STEP ONE: Create a resort account on Newschoolers (newschoolers.com).
This would help to reach potential new freeskier customers. And as
much as I hate to say it, Schweitzer's park has a very bad reputation
on NS. It couldn't hurt to clear that up.

STEP TWO: Reopen the ref•uge. It shouldn't be too hard — you should
still have signs and everything. My advice?Use the Bark Beetle Room.
Sure, it may not have gone too well the first time. But this time, try
to actually market it. You know, get the people in there. The ref•uge
is really important to the next step: the actual instruction.

STEP THREE: Schweitzer Freestyle Camp would be an ten week, fully
immersive freestyle instruction on Saturdays and Sundays from Januray
to March. The final week, the rider would compete in the Stomp Games
alongside members of his/her own group.

In addition to being supported by Schweitzer, sponsors could offset
part of the cost both to the resort and to the rider. Such
sponsorships should include rider-favorite companies, such as:

*K2 Factory Team Skis
*Line Skis
*Full Tilt Boots
*Salomon
*Saga Outerwear
*Sessions
*EC Headwear
*Smith Optics
*Oakley
*Spy Optics
*Skullcandy
*Bonfire
*Voleurz
*Freeskier Magazine
*Newschoolers
*Burton

And, what would a ski camp be without a headlining sponsor? In comes
the Schweitzer Freestyle Camp sponsored by the Sports Creel.

So, how would this supposed freeskiing/snowboarding camp be organized?
The concept would be similar to Windells in Oregon and Momentum in
Whistler. That is, you are divided into groups according to age and
ability level: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Note that these
are not skier ability level descriptions; they are unique to park
skiing. That means that a skier could be an expert skier but an
intermediate at park skiing.

In order to make sure the riders get a quality coaching experience,
Schweitzer would bring in pros and top freestyle skiers from around
the area (and beyond) to coach the riders. To further ensure the best
coaching possible, video review would be employed.

Camp Orientation would take place the Saturday before the start of
Camp in the Caribou Room at the Lakeview. This would include the
basics of the camp session, meeting with coaches, as well as an on-
snow element that assesses a rider's ability level. According to that
level, riders would be put in groups. After a meet-your-group/meet-
your-coach session, orientation would close.

A typical Camp Saturday would look like this:

8:00-8:45 – Breakfast on the mountain. In the Lakeview, featuring the
classics that are already offered.

8:30 – Why not? Give riders first chair to get ready for the day. By
the way, on powder days, riders wouldn't necessarily be in the park
right away. Powder mornings/Park afternoons will be a virtue unless it
is dumping.

8:30-2:30 – Coaching.

11:00-1:00 – Lunch. It would be the group's discretion on when to eat.
Many options would be available for lunches. The best option would
probably to have the Alpenglow Deli (or Schweitzer) set up a camp tent
in the park for self-serve sandwiches and snacks. The other options
would include Thor's Pizza or an employee discount on food at the
Lakeview.

2:30-4 – Open Skiing. You're free to go anywhere on the mountain.

4:15-5:30 – Video review with coaches. This would take place in the
ref•uge or other spots around Schweitzer Village.

5:30-8 – Open skiing. This time, though, you're back in the park under
the lights with the coaches. No filmers would be available during the
night session.

5:30-?? – Open activities from Xbox in the ref•uge to tubing,
snowskating, airboarding, etc. As well as free weekly only-for-campers
activities put on by sponsors with prizes, swag, etc.

Dinner would not be provided, though breakfast and lunch would. This
is to accomodate for families staying on the mountain.

Here are some additional tips that would make the program even more
sick:

*Invite Will & Andy from Line's Traveling Circus out for a weekend to
ski and film an episode. This would be valuable to campers and to
others in that the series has a huge following online and you'd get
quite a bit of prime exposure.

*Keep the environment super chill. It needs to be laid-back and
relatively calm in order for riders to progress.

*Comps are great ways for riders to compete, but they are also a way
for riders to meet other riders. Embrace both aspects of them.

So, what do we price this at? You get 20 days total of coaching with
video review and free entry into the Stomp Gamps. You get breakfasts
and lunches, as well as activities like snowskating, tubing, and
sponsor activities. Considering the prices of various other summer ski
camps that provide more activities and lodging, but last only a week,
it is not unreasonable to price the Schweitzer Freestyle Camp at about
$1199. This would include a junior season pass valid for the entire
winter season.

In conclusion, I have laid before you an interesting program idea that
needs to be discussed at Schweitzer. In the absence of other quality
freestyle instruction programs in the area, this could be a boon for
Schweitzer. It would draw in money not just from the local area, but
also as far away as Seattle, Missoula and Boise. And it might just put
Idaho skiing on the map once and for all.

