Big changes on Big Mountain

Skiers and snowboarders will find a lot of changes at Big Mountain this winter, and the Winter Sports Inc. management deserves thanks for many of the improvements.

Moving the terrain park from the backside to the Chair 3 area, where a "super" half pipe 450 feet long and 65 feet wide, with 15-foot high walls and a 16-degree pitch was recently constructed, is a good idea. The half pipe will be a great facility for locals, and moving the terrain park will open up more backside runs to skiing again and reduce the lift-line volume for Chair 7.

Relocating the terrain park will also make it easier for the public to watch stunts — and for parents to get an idea what their kids are up to. WSI will benefit from all the terrain park users and spectators shopping and dining at nearby Village stores. WSI needs that kind of income so they can continue to run lifts, make snow and groom runs without hiking ski pass prices.

Snowmaking, lights and a sound system will also be installed at the terrain park, Big Mountain tells us. We hope the music is not too obnoxious.

Snowmaking will be important, as most skiers have witnessed the dearth of snowfall on the lower half of the mountain during drought years. That also applies to the beginner-skiing area near the Outpost, where a 350-foot carpet-conveyor lift dubbed the "Big Easy" will be free to the public. Snowmaking could be needed there, too.

Chair 6 will no longer be free, and the mid-level unloading station has been removed. That station has been the cause of accidents as well as a nuisance to skiers and snowboarders, who no longer will have to climb to the waiting area at Chair 1.

With many local skiers parking down at the Outpost, and the upper parking lots slated for construction over the next seven years, Chair 6 will continue to be the main route to Chair 1. While it will certainly be easier for people exiting from Chair 6 to ski down to Chair 1, the volume of skiers going down the short hill below the Hellroaring Saloon could be a concern. We hope WSI will provide traffic control measures to separate people walking up that short hill from the herd of skiers heading down to Chair 1.

WSI crews have removed small trees and brush on the Larch, Powder Bowl, Powder Trap, Little Bavaria and Langley ski runs, with help from about 25 volunteers from the Friends of Langley group. This will really open up areas for early skiing and during drought years, as was evidenced last year on Good Medicine.

Foundation and utility work for the expansion of the Outpost Lodge began this year. The new lodge is expected to be open for winter 2006-2007. This should be a boon to locals, especially families who must split up each morning, with half the family out on the slopes, and the other half tending infants or, not being skiers, waiting. Improved facilities there will benefit ski clubs, too.