Friday, December 31, 2010

Today is a New Day.......

........and tomorrow is a New Year..........but for today, I wanted to update on our conditions.......got through yesterday's temp in the 50's just fine.........closed at 6 pm as planned, opened tubing for a large private group for a couple of hours ........and while that was going on we put the two groomers on the trails.......

.......at 6 pm the temps were dropping fairly quickly........just right.........made the first groom to get air in the top layer of snow......which took about 2.5 hours, then started the process of continuous grooming........and when we shut the cats off this morning at 2 am........I was very pleased with the conditions.........very.......

.......opened at 10 this morning.....as planned.......greeted with a little burst of sleet.......but no rain.....and it looks like we have dodged the bullet as I don't see much behind this little cell that just went over us.......

......we are of course closing at 6 tonight and then reopen at 7 for our four hour Family Friendly (yes, Coal Creek Lounge will be closed during the event) New Years Eve party........ski, snowboard and snow tube for one all inclusive price......plus a slice of pizza or hotdog with soft drink for each ticket holder......some party favors will be handed out at about 10:30 in preparation of watching the "big ball" drop in Times Square on our big screen........

......as needed we will groom starting at 6 pm........but if it doesn't get very warm there is a good chance that won't be required.......

......got more Seven Oaks apparel in again..........new designs.......

..so, to all of you, regardless of your plans tonight, be smart, be safe, be alive tomorrow.......

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

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Another bonus day.........

.......geez, got warm today but not enough to shut us down or even close to it.........some go a lot of rain today be we missed all that.........looks like we might get a little snow at around noon tomorrow.......we'll have to wait and see if that happens........but......we will be turning the guns on at 11 pm tomorrow night after the hill closes for the New Years Eve family friendly ski and tube night........are you coming out?


.....anyway, thanks Dom for these great pics of tonights sunset as seen at Seven Oaks.......


I think those are great shots...........

Warmer but conditions not bad.......

Here was our facebook posting for conditions today:

......."Conditions for today, Thursday, December 30. Spring like conditions. We are still covered with snow, snow will soften as the day progresses. I would anticipate having spring like conditions all day, wet but not sloppy. Still a great day to be on the slopes. Snow tubing will be the same - the run out will be wet."

......and yes, people are here and on the snow as I type.......skiing, riding and tubing......we groomed the School Yard and the very bottom between lifts where it was more hard packed from all the traffic yesterday. Had about 15 employees ride all the trails and all are reported to be no problem getting an edge.

......am told that DesMoines is pretty snowless this morning after the temps last night.........it was warmer there yesterday and last night than at Seven Oaks.........Plus........we had MORE SNOW.......

.....I will get some pics later and post........

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Bonus

What two blog entries in one day! Unheard of.......but.......Darci was kind enough to send us some pics via email so I thought we should get them out there.........

thanks Darci.......


A great day on the snow

Yesterday with the mild temps and the sunshine made a perfect day to be on the snow......and a lot of you brought family still in the area since Christmas.......
.....today is going to be another awesome day.......just not as much sunshine as yesterday but mild temps today.........

........got some more Seven Oaks apparel in yesterday.......will have new beanies next week.......
......just have a couple of shot to share with you today........more tomorrow.......absolutely love this pic taken at top of Drop Zone.......sooo coool........for sure he is ready to "drop in".......
here are a few of the food service team members..........say "cheeseballs"..........

.....some more team ..... here to help you have a fun time.......working in rental and instructors.....
rain and drizzle go away.......come again some other day..........like in April !

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

My Bad.......

.......yep, My Bad for forgetting to blog yesterday........but here is the story of Monday December 27 at Seven Oaks..........well, at least part of it..........it doesn't include pics of the folks from Nebraska, Chicago, Texas, Louisiana, California, Washington DC and North Carolina that I had conversation with yesterday.........all continuing to have a Merry Christmas with family and friends....... and my nephew from Indianola with his family and several of their friends......and our friends from Oskaloosa with three of seven grandkids tubing..........and Doc and his family.......wow.......the list goes on and on.........

