Martin's Blog - Bear Valley Mountain Resort

Spring Skiing

2009-04-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Bear valley Friends,

First and foremost I want to thank you for your patronage and loyalty during the 20008/2009 season. I know this was a difficult year for everybody with the economic downturn and associated uncertainties affecting everybody’s lives. I am thankful that my staff and I were able to welcome you to Bear Valley and the Bear Valley ski area.

We had a very sunny and fun last few weeks. Many of you might have seen the pond skimming which is always a crowd pleaser, and the season ended appropriately with the 4th annual slush cup, with over 80 participants of all ages enjoying a fun race.

Actually the season is not completely over yet. Together with MAS we will continue to offer full day snow cat tours as long as the excellent spring snow conditions exist. See www.bearvalley.com for details.

With the winter season winding down we are in the midst of finalizing improvement plans for this summer. Key to improvements for the next season and beyond are completion of the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) and EA (Environmental Analysis). As many of you know there are two entities that drive these two projects through this process. The EIR, which is primarily focused on the village development, is managed by Alpine county, while the EA, which pertains to improvements for the ski area, is managed by the USFS (United States Forest Service). Stay tuned for news and progress on these two very important initiatives during the off season.

Again a big “Thank You” to all our guest and friends. I hope to hear from you or see you in Bear Valley during the summer season.

Martin

Entering our Last Month of the Season...

2009-04-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Bear Valley Friends,

The 2008/2009 season is drawing to a close with the last open day planned for Sunday April 19, 2009. Before we start our ski/snowboard “hibernation” however I want to draw your attention to excellent snow conditions. We have plenty of snow and I expect very good spring skiing conditions on the whole mountain through the projected closing date.

Looking back at the season we had some up’s and down’s. Obviously we were not immune to the terrible economic conditions and unfortunately had to take some cost control measures which might have impacted certain service levels.

On the positive we received very good feedback on the new terrain park, the unique snow cat tours, as well as the lodge remodeling of the rental/family center. As mentioned before we also received very good marks for our staff – Congratulations team and THANKS.

With the exception of a somewhat dry January we had excellent snow conditions throughout the season with some great powder days in February and March.

Talking about great powder days I am sure you heard or actually saw that Bear Valley was featured on Bay Area Channel 5 (KPIX) on March 25 on “Eye on the Bay”. If you have not seen it I certainly encourage you to watch it on your PC at http://cbs5.com/eyeonthebay/eye.on.the.2.968017.html.

I want to thank all of you for your patronage during these difficult economic times. Please continue to provide your feedback on how we are doing. Our goal is to build a premier resort that you, your family and friends can enjoy each time you visit. Your constructive comments are important to achieving this goal and hope that we can make next season even better for you, our guests.

In an effort to kick-off the 09/10 season on the right track, and in light of these difficult economic times, we launched our 09/10 season pass sale with the lowest price for an unlimited adult pass in several years. At just $299.00, this pass pays for itself in as little as 5 visits. See the season pass page for more details as the sale ends April 30th, 2009. http://www.bearvalley.com/tickets/season_passes/index.asp

We still have 3 events planned for the rest of this season. So come up and enjoy, and be sure to tune in to this blog from time to time to check for news on new products, services and improvements for the 2009/2010 season during the off-season.

Martin

2009-02-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Bear Valley Snow Enthusiasts,

It’s been a while since my last blog and I apologize for this. As you might have noticed we had some technical difficulties with a software upgrade which, among other issues, prevented you from sending replies – a critical component of a blog. However these issues have been resolved and we have an energetic web and video team with Pinar Aybar and Victor Wadolowski. Check out our website for a daily dose of video updates and news.

Talking about feedback we received a lot of feedback from you via phone, e-mails and survey forms. I want to thank you all for this. Based on this feedback let me assess what worked so far and what needs further improvements.

