We are less than two weeks away from OPENING DAY!

That's right - we are less than two weeks away from the first day of program and I hope you are all excited to get the season started on December 15th! It was great to see some WRF athletes, parents, and coaches taking advantage of the early season snow this past weekend. While we did go through a bit of a warm weekend, the temperatures have dropped and they fired up the snow guns this morning. They are working on expanding the available terrain and improving upon what they currently have available. Either way, the mountain is fully committed to getting the season off to a great start and using that momentum to carry us into the holiday season.

The resurfacing and expansion has begun!

I am sure many of you have been wondering what is happening with the Westside Six. You are not alone! As with any construction project, they have hit a few challenges throughout the process that have caused the completion date to shift. While they do not have a specific date for opening, they are very optimistic that it will be completed prior to the holiday season. The marketing team recently released the following update:

We are looking forward to getting Westside Six open just as much as you are!  The latest guidance that Doppelmayr (lift manufacturer) has given us is to plan on opening the lift in advance of the December holiday period.  Our own crews are joining the effort to assist in wrapping the project up whenever possible.  In the meantime, we’ll continue to take full advantage of every snowmaking opportunity we get, including on the West Peak.  Big construction projects are always a moving target and we appreciate your patience as we move towards this historic opening.

Once completed, it will be an amazing upgrade from what I have been told. My advice is to remain patient and supportive of this project. Having recently returned from Copper Mountain in Colorado, it could be worse...they made the decision to replace the only two lifts that go from the base of Center Village and neither have reach completion. They are having to use shuttle busses to move people from Center Village to East and West Village. While it was manageable, it certainly added a challenging layer of logistics for the public and the mountain staff. I am sure we will be loading the Westside Six in no time and it will be well worth the wait! In the meantime, we get to enjoy early season skiing on Why Not!

Reggie Willcocks sent in the following photo and wanted to make note that his photography skills are available for weddings, senior portraits, and all your other photo needs. Contact him directly for his rates.

The definition of "raw talent"

Lastly, if you haven't been following the World Cup circuit, you should be! There have been some great races lately but one of the most exciting was the men's GS from Beaver Creek this past Sunday. It was a true example of taking advantage of the moment and executing a game place. Swiss athlete Thomas Tumler started bib 48 in the first run, qualified for second run (an impressive 21st after run 1) and then held off every challenger in run 2 until Marcel Hirscher and Stefan Luitz managed to knock him off the top spot. He finished 3rd place on the day, by far the best result of his career. He has one top 10 in SG and his best GS result on the World Cup is from 2014, finishing 26th! Talk about a momentum builder! On the women's side, they spent the weekend racing downhill and super-g in Lake Louise.  Mikaela Shiffrin won Sunday's SG for her 46th career win and in doing so, became the first athlete (male of female) to win in 6 all six disciplines: Slalom, Parallel Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, Downhill, and Alpine Combined. It is an incredible feat and incase you forgot - she is only 23 years old! If you haven't been watching, start making time to do so!