.....here we go........








...is it legal to have this much fun at work??........it is at Seven Oaks.......we have a GREAT team helping all of you........


.....check back tomorrow..........maybe your picture will be on the blog.........

Sunday, December 26, 2010

It's Picture Time......

.......First, let me tell you that the Drop Zone was opened this morning........made snow stating at about 4 pm last night.......yep, Christmas Day night.......and yep, after we got 7 inches from mother nature..........and it it great to have all the trails open for the day after Christmas.....


......several of you have asked for more pictures so here we go with what is planned to be more pictures on the blog each week.....these were all taken this morning........
.....ready for a great day..........bring on the snow.........
......some of the Seven Oaks instructors ready for the day.....and happy too......

.....one of our lifties on the way up for work........

...ready for the first of many trips up..........

......one of our Season Pass families ready to hit the slopes this morning........
.....Rail Yard........being mastered.......

happiness is being at Seven Oaks.....

See you soon..........












Friday, December 24, 2010

Twas the night before Christmas......

.....and it has snowed all day.....and still is.........beautiful.........

.....entire family has been here to celebrate our Christmas today........just got home from candlelight service .........very nice.......peaceful..........got to see a lot of folks I have not seen for some time........

........please remember our fellow Americans serving in the armed forces and especially those in harms way as we all enjoy our freedoms ..............

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Guess What?

.....yep, after staying really late into the wee hours of this morning, Joel and Steve did a complete groom and Joel got Kenzies Korner open........so when you come to Seven Oaks today or on Sunday with your new skis and boards, you are gonna find THREE more runs open than when you were there this past weekend.....

......snow is forecasted to hold off for the most part til we close at 6 pm tonight.........travel safely......slow down a little bit........defensive winter driving is best.......and remember there are a lot more than just you heading somewhere of importance.......

.....looks like five inches is predicted for Seven Oaks........maybe more.........we will groom Sunday morning before we open.........see you then.........

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

It is official

......Willet's Way........and Elwood's Hideout.........and Central Park.......are now all OPEN.........yippee........

......and Kenzies Korner and the Drop Zone will be open for Sunday.........yippee again........

.......had our first school on site today........good snow........well behaved group too......

......got more new hoodies in.....very cool........

that's it for this time.......

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sunday

Made lots of snow Saturday night and all day on Sunday over on Elwoods Hideout and Central Park with some spilling over onto Kenzies Korner........On Sunday afternoon I did a rough leveling on Elwood and Central........let the snow air out and to get a good feel as to whether there would be enough to open those two trails.............and it was determined there was enough........

.......so on Tuesday, tomorrow, we will get the next two trails open........I haven't seen how much snow was made on Kenzies through the night so I can't comment on that one just yet.......

.......closed today, Monday, and tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday this week...........BUT WE WILL BE OPEN ON THURSDAY......HOLIDAY HOURS.........

.......do have a school here Wednesday........first for the season.........

........of course we will be closed Christmas Eve day and Christmas Day.......to make sure everyone........staff and you as well........can have ample time to enjoy your Christmas events with family and friends........opening Sunday December 26 for a busy consecutive eight days open....

.......speaking of Christmas events..........my wife and I joined our son and his family for the 9:15 am Christmas Cantada and worhsip service at the Hope Lutheran Church on Jordan Creek.......it was wonderful.......with a great message..........

.......I think several of you are wondering where Chairlift Tony is this winter...........well he would love to be on site as usual but has some health issues he has to get behind him first.........hope he is in his normal spot later in the season..........he has been a fixture helping so many of you and greeting all of you on the chairlifts for several years.......and who can forget the big fuzzy warm coats..........

.......I think it was Saturday or it might have been last Friday night that Vince and his pal Kevin were skiing again and this time brought their Russian foreign exchange student friend to experience the sport......

.......have a great week and we hope to see you on Thursday...........