We had a very rapid season start-up, going from opening on man-made snow with 2 lifts on the 13th of December to 100% open by the 29th of December. This rapid opening resulted in some training issues and process weaknesses with the biggest impact for guests who needed to get their season pass (hint – take advantage of the opportunity to use the same picture (adults) or email us your picture and fax or mail your liability forms, then we can print in advance and have them waiting in will call, the biggest hold up is picture taking and printing). As you know we hire about 300 – 350 seasonal staff who need to be trained in their respective positions as we open and expand mountain operations. We are now working on process improvements for the upcoming spring season pass sales and next years season opening to reduce wait times and get you on the mountain faster.

With the current economic conditions we, as everybody else, are very concerned about managing expenses. In doing so we have made a couple of mistakes, most notably reducing our Breakfast options the past week. We received some strong feedback from our customers and adjusted our menu and open F&B locations accordingly.

We are receiving very positive feedback on grooming. This is especially critical this year with the low levels of cumulative snowfall. I venture to say that we have one of the best if not "the best" grooming teams in the Sierra’s. If you ski or ride other mountains would love to hear your thoughts.

In general we are getting a lot of positive feedback about the friendliness and helpfulness of our indoor and outdoor staff, from Lift Operations, Ambassadors and Instructors to Rental staff, F&B professionals and Parking Lot attendants. So I want to extend my thanks to a terrific staff.

Thanks for your feedback on the Winter Explosion event - sounds like everyone really enjoyed the evening, albeit the issues with the food wait. Glad to hear you enjoyed the fireworks and the kids activities in the Sunroom. If you missed it, you have another chance for evening fun with the upcoming Nightwings Slopestyle Competition.

On a different note you might have noticed the new “Beach at Bear Top” which is an early version to the Bear Top Chalet as outlined in the EA. The Bear Top Beach offers Sandwiches, BBQ and within a week or so will also serve Wine and Beer. It will be open on sunny Saturdays so I hope you will take advantage of it and make your lunch plans in a fashion similar to a “gemutliche” Swiss resort.

I want to thank all of you for your patronage and hope that you start using this blog again for feedback and comments.

Martin

Welcome to Winter!!!

2008-12-20T07:27:00.001-08:00

Bear Valley Snow Enthusiasts,

Welcome to the 2008/2009 winter season. With the start of the season I want to get this blog going again and hope that you will provide feedback and comments, similar to last year. Obviously you should also know that you can always send me an e-mail or drop by for a “live” conversation.

So let me take a few moments to tell you what is going on in “snow country”.

As you know we opened for the season last Saturday, December 13, 2008. This opening was made possible by the new snow making guns and a terrific crew of snowmakers, as I am sure you are well aware that before Saturday there was essentially no natural snow on the ground. In fact up to last Thursday I was contemplating a combination race, similar to the World Cup format but instead of Slalom and Downhill we would combine the times of a Mountain Bike and Giant Slalom run.

Fortunately Mother Nature was kind and we are now well underway with natural and man made snow to a terrific season. Pls. check the website regularly as we are adding terrain and lifts quickly.

Talking about terrain please be aware that we have early season conditions which this year translates into 3 – 4 feet of Utah powder on dirt/rock. We are packing the snow before grooming to improve the base but need to give it also bit of time to settle.

The focus during the summer was on the following key areas. The draft EIR which covers the overall master development plan for the Village was published by Alpine County. The County is now reviewing and analyzing all public comments in order to finalize the EIR for a second public review period. Completion of this process is a prerequisite for the village development. Similarly the Forest Service published the Proposed Actions for public comments covering additions and proposed changes to the ski area master development plan. Again getting this finalized is a prerequisite o start any development activities such as the village lift etc. Please see http://www.bearvalley.com/new_village/updates.asp for details of the draft EIT and the proposed actions.

