The Escalator Stunt

Have you heard about this? It's been talked about on national news. Once again we behold the power of YouTube. It's a video clip that has had thousands of hits on YouTube. The clip is of someone skiing down the longest escalator in Europe (300 ft). It's actually a section from a new ski video called "Mind the Gap." London officials are looking for the man who did this stunt to at least give him a good talking-to. It's definitely one of those "do not try this yourself" things. Here's the clip, join the other bajillion people watching!

Bear Dens

There are several bear dens we know of located on the mountain. With the recent warm temperatures the bears have been waking up a few weeks early! They've been spotted walking around on the runs several times in the last week.

A lot of you like to snowshoe or skin up the mountain to ski/ride down in the post season. The DOW has asked us not to disclose the location of the dens. So just use some caution as we've seen cubs out lately. Please avoid the upper West End area right now as one family of bears are quite active over there at this time. In fact, this family of bears were spotted several times on closing day but unfortunately we don't have a good picture to show you.

The moose are quite active right now as well and have been spotted at Powderhorn. Lots of animals tend to stop by the base area in the spring and summer. We like to stay out of their way but snap a picture as well. When we do, I'll post them on here!

And Now What?

It's always a little weird after we close. The resort goes from busy with people everywhere to quiet and empty. It's also a little like back in the day when you had to say goodbye to friends at the end of the school year. There's a lot of "have a great summer" and "see you next year." It makes you feel like you should be signing yearbooks or something.

It's time for those of us that are year-round employees to switch gears and begin work for the next season. A lot of people ask me what it is we do during the summer. Well, for the next several weeks we'll be running reports and analyzing the entire season. We look at successes and failures and then start making our departmental plans for next season. We're also going to start construction of the mtn. biking trails as soon as possible and prepare to be open for the summer so come visit us!

I'll keep the blog going, although it probably won't be daily. We all switch to working Monday-Thursday so look for blog updates then. I'll be posting pictures of the progress of the new trails, pictures of the wildlife we see around the mtn, and updates on our plans for next season. You'll be the first to hear about the prices for next season and new season pass deals. Also look for 4-pack deals!

Closing Day

Hi everyone,

Unfortunately I have to inform you that today, March 26, will in fact be our last day for the season. Due to the warm temperatures our conditions just do not permit the mountain to remain open.

We'll begin construction of new mountain bike trails as soon as possible and be open for the summer along with the Inn at Wildewood, Wildewood Restaurant, and the Alpine Trader. Stay tuned to www.powderhorn.com for details.

THANK YOU all so much for a great season. We hope you had a great time at Powderhorn and we look forward to doing it all again, bigger and even better, next season.

SlushSprocket Results

Thanks to everyone who competed in the first ever SlushSprocket Mtn Bike Race! It was a great time. We'll definitely do this again next year. Here are the winners and a few shots from the race.

1st- Nick Marsh
2nd- Tyler Hutchinson
3rd- Jacob Yeates

Throwback Day...A Little Overboard

Some of the employees up here got really into Throwback Day. Spandex is hardly ever a good thing...and you're about to see why.




These people, who shall remain nameless, hold these positions at Powderhorn. Can you match them up?
Terrain Parks Manager
Receptionist/Office Manager
IT Manager
Marketing Director
CEO
HR Director

Bike + Snow = FUN

Bikes, snow, slalom ski course, head-to-head racing....what could go wrong?

Come to race or just hang out and watch. The race has been moved to Peacemaker so everyone can watch from the Sunset Grille deck as well as the Wildewood deck. Come grab some grub and a beer and watch the carnage...I mean competition.

Working for the Weekend

Everybody's working for the weekend....something something something.....everybody's going off the deep end....

I've had that song stuck in my head all morning. But it's fitting because this weekend is going to be huge! Saturday is Throwback Day so show up in your favorite day-glow. There'll be an Old School Big Air Show in the terrain park at 1:00. No cost, just goofiness. KSTAR 96.1 will be bringing a bus full of Throwbackers to the mountain and broadcast live all day.

