Newsletter #14

Friends of Oak Hill Newsletter #14

We are happy to report that as of last Friday the snowmaking system is operational!  The president of HDK, our snowmaking equipment provider, was on site for our inaugural snowmaking session, and Scott Barthold, our local snowmaking engineer, has been on site daily.  Their expertise has helped us work through typical start-up issues and train our staff and volunteers. The first week will be a learning process, but we are making snow.

The natural snow yesterday was also welcome and the groomers were able to groom much of the non-snowmaking trail system in the early morning hours today. 

Now that we have an operational snowmaking system, we need time and cold temps to make, cure, and groom skiable snow.  The recent temperatures have been just cold enough for snowmaking and the forecasted rain for tomorrow is likely to delay the opening of the snowmaking loop. The temperature outlook is mixed for the next few days. We are working hard to open as soon as the weather will possibly allow!  Please check our website or Instagram for updates.

To create the thick and durable base for the winter-long surface we all want, we need to make a sufficient quantity of snow, let it drain its excess moisture, and then spread and groom it out. This is a process requiring time, patience, weather conditions and lots of love. 

As we are learning, snowmaking is part science, part art, and a lot of work. The pictures below illustrate some of our volunteers in action and we appreciate the nighttime work necessary to run the system.  Many of our volunteers are up at wee hours to create skiable conditions for the rest of us.  Special thanks to Korry Vargo and Scott Barthold for the long hours they are working to make snow happen!

Thank you for joining us on this journey – and for your patience as we develop the tools to offer reliable community skiing.