We did some significant investment in the ski area such as new snow making, a new terrain park, supported by a specific snow cat, a new family center, snow-play for children 3 years and up and last but not least we invested in a snow cat transporter to do back country cat skiing tours. I am especially excited about this last one because we are doing this in collaboration with MAS, the highly competent backcountry guiding organization in the area. Please check our website for details.

We all know that this is a very difficult time for everybody with the economy in a full recession. Everybody has to make cuts and prioritize spending. We essentially kept last years pricing and wherever possible were trying to add some additional value to our products and services. A perfect example is the new $ 99.00 down season pass program. Stay tuned as the year unfolds for additional values and saving opportunities.

With this blog I also want to welcome all staff members. I believe we have again an excellent staff coming from the HYW 4 corridor, the Bay Area, many other parts of the United States, Latin America and even South Africa. It is always a privilege to work with such a diverse international group of people.

Again I want to welcome you to the new ski/snowboard season and hope to see you up here soon.

Martin

I know me too...

2008-10-24T23:26:00.001-07:00

The summer has flown by, can't beleive it's almost November already. But we are ready for some snow....and I promise a new blog coming soon. We look forward to seeing you on the slopes in 08/09. Check back soon, I'll have an update for you on what's coming. In the meantime....THINK SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.....

Thanks for the season!

2008-05-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Bear Valley Friends,

First I want to thank you all for your support during the 07/08 season.

Despite low cumulative snow fall (just a bit over last year!) we had excellent snow conditions for most of the season. We were fortunate to get big and cold storms early in January which provided a base and allowed us to open "The Grizz" mid January. While March and April saw little to no snow we had sufficient coverage to enjoy superb late season skiing. For the first time in several years we had perfect weather conditions for the pond skimming. And yes the rumors are correct Jim and I crossed the pond in dry conditions!!

We have one more outstanding snow event, with race and freestyle camp on May 10 & 11^th for racers, devos (and parents!). We also were in contact with the California/Nevada snowmobile association to host a snowmobile event mid May. Unfortunately they could not pull it together for this year, perhaps we will try in a future year.

We held 2 public scoping meetings over the last to weekends regarding the proposed actions for the village lift Environmental Analysis. We received some very good and thoughtful comments. For a replay of the video of the first meeting go to http://thepinetree.net/index.php?module=announce&ANN_user_op=view&ANN_id=6439.

I want to close by saying that it was a great experience and real honor to lead Bear Valley Resorts through this winter. I felt tremendous support (I consider critical feedback support as well) by you, our guests, and am proud of the staff which made it all happen.

Stay tuned for news on progress of the village lift EA and village EIR (environmental impact report), as well as improvements for the 2008/09 season.

Have a wonderful and "gemutlicher" summer.

Martin

Spring Updates

2008-04-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Bear Valley Friends,

It has been a while since my last blog. Much has happened in the meantime but most importantly we have had very good snow conditions and the weather for the most part has been typical “Californian”. So here are a few updates.

As you might have seen on our website we will be open 7 days/ week through April 13^th, and Friday, Saturday, Sunday through April 26^th. Snow levels are such that we should have very nice April skiing.

We also scheduled a race/free ride camp for the weekend of May 10, 11, open the all racers and free riders from Bear Valley, the central and northern series. For details seehttp://www.bearvalley.com/camps/index.asp.

April is “Bear Valley Learn to Ski Month”. We planned this under the assumption that the warmer temperatures combined with a good snow base provide an ideal environment for novices or beginners to learn or improve skiing or snowboarding skills though a one, or multiday “immersion” program. See our website for details at http://www.bearvalley.com/tickets/spring_sale.asp.

Our season passes are now on sale and I am glad that we are able to hold the prices at last year’s levels. As some of you might have seen we have added a combination season pass (Mountain/Meadow pass) which allows the holders to ski/snowboard and use the cross-country facility for some cardio workout. As a Bear Valley guest I always had a strong interest in this all encompassing season pass. As CEO I was able to work with Paul Peterson from the Cross Country Center to “get it done”. I hope many of you will take advantage of this.

