We were able to have our earliest opening in history...NOVEMBER 30th!!  We opened with 5 runs, 2 chairlifts and a terrain park.  WOW... all the new improvements to our snowmaking system really helped us out.  This week we will be open Friday 4 pm to 9 pm, Saturday 10 am to 9 pm and Sunday 11 am to 8 pm for skiing and snowboarding  Snow tubing is closed at this time...we plan to start making snow on the tubing park this weekend. For complete hours of operation please use this link http://www.sevenoaksrec.com/calendar.html .
We will see YOU on the slopes!!

Birthdays at Seven Oaks.

Birthday Special

It's your birthday!! Come play with us the week of your birthday (Monday-Sunday) and the birthday boy/girl plays for FREE. Must have a minimum of 6 regular paying guests. Offer good for river floats, paintball and winter activities. Must show valid drivers license or birth certificate. Not valid with other offers.

Seven Oaks is a great place to celebrate your birthday.  Here are some pics from this past weekends birthday outing....I think we had 5 or 6 groups on the water Saturday celebrating their birthdays!

Past, Present and Future

As I sat down this morning to decide what tasks I needed and wanted to accomplish today I started to get a bit overwhelmed. So,  I took a few minutes to reflect on the past several years.  What have we done to improve our business, what employees really stand out from the others with their work ethic, how many smiles and memories did we help create, what improvements need to be done before winter season, what will we do for future improvements???????  WOW!!!
Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that I arrived at Seven Oaks, and thought to myself ...how in the world are we going to make this place a ski area?  And when we do make it a ski area, will we get the support from the local people to keep us moving forward.  Boy was I simple minded then...who would have guessed we would be much much more than just a ski area.  We now offer ski, snowboard, snow tube, canoe, kayak, river tube, paintball, hike and mt bike trails, bar, caterer, facility rentals, mud run and tent camping..... AND that is just the list of the activities that have continued to work for us...there is a looong list of things that we tried and did not work...anyone remember "Jesus Fest"?  Unfortunately I still do...never thought we could lose so much money in one weekend!  It took years to recover from that one!  I guess that it was a learning experience and those experiences have allowed us to make smart decisions and allow us to be what we are today.

Want to look back in the past with me?  It does not go way back to 1997 but it does go back a few years...take a look at our photo section of our Facebook page.. .https://www.facebook.com/SevenOaksRecreation/photos_stream ...filled with a lot of great memories!

What does the future bring for me and Seven Oaks???  Only time will tell.  I look forward to continuing the Seven Oaks story!

A GREAT TIME FOR A FAMILY FLOAT!

The hot days and no rain to the north of us is allowing the river to drop everyday.  The sandbars are all out and that normally means we start seeing more families with small children.  I love the fact that floating the river can truly be a family activity that everyone can participate in.  We have always had small black tubes for kids but now we have a great tube for smaller children...this tube has a bottom built into it.  The tube can double as a cooler tube for those odd sized coolers and a kids tube.  We had a few families this past weekend use this new style tube for their kids and it worked great!  Here is a great picture of a child in one of these tubes (in a pool).

It was a great weekend with lot's of smiles on the river and in the paintball field.  AND even more smiles today.  Several families and couples found the time midweek to get a little float time in.

We float 7 days a week and recommend advanced reservations any day of the week.  The section of river that we float offers flat water floating and we consider beginner and family friendly...especially when the sandbars are out.  The river is running about 3-5 feet in the channel with a bunch of the river even lower.

Weekdays and Sundays are normally a lot calmer than Saturdays and holidays....that makes for "A GREAT TIME FOR A FAMILY FLOAT!"

HEAT WAVE!!

What a great 4th of July week.  Thank you to all that came out and joined us for river floats, camping, paintball and mt biking.  Speaking of mt biking...there was a x country race held at Seven Oaks this past Sunday and almost 100 riders showed up to race...AWESOME!!!  Great job Kyle and Ron for putting on such an awesome race!

