AccuWeather's Ali Reid reports from Blue Mountain Resort in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, where they are preparing for the ski season. Snowmaking machines have been lined up to prepare for skiers.
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00:00Well, Allie Reed knows this area well. I hear some boys that sound cold.
00:06Stay warm and keep that hat on, Allie.
00:12It's a crisp, it's a crispy 20 degrees here, okay, in Carbon County, as you mentioned,
00:17Bernie. It is a cold one here this morning, but a beautiful shot at that.
00:21We're live at Blue Mountain. It's opening day here. A lot of people, a lot of skiers,
00:25snowboarders going to be coming down the mountain in about an hour's time.
00:29I want to bring in Nick with us this morning. You're kind of running the operations this
00:33morning for the mountain, and there's a lot happening, obviously, and a lot happening
00:36behind us. I want to talk about the snowmaking. That was a big thing for you guys leading into
00:41this season. I've been covering opening day for the last five years here, and depending on the
00:46year and the weather is when you guys open. So I'd be curious to hear what that was looking like,
00:50the weather for you guys leading into opening day for you guys this year.
00:53Sure. So this year, it was weird, right? Everybody in the state of Pennsylvania knows
00:57we've been in a drought, so we were all consciously watching our water levels,
01:02since we obviously source our water from local streams. So we've been super conscious about that.
01:07Luckily, we had some moisture that came in right before this cold front came through.
01:10Yes. So we were all praying for that, and it came. The cold temps came through. We started
01:16last Friday producing, and here, less than a week later, it's a winter wonderland.
01:21Now, I'd be curious, and again, it really matters if you get snow. If you don't, this year,
01:26I know some areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York saw a little bit of snow,
01:32but not enough, obviously, to cover an entire mountain. So in terms of how much you guys were
01:36actually having to produce this year, what did that look like for you guys?
01:39Right. So the biggest thing for us, everything on our mountain is 100% man-made snow. We don't rely
01:45anything on natural snowfall. The nice thing for us is our Philly market, our New York City market,
01:50it's that awareness. Even if we get a half an inch of snow, it's the awareness for those markets.
01:55People start thinking about snow, getting their skis out, their snowboards out, tubing. It really
02:01helps with Mother Nature when it gives a hand, and that natural snowfall comes, and it gets
02:06your mindset thinking about winter, Christmas, outdoor activities. So it's been a huge help,
02:11regardless of how much snowfall it is. And there is a lot happening behind me.
02:14Barry, if we could take back to us live, if possible, if we were showing some video on
02:18your screen. This is really interesting, because this is the snowmaking that's going on, which I
02:24really love. It's a beautiful sight to see, but also, I mean, that's a big thing for skiers and
02:29snowboarders this morning, is making sure that there is enough, that it is that pattery type of
02:34snow to allow for a good season, and really leading into this weekend.
02:40Absolutely. So we've prided ourselves in the state of Pennsylvania, not only nationwide,
02:45as being the leader in snowmaking automation. So all these snow guns here, we've invested an
02:50incredible amount of money in this year and years past in our automation technology. I can control
02:55all these snow guns from my phone, which is really nice. We can control and really pinpoint
03:00where we want that snowfall to come from these producers. It allows us to use the most efficient
03:05use of the time that we can produce with the cooler temperatures coming in, which is really
03:09the name of the game to get the most terrain open to our guests. Now, there's a lot that we're going
03:13to be showing this morning. In the next hour here on the morning show is the rope drop. Do we think
03:19there should be a decent amount of people? We're expecting a good turnout. People have been really
03:23excited. Okay. All right. So we're going to show that the action. I know a lot of people looking
03:28forward to that for ski and snowboard season. We're also this morning, Nick, going to show,
03:32I think, kind of the background operations as to how all of this works. That'll be certainly
03:37interesting. Something that a lot of you probably have never seen before, but nonetheless, a very
03:42interesting perspective when coming to a mountain like Blue Mountain. But guys, I think I need to
03:46toss it back to you. It is freezing bone chilling cold this morning. Are we going from, I mean,
03:52it's just such a stark difference. Hurricane season, tornadoes, the warmth in Florida,
03:58and here we are. The blizzard season, snow season is among us.