From one season to the next

Yep, the snow from the 2010-2011 winter season officially all melted late last week.....by now it should be well on it's way to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River! ....so all the winter equipment has been cleaned, painted, stored, put away, removed, and so on.........and paintball is underway........here are a couple pics of a group that played late last week at Seven Oaks....... .....and while the paintball has been in action and the lodge has been used for meetings and the like, the team has prepared all the buses, vans, canoes, kayaks, trailers, paddles, life vests and such ready for the summer river business.........which will begin in earnest in a couple short weeks........you ready? ......we are! ......and today the last of the river tubes are being inflated by Frost and Red.......getting ready for multiple trips down the river when the water temp and air temp increase some more........ we are really happy this year with the water level already.......

......people are making reservations for their river floats now.......call soon to insure you get the dates you want.........

.....see you at Seven Oaks.....

Have you seen Seven Oaks?

Yeah, you probably have but maybe not from 10,000 feet in the air. A friend of my son was flying home to Des Moines a few days ago and was able to spot Seven Oaks due to all the white....snow on the trails. Stood out pretty good. But it continues to melt my friends..

Enjoy the pic.....and yes Jason zoomed in to get this shot......

Is this season finished?

We called it finished as of last Saturday night, March 5......and it probably is ......but like I said some days ago in the blog that we would be done barring a big snow......and we are watching the weather forecast to see what tomorrow and Wednesday brings Seven Oaks for snow........some are calling for 6 to 8 inches..........

....we have a lot of base and a good snowfall on top would be relatively easy to have ready for friday night.....and we have not put anything away yet.....so we are watching........and waiting.........just like you........

.....do you think we should reopen if we get a big snow????

....had another fun Spring Splash last friday night......had several in costumes, DJ on the patio, Tater playing in the lodge......and ......I would guess about 30 to 40 people tried the pond skim.......that is always fun to watch........and I would guess consistent with years past that about 40% were successful in their attempt to skim the entire length.........with another 40% almost making it.......getting just a little wet at the end.........and then there is the last 20% that took a complete dive..........

.......I think the complete dive is what most of the many spectators were waiting for.........a little bit like a car wreck during a race isn't it........

......but the whole thing was fun to watch.......

....wife's nephew from Nebraska with his family and about 25 other friends came friday night and spent the day Saturday ........a bunch of their kids were learning to ski for their first time.....and had success I might add.........I guess one family was not from Nebraska but from Minnesota.....but they still fit in just fine.........good and fun group.......oh, and the oldest son of our nephew tried the pond skim.........he has only skied about three years.......once per year......and the last time was last year...........yep..........he took a dive..........but he felt good about trying it....

......received notice that Seven Oaks will be featured in the spring/summer Des Moines Convention Bureau things to do publication........that's cool........

.....A BIG THANK YOU to all of YOU that came to Seven Oaks this winter to ski, snowboard and snow tube..........and to all our team members that received so many compliments from so many of you..........and to our ski patrol that spent hours on the trails assisting those in need........it was a fun and it was a great season..........again......

......we'll start getting ready soon for the spring and summer activities.........we are talking about ordering the paintballs and making repairs to the paintball fields.........moving picnic tables back to the tent campgrounds..........getting the buses serviced and inspected for the river floats.......get all the river tubes inflated and ready to go .........and so on........

.......so let's watch the weather this week and see what happens.......be talking to you soon.......

School Day or Snow Day

well for Ft Dodge and Paton Churdan it was both for a bunch of students. A day of school.......on the snow.......

....at Seven Oaks, after everyone is fitted with equipment the students are given a lesson and then must to our instructors satisfaction demonstrate they can turn by sking thru the orange cone and coming to a stop at the bottom.........then their ticket is marked which gives them permission to use the lift and the bigger trails........seems to work well and it is great to see so many learn a new sport for life........

.....been getting a lot of favorable comments via email and facebook from a lot of you remarking on the condition and volume of snow on our trails........thanks......it has been a test of all we know to keep it looking like that........here are a few pics from today.......

Pics from two weeks ago

had some pics from two weeks ago that I never got posted.......sorry to those that have been looking for their family on here.......but we got er done!

had a good Late Nite ski last night.......and yesterday was a good day too........several groups here today and tonight..........Spring Spash with Pond Skim is next Friday night........see you there........snow is holding up surprisingly well considering all we went thru weatherwise the past two weeks........not as good as we had most of the season but still skiable......

We helped the flurries

It started dropping snowflakes last night about 5:30 or 6.......and remained steady flurries all night......no real big accumulation from the sky but started making everything white anyway.....so.......we helped it by getting snowmaking running by 9:30 pm last night and shut off this morning at 6 am so we could get the guns moved and get everything groomed for today......

......conditions were good yesterday and will be even better today........should be a great day to be on the slopes........

......I thought to myself as the final passes in the snowcat were being made moments ago what a HUGE contrast from last Sunday with the warm temps and rain and fog.......to transistion to how awesome the trails are today after making snow, pushing out reserves, getting some snow from the sky and grooming the livin daylights out of all the snow.........

......I would say snow tubing is down for the count for the rest of the season barring about a 12 inch snowfall from the sky........which probably isn't going to happen based on the forecast.......but then again the high school basketball tournaments are coming up and several years ago you could count on a major blizzard during those events........

.....based on everybody's forecast that we spent a LOT of time reviewing yesterday, the decision was made to move the Spring Splash ......complete with Pond Skim......to next Friday night.......high temps for the day was forecast to be in the 40's.........wait.......there's more......now everybody is calling for temps to be in the upper 20's next friday........go figure.......

....but Pond Skim we will next Friday night..........should be fun........

.....our ONLY Seven Oaks Late Nite is tonite from 9:30 pm to 1:00 am.........are you going to be here?

....see you on the slopes......

Libby loves Seven Oaks

this photo taken last Saturday night kinda says it all............she is from Chicagoland........

.......her eight year old brother Cole didn't catch on Friday night and was NOT happy about it....in fact he gave up..........but Saturday he decided to give it another try.....with his dad........so I hooked him up with instructor Bob E. and lo and behold Cole was skiing and didn't want to stop when we were closing. Skiing Abbys Alley and Carters Crossing time after time.......always with a smile on his face. It was a wonderful heartwarming experience........for me anyway..........and Cole is now a huge fan of Bob's too......

....... a big Thanks to Bob for his willingness and patience to help this little man learn a sport for life........

....ready to open for a school at 9 this morning.......then reopen at 4 pm as normal........trails ended up pretty darned good last night after grooming a big part of yesterday.........three of the staff rode all the trails while we were grooming and gave us a thumbs up...........

.....talking snow this evening til midnight........that will be a good thing.........we will groom after we close tonight.......

see you this weekend.......the countdown has began..........