Newsletter #7

Summer appears to be in full swing and so does the trail work at Oak Hill. For those of you who have visited the site in the past week, you are aware of the high level of activity. Heavy equipment is busy grinding stumps, grading trails and removing debris. Pipe is arriving at the site for the snowmaking system. Trail work will continue through the month of June, with pipe installation starting at the end of the month or early July. Although the trail-building team has done a good job cleaning up the campground sites, the impact is still significant and we appreciate the patience and support from the Storrs Pond management team as they deal with the surprise of campers as they arrive. Noise and dust will inevitably continue for the next couple of months, and some of the mountain biking trails and disc golf holes have been disrupted. We hope that these activities will be back and even better sometime next year, but 2023 will be challenging. We will be installing new signage to make mountain bikers and hikers aware of the closed areas during trail construction and snowmaking installation. There will be no access to trails from the east and north sides of Storrs Pond. Bikers and hikers should use the access points at the junction of Reservoir Road and the Storrs Pond access road, or the junction of Grasse Road and Reservoir Road at the top of the hill. Several people have asked about volunteering to help with trail and other work during construction, and with snowmaking and greeting during the season. In addition, the team will be looking for part-time workers, including high school students, to help with trail and construction work later in the summer. If you know interested youth, please direct them to the volunteer sign-up sheet where they can indicate they are interested in paid work. We are happy to report that Korry Vargo has agreed to be the first Operations Manager of the Center. Many of you know Korry from the Ford Sayre alpine team where he has been the ski coach for many years. We are delighted to have Korry joining the team.

Peter Milliken