A Brand New Season

korryrv
Sep 2
2 min read

Friends of Oak Hill,

With Labor Day Weekend behind us and attention turning to more Autumnal times, we’d like to take a moment to give you an update on how we at Oak Hill Outdoor Center spent our (busy) Summer.

The mountain biking project is underway. We are nearly finished with Phase 1 which includes a pump track / skills area and a beautiful flow trail starting near the Trescott lands entrance and finishing at the stadium. Final touches on this phase of the trail will be made after rain helps transform the surface from the dusty plume it is now. Future phase construction will depend on future MTB-specific fundraising.
The Top of Oak Hill loop (aka - the iconic old 10k) has received extensive maintenance to improve drainage, expand width and make it more groom’able. We look forward to natural snow bliss in the deep woods.
We built and improved a trail from Storrs Pond to the Ray School. This will replace steep and eroded existing trail that started near the tennis courts and should make passage between Garipay and Oak Hill easier.
We installed an array of solar panels on the roof of the lodge and on the slope next to the wooden jump. This will heavily offset our energy consumption from snowmaking and lighting.
The lodge got a final grading with the approach and walkway now gravel and appropriate drainage to make access easier in all seasons.
The building in the back of the parking lot is being renovated to become the Ford Sayre clubhouse and is approaching completion.
The annual center cleanup and community cookout will be Saturday September 20^th. Please save the date and look out for a separate communication for volunteer signup.
We will be repeating last year’s equipment lease program with details to be announced. We also received a generous grant from Killington World Cup Foundation to purchase a fleet of new equipment to loan free of charge for day-use.
Dartmouth Coaches Cami Thompson received the John Caldwell award and Brayton Osgood got the EISA Coach of the Year award. Ford Sayre coach Hilary McNamee received the NENSA Coach of the Year award. Congratulations to all for the well-deserved recognition.
Winter of 2024 was an exhilarating and successful season for competitions at Oak Hill. We are very excited to continue supporting local skiers this season by hosting high quality nordic races at OHOC. On our event calendar for the upcoming season we have Dartmouth Carnival Jan. 30 and 31, Eastern Cup Feb. 14 and 15, NHIAA State Champs Mar. 3 and U16 Easterns Mar. 13, 14 and 15.
Lastly, with eternal gratitude to Peter Milliken and Matt Rightmire for their tireless work and leadership in the formation of the modern OHOC, we turned Chair, Vice-chair and Treasurer positions on the OHOC board over to Scott Brown, Becky Hanissian and Scott May respectively. Peter and Matt will remain on the board.