While the season is still in full swing we are in the midst of putting the summer improvement plans together. I am not ready to announce details yet, as we will cover this in future blogs. However one area I do want to mention briefly concerns progress on the village development and village lift. While from the outside there is little visible activity, there is a significant amount of work going on with the EA (Environmental Analysis) and EIR (Environmental Impact Report). We are approximately at the midpoint of both the EA for the village lift, and EIR for the village development and will soon have some detailed information on our website on these 2 very important processes, inclusive milestones, FAQ’s and an interactive way for all of you to pose questions and comments. Successful conclusion of these two interrelated processes is key and a prerequisite for starting to “pour cement and move bricks” for the new village and the village lift.

I hope many of you will be able to enjoy the last month of this season.

Martin

2008-02-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

Dear Bear Valley Snow Enthusiasts,

If you were here last weekend you experienced a disruption in lift service due to a power outage. In fact a PG&E power problem occurred Saturday around noon in Salt Springs resulting in a complete power outage from Dorrington to Bear Valley, lasting for most of the afternoon.

Our trained lift maintenance crew did an outstanding job of switching lifts to auxiliary power (diesel engines) especially considering the fact that we were running all 9 lifts at full capacity. While you might think this is nothing more than flipping a switch, transferring power from electric to the auxiliary requires several time consuming tasks such as warming up the diesel for each chair for several minutes.

For some of the older chair lifts such as Supercub and Bear auxiliary power is only configured to evacuate all passengers. However the majority of lifts have been upgraded to continue running on diesel, a bit slower and with some capacity limitations, but still performing.

Running on auxiliary power during this busy weekend created longer lines for our guests and we apologize for this circumstance, albeit out of our control. We do truly appreciate your business and patience during this power outage and tried to show that via some vouchers handed out by some of our staff members. However I want to reiterate that this is not an entitlement as the power outage and resulting lift capacity reduction was not caused by Bear Valley Mountain Resort. So if you received a coupon please enjoy it when you are here next time.

In an earlier blog there was a question why Grizzly Bowl was not opened right after our last big storm (super bowl Sunday). Reiterating an earlier answer, we had a significant avalanche risk on that Sunday plus the weather was inclement with periods of complete white-outs which made it not feasible from a staff and guest safety perspective to clear and open the lower mountain. As I am sure you understand safety of our guests and our staff is our first priority.

Gemuetlichkeit!

2008-01-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Bear Valley Snow Enthusiasts,

I hope you all had a good start of the New Year. As you know, it brought some great (and much needed) snow to the Sierras, allowing us to open the lower mountain with excellent coverage. I had the opportunity to get down there myself and I can tell you it was an epic experience.

In a previous blog I indicated that I want to talk about the word "gemuetlich" or "gemuetlichkeit." I am sure you have seen this word either on our website, on t-shirts or printed material. Let me tell you why in my mind this word most embodies our vision and spirit of Bear Valley.

"Gemutlich" (adjective) or "gemuetlichkeit" (noun) is German and means literally cozy or coziness. However, in my native tongue the word has a much broader meaning including "comfortable," "friendly," "cozy ambiance," "atmosphere of comfort," "sense of belonging and acceptance" and "sociable".

Whenever I tried to explain to friends and colleagues what Bear Valley is all about, I was using all the above mentioned English words but the German word "gemuetlich" was in my mind. So, when I joined Bear Valley in my current capacity, I decided to use this word as our "operative term" (Ron Agositini from the Modesto Bee pointedly called it so in his 12/3/07 article). So I hope you will join our friendly team for a "gemuetliche" time in Bear Valley.