Then on Sunday stick around for the SlushSprocket Mtn. Bike Race. It's a bike race on the snow! Scary...maybe. Fun....yes! It's a dual slalom course for head to head racing. Just $5 to enter, winner takes home all the cash. Plus there are plenty of prizes. Oh and bring a helment. The Bike Shop will be hanging out on the patio showing off some new bikes plus they can help you prep your rig for the race. If you don't want to brave the course, at least hang out and watch!

A Case of the Mondays

We're all moving a little slow up here today. Our backs are sore from playing limbo and trying to hoola-hoop. Last night's employee party involved great BBQ courtesy of ski patrol, great entertainment courtesy of "Wheel", several rounds of limbo, tons of prizes, and lots of hoola-hooping. Yes the Powderhorn Employee Luau was a good one.

A BIG congratulations to Bil Law and Stephanie Reynolds who are both celebrating 20 years with Powderhorn!

Oogle Next Year's Stuff

Already stoked for next year? Us too. All the major ski & snowboard companies are starting to release their 07-08 creations to the public. Here are a few shots of next years snowboard gear from SIA in Vegas. These pictures are courtesy of Transworld Snowboarding. You can check out the full article at http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/snow/products/article/0,26719,1582464,00.html


New line of Burton Snowboards- how cute!



New Burton Andy Warhol series


Burton Andy Warhol outerwear


Capita Snowboards


Technine MFM bindings


Electric goggles


Anon goggles- all about the patterns this year


Forum gloves

Spring Deals

Spring had most definitely sprung. Conditions are perfect for the spring skiing enthusiast. Conditions are also perfect for some hot spring deals. Here's the scoop on all of them...

March 18-April 1
20 % off lodging at the Inn at Wildewood (plus you get 2 half price lift tickets)

March 19-25
If you aren't on our text subscribers list yet, use your cell phone and text the word MAGIC to 95495. Magic 93.1 and Powderhorn are giving you $9 off a lift ticket the entire week.

March 26-April 1
All lift tickets are just $30!

SlushSprocket Mtn Bike Race

Oh this is going to be good! It's a mountain bike race on the snow. What better way to announce there will be mountain biking this summer at Powderhorn? Plus it's just a good excuse for some goofy spring shenanigans. Everyone is welcome to compete. The cost is $5 and the winner takes home the cash pot. 2nd and 3rd places will take home prizes.

Details
March 25
Registration 3:00- lodge
Race begins @ 4:00
Helmets required!
Located on EZ
Spectators welcome at the course

Why do they do that?

Ever wonder what those ticket scanning thingies are really for? The ticket scanners are linked to a system that accounts for every ticket and pass on the mountain. It also tells the ticket checker immediately if that pass is invalid or if fraud is possibly taking place.

The ticket scanning system reports every bit of information you could think of. For example, we can tell how many skiers & snowboarders are at the mountain each day. These are referred to as "skier days." We run reports at the end of the season that tells us how many people we had at the mountain the entire year. We can also see exactly how many Adult, Young Adult, etc tickets are on the mountain at any time. It tells us how certain promotions are working. It tracks how many times people use their season pass or plus card. It can even tell us what you ate for breakfast that day. Ok just kidding, it's not that thorough.

So those scanners are doing more than just checking to see if you paid for your ticket. They're a marketing geek's best friend.

Big News!

And you are literally the first people to hear outside of Powderhorn. Press releases will be going out soon and check out posters at the mountain. But for now you get to hear it first.





It's going to be a fun summer! We'll be making a big announcement and celebrating our expansion into mountain biking at the SlushSprocket Mtn. Bike Race on March 25.

Adventures in Snowboarding

Today I learned to snowboard. I've been skiing for 15 years and thought I'd give snowboarding a go since it's so nice outside. I didn't need a coat especially since I was doing a lot of push-ups and the like, picking myself up off the ground. Point being, it's the perfect time to try something new. If you snowboard, try skiing...or vice versa. Or try telemarking. The Ski School is having another Tele Clinic on March 24. The Rental Shop can outfit you with a snowboard package for $25 or just $19 for a ski package. Falling doesn't hurt as bad when the snow is so soft!

