Swiss Valley to open skiing for the season Monday

JONES — A week of freezing temperatures — plus new snow-making equipment — means that Swiss Valley Ski & Snowboard Area has made enough snow so that it could have opened for the season this weekend.

But Assistant General Manager Mike Panich said the resort has decided to wait out the current blizzard warnings and instead open on Monday, the day after Christmas. It originally had tentative plans to open Friday.

The incoming snow storm will just add to the all-important white base that crews have been working through wee, frozen hours of the night to establish, Panich said.

Most, if not all, of the runs are expected to be open, and the terrain park should at least have some rails and such, Panich said.

Meanwhile, Bittersweet and Timber Ridge ski resorts near Kalamazoo have already opened some of their slopes this week. Their hours, too, could change because of the storm. It’s always best to check first before you drive out to ski.

Swiss Valley fired up its snow guns at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 17 and ran them almost 24 hours a day for the first few days. That tested a new pump and water lines that the resort had installed just a few days earlier, which Panich said were “performing better than expected.”

“We continue to make snow at every opportunity,“ he said early this week.

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The guns require deeply freezing, dry air in order to blast snow. Newer technology, including some of the guns at Swiss Valley, can handle temperatures up to 30 degree and a bit more humidity.

Swiss Valley added five reconditioned snow guns this year, four of which have three or four times the output of older guns that they’re replacing.

This follows on last season, when resort staff ramped up snow-making efforts so much that its final weekend of March 12 felt like mid-winter skiing.

This is also the second year of a five-year plan to replace and update its snow-making system. It started last year with replacing a leaky, 40-year-old steel water pipe underground, an 1,800-foot main trunk line along the valley floor.

This fall, contractors from an Ohio company, Snow Mountain Operations, came in late November after just finishing a job in Park City, Utah — an “Olympic level crew,” Panich quipped, referring to that city’s hosting of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. They dug and laid more than 1,400 feet of pipe along the longest intermediate slope, named Mountain Do.

Swiss Valley hopes to replace at least two more lines in spring 2023, Panich said.

Also this fall, it installed a new 250-horsepower pumping station, boosting water pressure by 35% to 40% so that it’s making snow faster and more efficiently. The higher pressure moves water and freezes it faster, making for a finer, dryer snow.

“The snow quality is better than we’ve ever been able to make,” Panich said. “Some of it has to do with the weather we’ve been given.”

Skiers and snowboarders will notice other upgrades, too.

The slopes will be brighter at night. All but four of the incandescent lights on the slopes have been switched to LED, and the last four should be swapped by the end of the season. The LED lights, Panich said, will save on electric bills.

There are also LED lights and more lockers in the reorganized rental building, which is waiting on 2,000 pairs of lightly used ski boots to update the rental stock.

The cafeteria has been remodeled so that customers will be served in more of a fast-food model, rather than a partial self-serve line.

Less noticeably, the chair lifts received updated components.

“It’s all a matter of making sure the experience for skiers is outstanding,” Panich said. “Nobody wants to be open more than we want to be open.”

Meanwhile, he said, it’s still hiring for positions across the resort, including lift operators, ski instructors and cafeteria workers.

Hours have yet to be determined. Given the weather, it’s always wise to check at Swiss Valley’s website, its Facebook page or snow line at 269-244-8016.

Timber Ridge

Timber Ridge Ski Area near Kalamazoo opened on Thursday, though it asked for visitors’ patience as it worked to make snow and add more skiable terrain. It was also hoping to open its tubing hill this weekend, though that depended on the storm. Check its website or Facebook page or call 269-694-9949.

Bittersweet

Bittersweet Ski Resort near Kalamazoo opened Tuesday, though not for the first time this season. It had opened for four days during the week of Thanksgiving, using November’s early blast of snow and cold to open about four runs, then closed as melting temperatures returned. That early opening drew about 1,700 skiers and snowboarders, office manager Jill Herrick said.

As of Thursday morning, it reported opening 12 of the resort’s 20 runs with hopes of having all of them open by week’s end.

Bittersweet added a high-speed lift to the peak of its highest hill, but it’s waiting to start using it until the manufacturer comes to test it and do final inspections, Herrick said. There's no word yet on when that will be.

Hours this week and next week, so far, are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Christmas Eve and 3 to 10 p.m. Christmas Day. Check its website or Facebook page or call 269-694-2820.

Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Swiss Valley to open ski snowboard season after making snow