Alyeska Lift Ops is Ready for Winter!

Opening day is scheduled for Friday, December 13th! We are excited for winter and can’t wait to see you.

Fantastic Team!

The lift ops crew this winter is an amazing team, and I feel so lucky to work with this great group of people!

Dave, Doug, Baker and Kyle

Michael has been holding down Ted’s Express like gravity!

Lift ops is ready for winter!

Alyeska Lift Operations just completed 4 days of intense training!  As you scroll down through the pics, notice how much the scenery changes in just a few days.  On day 1, there was no snow, but snowmaking was firing up for the first time for the season.  Then Mother Nature did her thing in conjunction with the man-made snow, and now we are looking ready for winter.

Group photo with snowmaking in the background.

Yay for snow! We are ready to shovel!

Chair 1 will never run again, but we will continue to take group photos here until the lift is removed. It is such an important part of the Alyeska history!

Right now tentative opening day is November 24, Thanksgiving.

628" with 7 weeks left

Ted's Express has been a wonderful addition to Alyeska Resort's fleet of lifts.

Kris and Mark, living the dream

Counterweight cabin at the tram

We had an ice cream social for Chris Davis' going away party.

Paul, soaking in the sun at the base of 6.

A busy Saturday at Alyeska Resort.

Always Sunset or Dark

A. McKay heads down from the new lift.

Everyone is LOVING the new lift.

Moonrise

Watching the sunset mid afternoon while riding lift 7.

Lift Ops Training

Lift ops training is pretty much complete.  It looks like a really great group for this winter, and all are stoked!

Passholder day is this Tuesday from 11-3, and the forecast is for snow! Opening day is Wednesday, and we're really to go! 

The Bull Wheel is Here!

The new upper bull wheel for lift 6 is here! It arrived this morning, and has already made its way to the top.

 Happy employees.

 Getting ready to hoist it onto the back of the cat.

 The fog couldn't make up its mind today, but occasionally we got glimpses of blue sky.

 Snow guns are set up and ready for temps and manpower.

 Oh yeah, snow on top of the tram car.  Starting to look like winter around here.

Di

Name: Di

What department do you work in: Ski Area GM

How long have you worked at Alyeska Resort? What other departments have you worked in?
Since 1994. I have been a lift operator, snowmaker, trail crew, ski patrol, night ski patrol supervisor, mountain host supervisor, mountain services manager. I have also helped out at the rental shop, ticket offices, mountain events when needed and drove the shuttle bus.

Have you worked at other resorts; what did you do there?
Crested Butte mountain resort in the late 80's during college at Western State, where I was a children's ski school instructor and a cashier at the upper mountain restuarant.

What brought you to Girdwood/ Alyeska?
I was raised in Anchorage and grew up skiing at Alyeska. After college I decided to move to Girdwood to be a ski bum for a season and never left.

What is your favorite thing about Girdwood/ Alyeska?
Powder, of course. As well as all the really great people that live in this community.

Do you ski or snowboard? What other recreational activites do you enjoy in the local area?
I am a former snowboarder and telemark skier too, but I prefer to ski. I also like to whitewater kayak and raft, fly fish, camp, DH bike at Alyeska, hike and run. And hang with my family.

Any other resorts you'd like to give a shout out to?
I really enjoyed Mammoth Mountain when I went there, but of course they were in a crazy storm cycle with lots of powder.  Super fun and the people there were really friendly.

What piece of advice would you give to our guests?
Winter: Don't be discouraged if it's raining at the base- it means it dumping up top and epic & bring your fat skis. 
Summer: Be responsible with your trash so the bears don't have to be shot. Give all wildlife plenty of space.

Winter 10/11 Lift Crew Slide Show

Lower Mountain

Amos manned mid-7 this afternoon.

There is a lot of snowmaking going on on the Blueberry hill area, prepping the half-pipe and terrain parks for opening.
Oh, yeah, it's also really cold right now.

Group Photos! (This is the 770th post on this blog!)

Tram training is currently happening. This is your winter tram crew:
Snowmaking training is also happening right now. Winter is just around the corner!

Cabin 1 has a new look:

Summer is Upon Us!

There are wild irises growing outside the chalet, and all over town right now.

Some good reminders if you plan on spending time outdoors in Alaska in the summertime.
The Blueberry Pancake trail is now open. Remember, it is downhill and for experts only.
The Finnland magic carpet was dismantled, filled, leveled and re assembled already this summer. It looks really nice and should require less snowmaking in the winter.

End of Weekend Ops - Best May Ever?

The Events team is prepping the mountain for summer freestyle camp.

We are making a half pipe on the upper mountain.
On Monday afternoon, we pulled the chairs offline, but left 4 on to cycle stragglers and patrol back up.
On the lower mountain, you can see the Finnland Magic Carpet was dismantled and the area was filled. This will bring the carpet closer to the ground and will require less snowmaking in the immediate vicinity.

30,000+ Visits!

I hope ya'll are enjoying this blog! We just passed the 30,000 visitor mark a few days ago, with an average of 1,000 visits a month. Thank you so much for tuning in and checking in with us. I will continue to post through the summer months, and we can watch the snow melt and Girdwood turn lush and green together.

Weekend skiing/riding continues through May on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. If you have a 09/10 pass it is still valid. This is also the best time to save money on next season's pass, as it only gets more expensive the longer you wait.

Next month we will be having the Freestyle camp at the top of the mountain. Dates are June 7-8 (for sure) and 14-18 (tentative). I will bring you more info as it becomes available (soon!).

The Making of Alyeska's Superpipe in 1 minute

TGIF

The employee of the quarter luncheon was at Seven Glaciers today. I picked Joe and Chris choose Sarah, and Walt choose me as the mountain supervisor of the quarter. It was a good lunch will a lot of great people.

The Alyeska Pipeline from the tram.

Midweek Mellow

There have been a couple of moose hanging out in the Challenge/ BCQ area. Pictured below, one of them standing around near the bottom of the terrain park.

Patrol was doing some sled training at the top of 2 this afternoon.
Looking down the barrel of the half-pipe.
And looking back up from the bottom. I rode through it today; it is huge!