of the sunny weekend to canoe, kayak and tube.........and yep, there will be groups at paintball as well as campers in the campground too..........whew.......

.......if you have never witnessed our 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race you should stop out for a little bit to watch the racers.........and the entire lawn becomes a weekend community as well with all the families, friends and support staff that set up their tents and campers for the event........it's fun........and the racers are their own breed of animals to race on the technical track for that many hours.........awesome........

.........ski and snowboard season passes for the upcoming winter season continue to sell.........still time but don't let the cutoff date for the sale prices slip by...........October 17 is the Swap and Sale.....starting at 10 am and ending at 5 pm...........another big day with lots of friends coming to look over all the equipment........both new........from Wayne's in Mason City........ and used......as a lot of our friends bring their used equipment to sell as they upgrade or up size for themselves......there are a lot of good deals that day............