Letter from the GM- Start all the lifts, and end the season passes

At 1pm today, the East Bowl Triple will open to the public. After a few very cold days of near constant work, that lift is ready to spin and take the pressure off the Summit Double, which is running strong. The bearing that was driven overnight from Tennessee ended up being the winner. I can’t reiterate the home run effort that this team put in. Both fixes were complicated and required significant coordination from all our staff and outside manufacturers. In the end, the double came back online within 48 hours. The triple took just over 100 hours for the complete removal and reinstallation of the top bull wheel bearing. I am proud of the heroic efforts that made this possible, and we are all ready to catch up on some sleep.

But not yet. We are open straight through the end of this holiday week and are keeping our foot on the gas. With all lifts operational and perfect grooming top to bottom, we are back to the short lift lines and great skiing that Black Mountain is known for. The historic J-Bar will spin all day on Saturday with a new trail that allows an easy ski or ride back to the main area.

Snowmaking continues its 24/7 push. Jackson Standard has 40+ foot snowmaking whales on it, and we will open the trail this weekend before we flatten it all out. That will make for a very playful skiing and riding experience on this signature trail.  Speedwell and Farmer-A will open on Saturday. This means that ALL snowmaking terrain will be open. I set a ridiculous goal to have that done by Christmas. We were very close.

Now we move on to some special snowmaking missions that are going to change the way this mountain skis. Watch for snowmaking on Roller Coaster for the first time in 30 years. Upper Galloping Goose, now just called “The Goose” will get the guns turned back on as we look to open what will be one of the steepest trails in the state. We will then start building the Black Mountain Glacier. Skiing in June, anyone?

As for the rest of the holiday week, tonight is Friday Night Lights, and it is going to be a big one. We are officially adding snowcat access for foot passengers and downhill skiers and riders for the rest of the season. We sold out every seat during our holiday series. Boarding times are 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, and 7 PM, every time we run Friday Night lights. You must signup online or at guest services. This experience will consistently sell out, and once you try it out, you will see why.

An incredible lineup of live music continues daily at the Base lodge and Alpine Cabin. We continue to receive rave reviews on our new food menu and sit-down dinner service that is open every night the ski operates.

Finally, we are taking season passes off sale at Midnight on Monday, January 5th. I have always been adamant that while I want Black Mountain to be busy, it should never be too busy. We can closely control the day ticket visitation, but season pass usage is harder to handle. We have already seen a significant increase in pass sales year over year, and it is time to shut them down. If you or someone that you know has yet to make their pass purchase for this year, now is the time. After passes are off sale, we will open up a waiting list system that all future season pass sales will go through. Current Passholders will have the first opportunity to renew each season. Any remaining season passes will go to the waitlist based on the date of sign-up. We will not oversell passes and compromise the sport and culture of skiing at Black Mountain.

Happy New Year.

Thanks for being here.

Erik Mogensen

President and General Manager

Black Mountain Community Corporation