To those of you who don’t know, Tamarack Resort is a ski resort in central Idaho, about 90 miles north of Boise. This is not a small mom-and-pop ski area either — the resort has seven chairlifts, including two high-speed detachable quads. They have 1,100 acres of terrain — which is comparable in size to Aspen, Colorado. And that wasn’t all; the resort also has an 18-hole Trent Jones golf course and literally an entire village that’s nearly complete, wrapped in Tyvek. You may recall that when Tamarack opened in 2004 in was described as “the new destination resort in North America in twenty years.” Unfortunately things have only gone downhill. The resort closed last March when receivers ran out of money to operate the resort. It’s now in $300 million worth of debt. Now it’s just sitting there, empty (aside for a small maintenance staff), waiting for a “white knight” to come in and save the day.

Today lenders pushed back a hearing (which, in part, is about the need for cash from lenders to flow to the resort) until tomorrow. Lenders, led by Credit Suisse (the Swiss bank that is attributed with Yellowstone Club’s bankruptcy), will have to decide whether to allow $195,000 worth of insurance payments to be paid. If an agreement to fund the resort cannot be reach, the court will begin to transfer control of the resort back to the owners, including Jean-Pierre Boespflug.

What’s interesting, however, is the fact that two primary potential bidders have now emerged as candidates to buy the place out of bankruptcy. Starwood Capital bought the majority stake in Mammoth Mountain, CA in 2005 for $365 million. Apollo Investments owns AMC Entertainment, Harrah’s, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Coldwell Banker/Century 21 Realty. Apollo also owned/invested in Vail Resorts in the 1990s. Their ownership really molded Vail Associates into the company that it is today.

So while the saga continues, it looks like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for Tamarack Resort. We’ll keep you posted on this developing story.

UPDATE #1: The judge has approved funding for Tamarack Resort’s receivers through June 21 — this Sunday. A $35,000 liability insurance bill was paid, but a $160,000 property tax bill was not.

UPDATE #2: Tamarack Resort’s owner, Jean-Pierre Boespflug was quoted in an interview yesterday as saying that three serious buyout offers are on the table for the resort. A deal is, according to KTVB-TV, “imminent.”

Silver Mountain will reopen this Sunday, May 17, 2009 for a day of free skiing sponsored by Dave Smith Motors. The gondola will upload at 7:30 AM and chairs will be open from 8 AM – 3 PM in the Chair Two Basin only. Again, this ski day is free for everyone. Thank you, Silver Mountain, for satisfying local skiers’ need for snow and skiing.

UPDATE: Silver Mountain will again reopen this weekend — Memorial Day weekend — for skiing on two chairlifts and seventeen runs with trails for all ability levels. The gondola will throw riders up on the mountain starting at 7:30 on both Saturday and Sunday with chairlifts running from 8-2:30 and the gondola closing at 4:00. It comes at a price though: $25 gets you a lift ticket.

By the way, the 8-14 day outlook foresees a return to cool and wet
weather for the northwest – even the lowlands. And that means cold and
snow.

—
"Live. Dream. Snow."

There’s finally good news on the weather front. Here’s a summary of everything that’s been going on there.
It has finally cooled down enough for Schweitzer to start snowmaking on a large scale; they’ve been making snow 24/7 in four areas: the Village plaza, the Musical Carpet/Never Ever Tow Learning Area, Happy Trails, and the base of the Quad.

If conditions allow and the resort is able to fire the snowguns 24/7, there is a possibility that they may be able to open one run – Happy Trails – and two chairlifts – Musical Chairs and the Musical Carpet on Saturday. Only the weather and safety will be able to determine that. If there is enough man-made snow to open, ski patrol deems it safe, and management believes it is viable, they will open. If they do, expect reduced-price lift tickets and limited food service.

The weather itself looks like it will turn extremely unsettled by the end of the week. The National Weather Service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the Northeast Washington mountains and the Idaho Panhandle. It calls for one to two feet of snow this weekend – with an even more powerful storm to follow Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. As there is still some uncertainty as to the track and other variables in this storm, a watch has not yet been issued, however you can likely expect one within the next couple days.

In even more news, the GFS ensembles (models used by meteorologists to forecast) are currently pointing toward an almost invariably white mid-range forecast – with a snowstorm almost every 36 hours for the next week or so – at least. It is too early to tell whether this will actually come to fruition, and in all likeliness it will not completely – but it is an encouraging step in the right direction as we all get ready to hit the slopes. However, at this point, do expect a wetter pattern to prevail for the next week.