Now to some current items. On peak days we are still very tight with seating capacity, especially in snowy weather conditions when all of our guests use the indoor facilities for lunch and breaks. I believe the Black Bear Bungalow with its storage capability for coolers and other personal belongings has helped ease the congestion and I’m glad that we are able to accommodate our guests that occasionally bring their own food and beverage in that facility. However, to improve the experience for all our guests on these buys days, we can only be successful with your support. Your cooperation with our ambassadors, who are assisting other guests find seating is most helpful and appreciated. For this I thank you, our guests, and our tireless ambassadors.

Over the last few weeks I have received a lot of direct (verbal) feedback when sitting on a chairlift with guests, or walking through the lodge. The feedback ranges from comments on scanner issues and grooming observations to rental and ticket line suggestions. This input is vital for us to continuously improve your guest experience. One item I’d like to share is that I heard many voices commenting on the friendliness of our staff. I am delighted to hear this and want to extend a big "thank you" to the Bear Valley team.

As always I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Martin

Happy Holidays

2007-12-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Snow Enthusiasts,

The holiday season is upon us and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your patronage of Bear Valley Mountain Resort. I hope you have been able to experience our friendly staff and the great early season snow conditions. Talking about staff, we have a terrific group of employees this season. I’d like to thank them for their dedication and friendly services, as I know they are working hard to make your visit as enjoyable as possible. “Thanks team”!

I want to wish you, your family and friends a happy holiday season and all the best and success for the New Year.

Martin

2007-12-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I apologize upfront that I have been remiss in answering my blog for a while. The focus over the last couple of weeks has been on getting the mountain open with man-made, and fortunately also natural snow (thank you all for your snow dances!).

1. As to the environmental report and discussion I very much appreciate your concerns, input (both positive and negative) and suggestions. First the SACC has replied and indicated that they might be visiting with us early next year. I will keep you posted. More importantly environmental practice and improvement is not as much about passing a grade as it is a commitment to a journey. We have done many things as I alluded to in my published letter, but we are very conscious of the fact that there are many more things we can and will do. It is my committement to all of you to keep your informed of our progress. Our ownership team began that process nearly two years ago via their public meetings along the corridor and in the bay area and we will continue to improve our communication to keep you informed on this journey.

2. Many people ask specific questions about snow conditions, runs open, etc. I would suggest consulting the website directly as we are making every effort to keep the information up-to-date and my answers might be slower in coming (and don’t forget to hit the refresh button if the information looks old).

3. There were several questions regarding lockers. Here is the current situation. There are a few East Value lockers available. If you were on a waiting list you should have been called about this (your phone number of record!). However if you have not heard from us please call 209-753-2301 and ask for Ashley.

4. We have installed a new webcam which will allow you to take control. Just don’t get frustrated because there is an electronic “first come – first serve” system. We will soon bring a second, static cam online which will be positioned at the top of the mountain, giving you a view of the backside.

As I said previously I appreciate your interest and active participation in this blog. I am sure you noticed, as I did, that opinions differ. We will do everything we can to move forward towards our vision of being the premier family resort, providing safe and fun mountain experiences for all ages and abilities. While I can not respond to every item I can assure you that your input is important and helping us to improve and move towards this vision.

Thanks, Martin

December 8 opening of ski area and San Francisco Chronicle article on environmental rating

2007-12-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

Bear Valley Snow Enthusiasts,

So far Mother Nature has not exactly helped to cover our beautiful mountain and ski runs with snow. But our new and "best in class" snow making crew has been working tirelessly to make snow whenever temperatures allowed. The result is that we will open this weekend, Dec, 8 for the 2007/2008 season. While man-made snow allows for only limited operations, we will have some interesting and fun activities for all family members. Please check the website for details.

I am inviting you to join Jim Gentling and myself for a short 2007/08 ski season opening ceremony on December 8 at 9:00 AM at the bottom of the Kuma chair.

Many of you might have seen the article in the San Francisco Chronicle "How green is your mountain? Ski resorts rated on environment". The article is based on an annual evaluation by the Ski Area Citizen' Coalition.