Check out this crazy grab...

X Games here I come

Get on the slopes, it's great!

What Do You Think?

Being the marketing dork, I like to know what our guests are thinking. We'd like to hear your thoughts about the terrain parks this year. Please leave a comment and let us know. Or, if you are on Myspace, you can answer the question on our Myspace page.

What did you think of Powderhorn's terrain park this year?

• Loved it!
• Good job but keep working on it
• It was just ok
• It sucked

We welcome comments, ideas, etc. Thanks!

Freak Mini-Storm

That's right they are officially called "Freak Mini-Storms" or minimus squallus. That's what happened this morning. 5" fell in just two hours, from about 6-8am. The forecast called for a slight chance at an inch or two so this was a suprise.

The weather we are now experiencing is well....the odd-backwoods-cousin of the "Freak Mini-Storm." It's currently snowing but we can hear thunder at the same time. Due to this fact, all lifts have been shut down about an hour early today. By law (and for very good reason) the lifts must close down and be cleared when there is lightning in the area. So we watch it snow and no one is able to play in it right now. But safety comes first!

Spring Skiing at its Finest

Warm weather and great snow conditions have made for ideal spring skiing at Powderhorn. With Spring Break on the way, grab your sunblock and a hoodie and get on the slopes. We have live music in the grille and plenty of space on the deck for you this weekend.

We caught some patrollers working on their goggle tans today...

Check it out!

Our new terrain parks snowcat just arrived! She's a beauty huh?

Smith Limo

On March 31st we will be having one last Rail Jam. The good news is it's FREE. The really good news is the feature is the Smith Limo! You get to jib the same thing you've seen in the videos and magazines. Plus K2 Snowboards will be on hand and we'll have TONS of giveaways to celebrate the last weekend of the season.



Get ready!

The Unofficial Runs

Powderhorn has several runs on the mountain that are in-bounds but are not technically official runs. So you won't find them on our trail map. These runs have been named by the locals who ski here every year. You can find these little treasures all over the mountain. If you haven't skied them yet, get out there and start exploring or ask around. Here are just a few-

Pinball Alley- off of the Maverick catwalk
Sven's Bend- off of upper Maverick
Marshmellow Field- off of Thunder Mt. Glade & Mudslide

Let us know if you have a special trail named...you can keep its location a secret though if you'd like.

And the Total is...

42 inches of snow this week! That's 3.5 FEET. You know it's good when we can start measuring in feet. Here's how it played out:

Feb. 24- 14"
Feb. 25- 2"
Feb. 26- 6"
Feb. 28- 16"
March 2- 4"

Forecast is calling for 3-5 additional inches today. Come stake your claim on a powder stash!

Profile: Ski Patrol

So what exactly is patrol out there doing all day? Well they're not just getting first tracks. The Powderhorn Ski Patrol are an amazing crew made up of 25 Pro and 27 National Patrollers. They are ready to go each morning by 8:00am. Their day begins with a morning meeting/briefing. One person will head up the mountain on a snowmobile and start the morning dispatch from the top. Other patrollers start checking fences around the base area, check sleds, check first aid supplies, and ski pack the mazes (lift lines) if needed. Then they load the lift.

Every patroller must check in once on top. They are given assignments based on what has been placed in the log book for the day. They spend time checking runs, sleds, tower pads, and overall scanning for hazards. They are also of course responding to any incidents all day.

A minimum of 2 patrollers are in the shacks at each time. There is one on dispatch and another available to respond to an event. These rotate all day. When 4:00 comes, patrol leads 'sweep.' This is when the entire mountain is skied and cleared to make sure no one is left out there. Everyone leaves from the top at the same time each with a run assignment. There are several checkpoints along the way. Once they arrive at the base area, they do a roll call and then debriefing. Everyone keeps their boots on through final meeting just in case of any last minute need.