Snowy ski slope with a lift and blue sky.

Into High Gear

In the few days since we've closed for the season a ton of work has already gone into disassembling and removing the Quad, Triple, and Double to make way for construction to begin on the Voyageur Express Six. First, crews gently lowered the Original Double's haul rope (wire cable that holds the chairs) onto 4x4s. The wood will protect the rope as it is reeled up over the ground keeping it in perfect condition so that it can be used to replace the current haul rope on the Bear Creek Double later this summer.

Workers operating machinery on a construction site with trees in the background.

Spooling up fifteen thousand pounds of cable stretched out over six thousand feet is no small task, so we enlisted the help of JT and his son Jake from Mountain Wire Rope Service. They came all the way from Pennsylvania with their custom-made spooling machine in tow to help us out. Once the spooling machine was set up, the splice was cut right at the marriage, and one end was attached to the large blue spool shown in the photo below. Once the machine got to turning, the team spent the next two days carefully guiding the rope down the hill around the bull wheel at the base and all the way back up and onto the spool.

Excavator lifting a large blue cable spool on a foggy construction site.

The project started on a beautiful warm spring Saturday and by the time the tail end of the rope made its way to the reel on Sunday, we were well into a fierce winter storm. I can't thank the crew enough for sticking it out and working through miserable conditions to wrap it up. With 15k pounds of cable on the spool and a worn and frozen crew ready to head home, we needed to pick the spool up out of the machine and stage it in the parking lot. For this, we looked to our friends at Ruotsala Concrete of Ironwood who have already dropped off their biggest excavator to help dig out the foundations for the new lift. My thanks to Colin for coming out on a Sunday in the freezing rain and snow to help us out.

Tower Time

With haul ropes out of the way, the team began the removal of the 75 towers that will come down this summer to make way for wide-open skiing and riding next winter. Our team mounted a set of torches on the back of a snowcat and made their way from tower to tower, cutting all but a small portion of the tower before connecting a cable to the top and pulling it over with another snowcat. Once on the ground, each tower was drug over the snow to the mountaintop parking lot where it will be cut up and sent off for recycling.

Removing all of these towers from the slopes is going to have a huge impact on the way the mountain skis next winter. Borealis feels like a huge Western cruiser without its towers and the Voyageurs funnel doesn't feel so quite so narrow. Going from 75 towers down to just 10 hidden on the trail edge is going to create plenty of opportunity for wide-open cruising on the main face. Check out the before and after photos below!

Ski lift over a snowy slope with trees under a clear blue sky.
Snowy slope bordered by sparse trees under a clear blue sky.
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Renovations Reboot

Our Facility Maintenance team wasn't about to get left in the dust by the outdoor crews. They've already begun work on numerous renovations to the Lodge at Jackson Creek. This summer we're planning a refresh of the entire first floor of the lodge, including Dudley's, the pool, Legacy Restaurant, and the Lobby. Most of the work has been demoed thus far as the crew prepares for the installation of new ceiling treatments, carpeting, walls, furniture, and decor. Check out the renderings of our plans for Legacy. I love the midcentury modern look and feel we're going for and can't wait to see families enjoy dinner here after a great day of skiing next winter.

Stay tuned to my blog over the summer to stay updated on all the improvements we're working on for next season. It's sure to be a busy summer and winter will be here before we know it! I'm already looking forward to welcoming all of our guests back to experience all the changes, but for now, the team and I better kick it into high gear and get to work.

Dining area with wooden tables, chairs, and partitions in a modern, open layout.
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Skiers glide through snowy forest trail in winter setting.