Saturday, December 18, 2010

It is a beautiful day.......

.....wow, is it a beautiful day or what.........sunshine........pure white beautiful groomed snow.......light west wind.......and the parking lot is filling with people ready to have a good day......

.......got the snowmaking pump repaired early this morning........so.......snowmaking in full force tonight...........gonna hammer Elwoods Hideout...........if temps stay down low we should have the three west trails opened with three nights of snowmaking.........stay tuned.......

.....and snow in the forecast Sunday night and Monday........as much as 2.5".......so say some.......great!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Wed, Thur, Fri

Got the snow pushed out ........pretty much......on tubing runs Wednesday.......plus pushed snow on the RailYard too.....then after 11 hours in the groomer, I called it quits for the day.....but it was cool to groom in the little snow shower at the end of the day.........

.....had company Christmas parties in the lodge Wednesday night and again Thursday night.......food smelled good.......but I didn't yield to the temptations.......

......then on Thursday, put the finishing touches to the RailYard so a crew could set features Thursday night.......which they did........and pretty much got the tubing runs leveled out ....... always makes me buggy trying to get that much snow leveled..........but pretty well got it.......better than years past when I handed it over to Joel to create the lanes........

.......got all set up to blow more snow on Elwoods Hideout.......and the pump went down......the main pump for the entire water system decided to die.........so shut everything down, wiped away some tears ......due to not being able to make snow.......and got ready to tackle it Friday.....

...Friday.......set another feature.......big box........in the Rail Yard and then did a complete groom today..........park looks good........snow was wonderful.........got a couple little snowfalls that helped freshen everything up.........

....then a service tech from Des Moines came to help diagnose the problem on the pump........and it looks like it is NOT a major issue......hope to have it back together Saturday afternoon.......so we can make snow Saturday night..........whew.......

.......good group assembling tonight.......we opened at 4..........crew is out putting the final shovel to the tubing load ramp and unload ramp.......so it will be ready tomorrow.........

......hope to see you this weekend........

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

How much snow.........

.......can Seven Oaks make running continuously from Sunday morning to 4 am Wednesday morning??.........answer>>>>>>>A LOT............Wow.......just arrived to start pushing snow on the Rail Yard and on snow tubing...........I won't be done soon.........lots and lots of deep snow to get groomed.........

......caught up on the water supply so we shut down........will turn everything back on Thursday so we can get Elwoods open this weekend.........

......better get to work...........

Monday, December 13, 2010

It keeps getting whiter and whiter........

Started making snow again yesterday about........well I don't remember for sure ........I think about 10 am but it might have been closer to 11..........but anyway........blowing snow on the Rail Yard and on tubing.........and it is getting deep............so here is the plan as it stands right now.....

keep the guns on the Rail Yard again all day today.......and all night tonight.........so we can have several features in place for next friday night...........and probably move one gun to Willet's Way to get started on access to Elwoods Hideout.........which we really........really want to have open for Friday night too........and if we miss Friday night........then have it for Saturday open........

.......and we will keep the guns on tubing til we can't make there no more........well that might be an exageration but it does take a LOT of snow on tubing.......and we have a great start on it too......we want to open tubing for Friday night as well..........

......so that's the plan........that's the hope........stay tuned for updates through the week.....right here on the Seven Oaks Blog.........

.......it really was great to have two cats on the hill Saturday afternoon when the temps dropped.......which allowed us to SAVE the snow.........yep........it is still snow.........NOT ice.......and the couple from Kansas City said yesterday when they were leaving for home that the snow on Sunday was awesome......they said there was NO ice to be found.........and for them to say that meant a lot to us...........

......work hard.........play hard

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Wow....it was windy.......

We made the decision to shutdown last night at 7 pm as the wind was soooo strong we ran the risk of damage to the chair lift...........and let employees go home as the conditions were pretty tough.........and it was a good decision..........

......today, the wind is much less than last night, the sun is shining, it is cold...........and we are going to start making snow in a couple hours.........start grooming at 10 this morning..........and DELAY opening til 12 noon today..........