The river was full of people floating canoes, kayaks and river tubes.  I heard a lot of positive comments about how great our staff and service is.  I LOVE hearing comments like this...we try very hard to offer the BEST customer service in the business!  If our business can be know for one thing I say let it be GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!  Thank you to all of the Seven Oaks staff that helps make positive memories for soooo many good people!

Until next Monday....See YOU on the water!

Sandbars will be out soon!!!!

The river continues to drop about 6-10 inches a day.  We have been told a few of the rock bars are starting to show so the sandbars should start to appear in the next few days...a good chance they will be out for the 4th of July!  YEA!!!!  It's about time!
The phone continues to ring off the hook and several of you are sending in your online reservations.  It finally feels like summer is here.  We love being busy and seeing all the smiles.
Still lot's of room for your and your group... see you on the water!

Do you have plans for the 4th of July?

The river continues to drop and we anticipate having lot's of sandbars out ...the week of July 4th should be a perfect week to float canoes, kayaks and river tubes.

Three against One

Our instructors are pretty tough.......hour after hour of instructions......different weather conditions........and.....well.........it did take all THREE of them to take him down!!

Snow tube.......River tube

This picture was not taken today!  Remember last July when we were not thinking snow tubing...........but were all over river tubing?!

Volunteers

I think if the truth were known, volunteers are as much responsible for the general vitality of our communities and state and nation as most anything else is.  Yep..... tourism, industry, governments at all levels all have a role in our society.........but where would we be without the volunteers.

Volunteers do a ton of work for various research fundraisers. They are generally the back bone of most churches.  They clean ditches along the highways of America, they coach kids in a host of sports, volunteers serve on library and landfill committees, they give directions at the state fair and in most hospitals you will find a volunteer delivering flowers and helping you find your way through the maze of hallways.

They even spend time skiing and snowboarding at resorts across this great country to come to the aid of anyone needing any medical assistance.  Regardless of the temperatures outdoors, you will find a National Ski Patrol volunteer available to help you should the need arise with anything from a band aid to a sprain or more.  It is their passion.

Yesterday, our patrol conducted their annual refresher.  Starting at 7 am with a breakfast and short meeting in the lodge they then broke into two groups.  One group performed their CPR refresher while the other group went outdoors to perform their practice chair lift evacuation..........and then the groups switched.  A break was taken for lunch and then it was time for each to pass their annual tests of running the toboggan from the top of the steepest trail to the bottom and from the top of the most gentle trail to the bottom.  Everyone passed their annual tests!  These volunteers put in a lot of hours studying and practicing their skills so they are ready when needed.  Thank you to each of them.  

They congregate as one coming from all walks of life.........mechanics, IT technicians, sales, chiropractors  dentists, para medics, factory workers, nurses, and more........it makes no difference.  They are part of the National Ski Patrol.

These 26 in addition to 4 who were unable to attend yesterday, make up the Seven Oaks ski patrol.


Ken Slaba, Seven Oaks Area Manager and also a volunteer on the Ski Patrol, took this picture as he and several others rode a chairlift to the top to begin their toboggan tests.  I thought it was a really cool picture.

So be sure to thank a Patroller for doing what they do, when you are on the slopes.  If you are interested in joining this elite group......let us know and we will put you in touch with the right people.

Love to Ski !!

Creative thinkers we have out here on the slopes!

A picture is worth.......a lot of memories

So many.............. young and old alike......... came to Seven Oaks to learn how to ski and snowboard over Christmas break.  The smiles were everywhere you looked as their sport of choice was grasped .....you could almost see the little lights come on.......I can Stop........I can Turn.......I didn't even Fall!

And then the next level of  fun began.........riding one of the chairlifts to the top for their maiden trip down Abby's Alley.........Success.........Hooray......Let's do it again. This time let's go through Carter's Crossing!

And a lot of the smiles were on the parents and grandparents faces as they watched someone in their family successfully ride.  As I have heard before....."some of those smiles were so big........they could eat a banana sideways!"

I am glad many capture those moments via a picture, cause they will be GREAT memories to share and re share through the years.