Protecting and improving our environment in a sensible way is of key concern to us. We have, and will continue to increase our efforts to improve our practices in this area.

As to the SACC evaluation we believe there are some inaccuracies and have invited the coalition to visit with us and assess first hand our current status. This will provide us with accurate and valuable input (for improvement) while assuring that the public is being properly informed.

I am copying my letter to the coalition as I thought you would be interested in this. So here we go:

Sierra Nevada Alliance
PO Box 7989
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158

To whom it may concern:

Thank you for your comments. It is efforts, commitments and comments like yours that make us more aware of the details of our business.

We reviewed your report on Bear Valley and believe that several areas are inaccurate or based on old information.

For example you should know that we are supporting green policies, do not do any ground disturbing activities from October 15 to July 15 to observe spring birthing rituals including but not limited to fawning and calving. We observe all best management practices issued by the USFS for erosion control and vegetation management. We have car pool incentives, encourage public transportation to the mountain and provide employee and public bus services.

We take the environment and climate changes very serious. For this reason we have programs in place, ranging from educating our guests on how to reduce emissions to supporting PG&E in developing renewable energy sources ("ClimateSmart").

We are very interested to understand our shortfalls so we can continue to improve our environmental practices. To do so however we also want to make sure your information is accurate so it provides input of value to the customers and us. Therefore I am inviting a delegation of SACC to visit Bear Valley Mountain Resort to assess first hand what we are doing right and where we need to improve. I believe this would be in the best interest of the public, and ultimately of the environment.

I am looking forward to your positive reply.

Sincerely,

Martin Wegenstein

CEO, Bear Valley Resort Group

I hope you will visit Bear Valley soon and enjoy the Gemuetlichkeit of this beautiful area and resort.

More on Gemutetlichkeit in my next blog.

Martin

Welcome

2007-11-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hello to all Bear Valley Snow Enthusiasts,

It’s now been just over one month since I have been named CEO of Bear Valley Resort Group and I can tell you that my enthusiasm and excitement about the coming ski season and what we can jointly create in Bear Valley is increasing daily and weekly.

I want to use this blog to learn about YOU, our guest and customer, communicate information, discuss issues and/or make observations. I invite all of you to ask questions, post comments and observations, let us know when we are doing well and when we are missing the mark. I will use this blog as an important element in understanding changes we need to make to reach our vision of being the premier or ultimate family resort in the Northern Sierras, serving snow enthusiasts of all levels and abilities.

As I mentioned in my press release, I believe that we have all the ingredients to be this special place where you want to spend your time with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors and experience our services, be it skiing or snowboarding, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, hiking, biking or simply having a nice and cozy meal at one of our restaurants.

Having said this, I also want to acknowledge that change will not always please everybody and is at times difficult to understand or accept. I hope this blog will help clarify the "what" and "why's" of changes and provide a forum to air questions.

As many of you know, the Bear Valley Mountain Resort owners purchased Base Camp, or as remembered by most The Red Dog. The facility is being converted to much needed employee housing. This will allow us to house all of our international seasonal team members in, or around Bear Valley. I believe this will add a lot to Bear Valley’s character and personality, having around 60 additional residents in town for the season.

This change is not happening without some hardship however (especially for locals and some of us long time weekend residents). The restaurant and bar at the Red Dog has been closed as we could not find a feasible way to keep a bar and restaurant operating in an employee building. We are working with Bear Valley business owners to create additional venues.

The fall is slowly giving way to winter in Bear Valley. We saw the first natural snow flakes and snow making has started. As you all know we are dependent on Mother Nature to firm up an opening day, as we need cold weather to make snow and the natural stuff to have some powder fun. So get your boards and boots ready and visit this site often for the latest updates on weather conditions and opening day.

I look forward to welcoming you in Bear Valley.

Martin

Bear Valley Gears Up for the Season & Welcomes New CEO

2007-11-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

See full press release>>