By Dan Balkin
At first glance, it all looks easy: Early in the season the slopes are blanketed with snow, the lifts are humming, and happy skiers and riders are making turns descending the mountain. Behind this resort bliss, however, is the unseen extensive off-season planning and intensive work of installing new infrastructure. The ski and ride areas are a twelve-month operation where the work and the satisfaction of building for the future never ends.
standing on the newly moved conveyor lift in the
beginner area. This move created a winning trifecta
to suite the growing novice skiers & riders.
A winter resort’s lifeblood is new skiers and riders. Happy new skiers and riders often translate into lifelong skiers and riders. HoliMont made major upgrades the past two seasons to accommodate beginners. Last year, one of the longest conveyor lifts in North America was installed at the bottom of the Meadow slope. This year, to complement this lift, HoliMont moved a smaller conveyor lift previously in use at the bottom of the Sunset slope to this new beginner area. The idea is that we now have a winning trifecta in place for novice skiers and riders: At first, our instructors can now start skiers and riders in this beginner area in a “sliding zone” where they first learn to do the most basic maneuvers to familiarize themselves with the sensations of skiing and riding. Secondly, our novice guests can quickly progress to the shorter “Rabbits Run” conveyor lift which has a very gentle pitch. Finally, after learning how to turn and stop in control on this gentler pitch, they can progress to the much longer and slightly more inclined slope serviced by the “Grasshopper” conveyor lift. Novice heaven? We think so.
Other major infrastructure improvements this summer were evident in the churned-up soil visible on the slopes in the vicinity of our flagship high speed Exhibition chairlift. As Travis Widger, HoliMont’s Snowsports Director noted while providing information for this article, “Infrastructure improvements are not glamorous but necessary.” Travis was referring to the fact that the bigger water pipes installed this summer under The Exhibition, Corkscrew, and Chipmunk trails will lead to better water flow and more snow pumped onto the hill. More snow on the hill seems to be ever popular with skiers and riders!
Travis also noted major changes were made to The Freestyle area: A small group of trees were cleared between the top of the upper Fall Line and upper Meadow trails and the area was regraded. Why? This is a much better site for a Freestyle mogul field. In addition, the Freestyle aerial site can also now be built next to the mogul field. A Freestyle area next to one of HoliMont’s ski racing hills? Yes, again, according to Travis, “All competitive coaches in this new Freestyle / Ski Racing area can share timing infrastructure and B-Netting (the nets set up along competitive ski events to protect the participants).
I asked Travis if the Freestyle and Race coaches would be directly collaborating. In a word, Yes! Travis explained that HoliMont has a program called The CompCrew for 6-7 year olds. These aspiring competitors will be exposed to both Ski Racing and Freestyle skiing. At eight years old, they can choose a pipeline of either Freestyle or Racing. HoliMont will also be introducing a new “HoliFreeSki Team.” These skiers will be practicing and competing in the terrain parks and halfpipe.
In the world of traditional Snowsports instruction, HoliMont will be introducing a full day, five-hour private lesson for anyone over 18. We have many highly qualified instructors who can enhance your skiing or riding experience.
This summer, one other under-the-radar but very important infrastructure improvement was made at HoliMont. At the HoliMont garage where vehicles are serviced, a new hydraulic lift was installed that can lift 40,000 pounds. Is 40,000 pounds roughly the combined weight of the Buffalo Bills hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy? Maybe, but this lift can easily handle lifting up a 25,000-pound Piston Bully grooming machine or 30,000 pound grooming machine with an attached winch. This new hydraulic lift will allow our mechanics to service our state-of-the-art grooming machines with greater ease and efficiency. Bring on the 2022 – 2023 ski season – HoliMont is ready!