The Journey
July 12, 2012 Ok so why the new Tumblr site?? Well right now we are undergoing a website transformation update so rather than have to worry about transferring over etc we are going to give Tumblr a whirl for some updates. LMK what you think? Last I wrote it was June 18 and that seemed like yesterday. Since then I've travelled more than 4,000 miles and have visited three ski resorts, two rivers, ten states, and seven breweries! My wife and I did a little XC trip that included two stops at our sister resorts Hidden Valley & Snow Creek in Missouri for business meetings. (If you can't tell we are outdoors people who own a raft and really enjoy good craft beers!) It's pretty cool to visit other resorts to see their layouts, programs, and in my case shoot the sh*t with two gentlemen who have been in the business for over 40 years. David Grenier - GM at Snow Creek and Tim Boyd our CEO of Peak Resorts. Hidden Valley outside of St. Louis is a hidden gem and where Peak Resorts started. It is Tim's baby and where Peak Resorts Hq is located. My wife Mary and I were really surprised at the size of the resort. It's quite large and growing. It sits about 25 minutes outside of St. Louis and people from 5 - 6 different states trek there to ski and ride. Snow Creek on the other hand, outside of Kansas City clear across the state is our smallest property. Yet it has a ton of character and is the pretty much the last hill you see as you cross the line into Kansas.
(Driving through Kansas... ugggh.... don't get me started. Two words - corn and cows. That's it.) After our two day stop in Missouri it was off for the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. First stop Santa Fe where my sister lives. After bopping around the cool artistic downtown we headed north towards Taos for a day of rafting on the Rio Grande followed by sailing (yes sailing) at 8000'. We followed that up with another rafting expedition on the class III/IV Arkansas River in Canon City, CO before our final western destination - Breckenridge. For those who have never been to Colorado to ski/ride - Breckenridge is one of the best places to hit because it has everything. It has an unbelievable town full of shops, restaurants and of course bars, but the terrain there is vast with 4 peaks 10, 9, 8 & 7. If you're into the extreme they have a lift that goes up over 13,000' (one of the only one's in the country) and if you're not don't worry the lower portions of the mountains (still much bigger than our mountain here) are great for beginners. Summer rocks there too. Mountain bikers, cyclists and hikers converge on the city for weekly festivals and events. We attempted to hike one of the twenty 14,000' peaks - Mount Quandry. Believe it or not our dog - Dory couldn't hack it. Once we got above tree level 12,500' the altitude affected her and every few minutes she was looking for shade and resting. We were tired as well so we headed back down. Here is Mary and Dory taking in the view from 12k.
After checking out Breck's 4th of July parade and Airshow we headed out and spend the 4th in the middle of Nebraska - I don't even remember where but in Nebraska fireworks are legal and EVERYONE had them. From our campsite we had a 360 degree show. We could see fireworks for what seemed like 100s of miles.
We had one sprinkle of rain. That was it. July 4th in the morning at the parade it was 71. By the time we reached our stopping point in Nebraska at about 10pm it was 91. Since we've been gone our crew has been continuing work on our mountain to improve some customer service pieces we've been talking about all summer. (They also cleaned up from the huge storm everyone endured back on July 1st.)
The locker room move from the lower Den to the Ridgewood room is just about done. We need to do some paint but the lumber and the structures are there. This is going to open up 120 more seats and 15 more tables! The new locker area will also give more room, a changing room, and more light in all the lockers for sure. You can purchase lockers by calling Suzie at 800-231-7669. Our new snowboard trail signs are starting to be put up on the mountain. (see above) I think you'll like these new additions. They look cool and give the hill a little character. Our base lodge is getting new coats of paint including our bathrooms and the main eating area. The Etc. Retail shop has grown and over at the Avalanche Tubing park we put in a retail area and also moved our storage cage to allow for easier access to grab tubes and return them. I'm starting to fill in the calendar for our events and music this year and here are a couple I already know that I can share with you: Saturday, December 29th - The Louie Vito Rail Jam Monday, January 21st (MLK) - *New* Family Festival #1 Saturday, January 26th - Bud Light Winterfest featuring the Reaganomics Sunday, February 10th - Pretty in Pink Charity Event Monday, Februray 18th - *New* Family Festival #2 Saturday, March 2nd - Yuengling Spring Fling with the Ark Band The new "Family Festivals" on our two holiday dates are a work in progress and more to come on those in the next few weeks. Come August - Season Passes will go back on sale. There will be two opportunities to get them at the early season spring rate along with the perks that go along with those. - August 11 & 12th we'll be at the Aspen Ski & Board opening day weekend sale and the following weekend August 18th and 19th we'll be at the 10TV Health and Fitness Expo. ONLY THOSE TWO WEEKENDS will passes be available at the early season rate. Anytime other than those two prices will be at the fall rates. Last but not least many people have on our FB page about "summer" events. it's on the radar. We have been talking to a number of mud run event companies and we are close to signing on to host two races in the next calendar year. Mountain biking has also been brought up constantly and while we are not going to offer anything this summer I think you'll see some sort of events next year. We need to work on some trails and talk to the companies that have event series to land one here in 2013.. Today's my one year anniversary since starting at Mad River and I've enjoyed every last second of it. (Ok I could have used a little more snow and colder weather last year) but I know that's an anomaly. WE ARE LESS THAN 150 DAYS FROM OPENING DAY. Think cold thoughts. Until next time. Peace. P.S. Breweries we hit along the way for you beer drinkers out there - Schlafley - St. Louis, Santa Fe Brewing & Marble Brewing in Santa Fe; Blue Heron Brewing in Chama, NM; San Luis Valley Brewing Co, Alamosa, CO; Royal Gorge Brewing Co, Canon City, CO; & Breckenridge Brewing Co in Breckenridge; CO. Best Beer on the trip - Greg - the Double White Belgian at Marble Brewing Co in Santa Fe. Mary - the Rasberry Hefeweizen from Schlafley Brewing Co in Saint Louis.