It’s starting to feel like fall up here! We are starting to see some changes in the season. The tundra is getting red, the aspens are turning gold and the mornings are feeling crisp. Won’t be long now.

All of the RFID gates have been installed and tested. The new ticket kiosks will soon be placed adjacent to the ticket windows. It’s feeling more and more like fall up here with each passing week. I picked up my season pass, tested it out, and I’m ready to go! Do you have yours?

The timber work along Monarch Ridge now reaches from near the mine all the way up to the Crest. While this work gives a unique look to the forest, the project is intended to improve forest health and protect the South Arkansas watershed. The thinning efforts were conducted with the use of specialized winch-assist machines on steep terrain. Check out…

The new snowcat storage building is taking shape. As described in an earlier post, this is going to be a great addition for our fleet, our operators and our grooming efforts.

Here is a look at the latest round of aerial thinning efforts to remove beetle killed trees from the Garfield side of the mountain. Enjoy the set of before and after shots below.

The Heli crew has completed flying all of the felled timber to the deck sites. In addition to the main deck adjacent to the bottom of Pano, we also have one across from the Tilt Terrain Park and another located on Lower Tango. Now it’s time to finish the processing and load up trucks to haul the merchantable timber, firewood…

The crew is making good progress flying trees to the landing. During this phase of the project, we are focusing on clearing out dead standing trees on the Garfield side of the mountain. Tree stands adjacent to Upper Christmas Tree, Upper & Lower No Name, Lobo, Examiner, Kanonen, Ajax, Cleanser and Pinball will be addressed. There is still quite a…

The helicopter and crew from R&R Conner has arrived. We will begin flying timber down to the deck sites tomorrow. We ask that everyone stay clear of the ski area during the helicopter operations over the next week or so as there are obvious hazards involved with flying beetle killed trees off the mountain.

The Tumbelina Lift is receiving a major mechanical upgrade this summer. We are once again teaming up with the crew from Skytrac for this project. The Garfield (2010) and Breezeway (2014) lifts have seen full bottom drive terminal replacements while the Panorama Lift received a full mechanical upgrade in 2018 (gearbox, main electric drive, controls, braking) and an independent hydraulic…

With the hazy summer, I almost forgot how blue the sky can be.