Happy Birthday Crazy George #48

Not the best of conditions today, but the best of friends did show for George's Birthday. Freezing rain put us in the brown bag room early today to celebrate #48 for George. Welcome back to John and Cindy after a short recess from Solitude, we knew you could not stay away for long.

2" of Powder today, it's something!

We had our first little bit of new snow today to ski on, 2". For those who did don't remember early last year when we where still skiing on a ribbon of man made snow from the top of Moonbeam with 2 chairs open which includes the mighty Link. We had dirt in the bowl and had to hike to the beach on dirt as well. Today we have a 20" base, 4 chairs open (3 quads) and numerous runs to get in shape on. Not to shabby if you ask me and December is just around the corner. Just ask these two fogs in training, Gabriel and Kirsten, I don't think you'll find them unhappy with the current conditions.

Another Beautiful Sunday for Us!

We need snow but no body is complaining. Just good friends and good times are to be had. We did get a couple of nights of snow making finally due to cooler temps at night, they should be here to stay. In the forecast for around Thanksgiving day is SNOW!

The Beach Boys

After about 12 runs (the quads are awesome) and a couple of hours, the boys decide to take a well deserved break and have some more fun. We start our morning with our Bloody Mary's, ski some and then make a party of it. Oh, you know, life is good...

Spring Like Days!

If we did not know better, it could be April 1, spring like conditions!! Plenty of sunshine, groomed runs with a little crust but very fast. All we need now is some more snow. Update on BK: he is doing well, has some swelling in his knee, but won't go to the doctor and he is up and working in his garden. We have been talking with him daily from the beach. He'll will be back asap, that's the real Iron Man. All quads are still open with limited runs, but overall from last year, much better opening.

Opening Day 2008

Great opening day, sunny skies, 4 lifts open and almost spring like conditions. The two new lifts Apex Express and Moonbeam Express are great. They whisk you up the mountain in less then 4 minutes. It seems like you just get on as you speed to the top and slow down at just the right moment to get off. There are some really icy spots that are tricky, on a unhappy note, Bill took a fall today on some pure ice (in the bowl) and received a sled ride down. From early reports, it hopefully sounds like there is nothing broken and we'll know more tomorrow. Our thoughts are with him for a speedy recovery!

Friday Friday Friday! Opening Day

Opening day is tomorrow, November 14th as scheduled. All high speed quads will be open along with the mighty link, that's 4 chairs, not bad for opening day. It has been brought to our attention that the new electronic gates are not ready, you'll need to stop by the ticket window even if you have your season pass. Here is a piece from the Solitude website:

"As far as opening day goes, unfortunately, our ticketing partner encountered unexpected problems with our new gates, delaying delivery. We will be visually inspecting all passes over the next few weeks. In order to do this we will need ALL VISITORS to check in at the ticket office.We know this is a huge inconvenience for you, and we sincerely apologize. On a positive note, the new gates are very nice and feature 360 degrees of “scanability.” In the future you won’t have to do the “which pocket is my pass in” dance against the turnstile! Once the new gates are in, you’ll thank us…"

We'll ski you there! Full pictures and a Friday report to follow.

First tracks on Diamond Lane this season goes to...

While we where yucking it up the Moonbeam deck this afternoon, someone else was out hiking and most likely getting face shots. First tracks on Diamond Lane this year goes to a OFIT (Old Fog In Training) at 12:20 pm on November 5th. Rob S. Congrats mountain man!

First Big Snow of the 08 - 09 Season!

Look at what happened overnight, 22" (mid mountain) just like that! In celebration a few us had our little party on the Moonbeam deck today. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck in anticipation, opening day is just around the corner. This is how things looked just 7 days ago:

Coming Soon: 2008 - 2009 Season!!

Boys and Girls, the 08 - 09 season is approaching! The Blogmaster has taken the summer months off to prepare for another stellar season starting this month. I have a few entries to provide from summer that I will get posted soon. My camera is DEAD and I have a new one on the way as of today. Snow? Do we have any yet? Well, not really. But Solitude has been making piles so we may have a early opening day again skiing on the ribbon from the new Moonbeam High Speed Quad down to the base like last year. Opening day is still rumored to be the 14th, but nothing is official as of yet. Get those skis out and prepped, with a little help from mother nature, we'll be zooming down the mountain in no time at all! There is snow in the forecast this week, they said on the news tonight, possible 2 feet for the mountians on Tuesday evening.