.......the Delayed Opening will let the roads get a little cleaner, the wind to settle down a little more and the temps to rise........although not much........but rise just the same..........

......we will only be operating the Valley View chairlift and the Slow Poke .......today.......which will still give access to all the open trails........

.......speaking of trails.......after we did the complete groom yesterday afternoon.......so many of you stopped us to say the snow was then GREAT and how much you appreciated the extra groom.........you are welcome..........we stand by our repeated statement that Seven Oaks will give you the best snow conditions possible..........it is important to us........and you.......

.....it was good to see Vince and Kevin friday night as well........and really neat they brought their foreign exchange student out to ski with them......!

......better get to work.........see you soon.......

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Great opening last night......

.......it finally arrived........opening day for the season......and it went smooth........lots of folks came out to get the snow legs back under them.......snow was good........got to see a LOT of patrons that I hadn't seen for a while.......which was also good.......

......groomed everything this morning.........quite a mixed bag of weather that mother nature threw our way last night and today........had some light rain before we opened........didn't hurt the snow though......then a fast but heavy snowfall .......but didn't last long.......

......temps finally started dropping at about 3 so we did another full groom which will keep the snow being snow........

......even though we had a lot of different weather today............ still had a lot of folks come ski and ride today too...and more coming as I type........

......here is a pic taken during the light snow this afternoon when we did the full groom......
......takes a lot less time with two units.......uhmmm.......maybe we should get three ?? :)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

About 24 HOURS AWAY........

........the new season is soooo close to beginning........about 24 hours from now. We open for ski and snowboard at 4 pm on Friday December 10..............snow tubing should be ready next weekend.......


.......here are some pics as promised........making snow Monday morning........

......shut the guns off and ready to start the grooming........

.......little Bombi taking a break after moving all the guns........


.....School Yard getting some snow moved and groomed.......
.....lots and lots of snow waiting for you to enjoy.........

And look what the team did to the rental shop...........we like it...........


.........boots on the right........skis in the middle.........snowboards on the left.......


.......we will groom one more time friday morning to get the fresh cordouroy......
...hope to see you Friday at 4 pm !

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

We are in COUNTDOWN.......

Weather has been pretty cooperative the last couple days and nights so we have made a LOT of snow.........pretty cool to see the white trails as you travel highway 30......

.......did a marathon snow push Monday and Monday night........so Abby's Alley, Carter's Crossing and School Yard are 98% ready...........meaning all we have to do is a final groom on these trails.......then on Tuesday we pushed out all the snow on the Freeway......and with the snow made last night........which I have not seen......there will be enough to open it as well.......and I think Friday morning we can PROBABLY get some of the Rail Yard open too........

.....had problems with the PB240 fuel system Monday night so I switched to the PB260 to finish pushing and grooming..........yep.......it definitely has more horsepower........which comes in real handy when you are pushing a twenty foot pile of snow up a 70% grade.........love it........ps......did get the 240 running again......thanks to Kris........

.......got some hoodies and long sleeve T's in, lots of retail stuff came in too.......and we got a couple pair of red or black sweats in with Seven Oaks printed on the rear end........just to see if anyone likes them.......or not.........

......last weeks FAF was a good time........WOW......what a bonfire the team put together for the sacrafice........and Frost did a great job with the "reading" during the event.........

......I promise I will get some pics on the next post......

......did I tell you what a rush it is to start pushing pile after pile of pure white snow that is piled about fourteen feet deep.........it is great.......

Joel and Ken held the food service team training Monday night........what a great group we have ready to serve you this winter.........

.....just wait til you see the changes we made to the RENTAL SHOP........even I can't believe it is the same place........and the new rental equipment is awesome.........

......So let the countdown begin.........two and one half men..........no ........two and one half days and we will open for the season........2010-2011.........we will do all we can to give you the best conditions possible........

......oh yeah,,,,,,,make sure you tell Ken you like his new ride........