Another two fer........

......geez.....have I gone nuts??? again I bring you two blog entries on the same day !........

.....some pics taken as soon as we opened tonight........ tubing was busy as soon as we opened.....

hi Scott........ Scott is new to the team this year..........does a GREAT job.........

fresh powder.....means fresh tracks......abbys alley......

......taken moments after we opened..........great snow.....great shot.........

It's Friday already........

......and we are ready to rock and roll. Have a little Christmas Party here tonight........they like to watch everyone tube and ride while enjoying the comforts of the lodge....

....delivered new beanies and hoodies and long sleeve T's today........went with a lot of brighter colors this batch.......some of them are REAL bright........

......this Sunday morning we have our annual chair evac refresher with the ski patrol and our chair lifties..........never had to do it for real.......but it is only smart to be ready.........just in case......knock on wood.......AND Joel and I are serving any employee breakfast Sunday morning that wants to come in a little early before we open.........just a little way to say thanks to the team........we will try to do a couple more as the winter progresses..........

.....strange day with the weather today........had several pretty heavy snow bursts through the day today.......in fact it is snowing right now.........skiers and riders will be seeing mostly groomed trails but some powder especially where the wind today deposited it.........should be fun........

.....had our annual inspection of the facilities yesterday with the inspector coming from Vermont.......and I am pleased to report he had not ONE issue with our operation.........yeah Seven Oaks team.......nicely done.........

......last Wednesday night we had our first shuttle from Ames...........remember it is FREE round trip transportation From Ames to Seven Oaks and back.........our home page of the web has the details........anyone can use it............students, families, individuals, anyone........hope a lot of you take advantage of it and that it fills a niche...........

........purchased flourescent yellow vests for the tubing team to wear.......I think it will help identify them to the public when someone has questions........

........as many of you know our Hallmark Liftie Tony had some surgery Monday and the latest report received today was that things are progressing on schedule for him........he is in a lot of our thoughts and prayers and will continue to be til we get him home...........and on the chairlifts......

......snowing hard again..........cool.........and more in the forecast for Sunday night into Monday.....we'll see what really happens...........

Groomers are parked ........

.....yes indeed, the crew did make a lot of snow the past three nights.........we elected to leave some of the piles where they were and groom right over them.......will be a change in terrain for you in several trails tonight.....

.....it was a lot of fun grooming today........all the new snow.......did drop the blade in a couple places and smoothed out the piles that were blown..........we actually tilled everthing twice.......second time the snow was so soft that the tiller box was completely full of soft sugar white snow..........you could tell the way the engine was pulling down when driving up the trails......left really nice cordouroy.........

......enjoy these pics of 5 year old Davis and 2 year old Harper that were here skiing four different days last week........can you imagine how good these kids are going to be in a couple of years........Wow........that's great........and their parents ski right along with them too........

thanks for sharing the pics Lynn..........you have to be proud of them......

.....we think the conditions tonight are going to be terrrrrific........see you soon..........

I will be back today.......

I'll be back today with another blog entry but wanted to drop a quick note to let you know we made snow on all the trails Sunday night, Monday night and all day Monday .........and WOW is there a lot of fresh snow out there to be groomed just as soon as I sign off .............. conditions will be Great tonight when we open at 4...........

More Snow......

......got the guns on just as soon as we closed last night and made snow from 9 pm to 7 am this morning.........put a lot on Freeway, Abbys Alley, Elwoods Hideout and Central Park........groomed up beautiful.........real cold makes for real powder..........

.......the plan is to make snow every day this week til everything is fresh and deeper........


.......and early in the evening the winds died down to about nothing.....which let us put the snow where we wanted it........and today the wind isn't strong enough to blow the flag at the entrance ......so with that, brilliant sunshine and rising temps it is going to be a great day on the slopes.......


.....when you work up an appetite come on inside for a snack or a meal........



...here are a few pics of some of the team showing you some of our clothing ........




.....gosh they should be models........

.....and here is Austin working at the ticket counter.........


......we will be closed Monday and Tuesday then going into the normal routine of Wed, Thur, Fri open from 4 to 9........Sat open from 10 to 9 and Sun open from 11 to 8..............except for the five Fridays between MLK and Presidents which we will have longer hours........but I will remind you all of that change when we get closer.......

Does two a day make up for zero some days?

Had to go ahead and post this today......even though I already did the blog earlier.......read on..............

........ another email received moments ago....... "This is my niece last night. I took her skiing and tubing...(skiing for the first time in her life). We had a blast at your New Years party and the whole gang at Seven Oaks were so nice to us and especially her! you guys did out do yourselves and what a bargain! She felt very special and loved every minute......in fact I got a "Can we come back next year?" from her!

.......neat ........ thanks for sharing.......Happy New Year.......

Congratulations and Happy New Year

First, I want to offer my congratulations to the five volunteers that passed their final test Friday and are offically members of the NSPS...........National Ski Patrol............after hours and hours of classroom training followed by hours on the slopes learning and practicing........a great achievement.........the five are Ken Slaba, Andrew Frost, Kris Schneider, Dillon Newbold and John Perry........the next time you see them or any of the now 28 Seven Oaks Patrollers, give them a quick thank you for their efforts and time........

......got this email this morning......."I just wanted to say, last nights New Years Party was pure Fantastic!!! What a wonderful surprise in Boone! I hope you do it again next year! We had a blast, the employees were fun and fantastic and extremely helpful! You sure got your moneys worth and Wow is all I can say! See you next year!!!"........signed Suzanne .....

....well first thanks to you Suzanne for coming to our first New Years Eve family friendly party and thanks for taking the time to send the email........our team loves the feedback.......and we love to pass it on to all them........your email was posted by the time clock this morning and it brought a smile to a lot of faces as they read it.........

.......the New Year party was a good time.........yeah, mother nature could have been a little kinder with the weather but a good time was had.........and the countdown in the lodge as the big ball dropped in NY was really cool...........but I probably won't pass out the noise makers as early next time.............LOL........

.......just as the ball dropped the snowguns were getting placed on the slopes........pretty much gave all the trails a light fresh coat of pure white snow.........wind was all over the place last night which helped spread the snow ..........everywhere.........but it sure did groom up sweet this morning..........I had to chuckle as I was in one cat I heard one of the snowmakers come over the radio and say temps were on the RISE........already up to 3 degrees this morning at 7 am......

.......temps are rising.......sun is brilliant today and folks are on the slopes.........great way to start the new year.........

Happy New Year everyone!