Main Street...and MORE

MAIN STREET....What was happening today?

As most of you all know our new "Main Street" chair lift did not run today. As is sometimes the case with new equipment we experienced some bugs that we spent the day working out. We intend to run the lift tomorrow if all goes as planned and we apologize for any inconvenience today.

WHAT'S OPENING NEXT?

On the upside, We plan to OPEN Pete’s Elbow and Park Ave tomorrow (Park Ave if we open it will be on 100% natural snow). We are also inching towards having the Bowl and Ben's Bump in the near future . . .as well as having enough snow to build the VAULT terrain park soon.

 

ARE YOU GOING TO OPEN THAT...

 

A very popular question lately centers around the closed off area on the Standard run under tower #2 of the Main Street chair. This "cut" was a necessary task for getting approval from Hydro One to pass under the High Voltage lines that cross the hill from east to west. We removed 12 feet of dirt before placing the lift in order to locate the tower and cable low enough to pass under the lines, yet high enough to ski under. Now that winter has arrived we have to make enough snow under this area to contour the terrain appropriately to make it "skiable" again. As I type the closed signs are coming down and the barriers are being removed, a snow gun will go back in for a few hours tonight and the groomers will push it all out to final grade in the wee hours of the morning....We plan to leave the area open tomorrow as a full ski under.

 

AN INTERESTING NOTE  

For those interested, our new snowmaking pond expansion is proving beneficial already. If we had not expanded the pond this past summer (to be completed next summer) we would be fast approaching the point where we would be out of water and forced to shut down our snowmaking system to allow time for the recharge pump to build some reserve. In the past, when we hit this point we would shut down for a few days and once a few feet of water was regained we would start up snowmaking again until we ran out again (which once we emptied the pond the first time was often not completely filled again which obviously meant we had less run time between our needs to shut down and build supply . .  which ultimately slowed our snow production). But rolling ahead to today, our pond is still full (down approximately 2 feet of 13-14 feet usable depth) and the weather still looks good . . meaning no gap in production and more terrain for you to enjoy sooner.

Brimacombe is one of the BIGGEST ski resorts in Southern Ontario . . and it takes A LOT of snow to cover our sizable trails. We work around the clock to give you the best quality skiing and snowboarding in the area and we always love to see our members and guests enjoying the fruits of our labor!

***

PACE PENGUIN 

If you are 8 years of age or younger (or you are a parent that has kids that age) stop by any ticket office or our Main Office in the East Chalet and pick up your PACE PENGUIN safety package for FREE!

 

Brimacombe is pleased to be taking part in a pilot safety initiative called PACE PENGUIN.
The objective of this program is to help reduce the risk of injury to young children in downhill sports by educating children, parents and fellow skiers/snowboarders.

This program is designed to not only address several of the known risk factors for children, but contribute to an overall positive experience for families. Early research indicates the PACE program has outstanding positive influence on parents’ resort selection. By helping children to have a safe and fun experience, we hope that today’s "little penguins" will grow into safe, dedicated life-long skiers and snowboarders, who will in turn, introduce their children to downhill sports.

For more information click on this link... http://www.pacepenguin.com/
***

It was another day is SUNNY paradise,

Cheers,

Mark

MAIN STREET CHAIR NOW OPEN!

It has been a busy few days here at the Brim, opening day followed by a sizable dump of natural snow, cold snowmaking temperatures and last minute tasks on our new chair have kept us hopping.

I am please to officially announce that our brand new quad chair lift with loading conveyor "Main Street" received it's approval to open for the public today around noon. The lift was soon filled with excited riders who had been waiting patiently for us to take down the "lift closed" sign.

Brimacombe's Management Team and President Tony McCraw (L-R Doug Taylor, Kassandra Glasbergen, Linda Schaffer, Stephan Horn, Jayne Fisher, Dave Chatterton, Mark Rutherford, Tony McCraw, Bill Gyurka, absent Jim Bell, Spot Ramirez, Laura Blaker

 

The first official "test ride", President Tony McCraw and General Manager Mark Rutherford

...and finally, the lift opens to the general public.

 

With winter finally "arriving" we are working hard to get more terrain open, we currently have Standard, Bambi and the Piggy Bank terrain park open, tomorrow should see the opening of Bunny Blvd and if all goes well our plan is to have Ladies Downhill and the Bowl Chair open for Sunday December 30, 2012. We have continually been pumping out the snow in the VAULT terrain park as well and will have it open as soon as we can. From here, our targets are set on Ben's Bump, the Bowl, Pete's Elbow and working west to get all of the terrain open that we require for our many programs and activities.

 

Here are a few shots of the PIGGY BANK terrain park.

 

 

***

Boxing Week Sale at Brimacombe's Slopeside Retail Store!
SAVE up to 50% on all ski & snowboard outerwear at Brimacombe's Slopeside Retail Store from December 26 - 31! Applies to the lowest ticketed price on all outerwear including MeCo, 686, Peak and Head clothing.

-- PLUS, get 25% back on ALL other qualifying purchases made in-store when you show your membership card!

The Slopeside Retail Store will be open the same hours as Brimacombe's December Operational Hours.

Purchasing new outerwear? Why not leave your gently-used outerwear behind and help someone in need stay warm this winter? Slopeside Skis & Boards is now accepting donations of gently-used outerwear for those in need.

Visit us in-store via Gate 4, 4098 Durham Road 9, Orono
or call at (905) 983-7669 ext. 226 for details,

Please note: Boxing Week savings cannot be combined with any other promotion or offer, including the Member Advantage discount.
As part of Brimacombe's Membership Advantage program, when participating members show their membership cards in-store they will receive a rebate equal to 25% of their purchases price, before taxes, on all qualifying goods purchased at the Slopeside Retail Store before January 1, 2013. Membership rebate cheques will automatically be sent every month, so there's no need to mail anything in!
***

Fun awaits, join us at the Brim!

Another day in Paradise,

Cheers,
Mark

TWO MORE SLEEPS!

TWO MORE SLEEPS! That's right, we plan to OPEN BOXING DAY, DECEMBER 26, 2012!!

Barring any other ridiculous forecast changes we are set to open the gate for the season on the 26th with the Standard and Bambi runs and the Piggy Bank terrain park open (Hiking access only in the Piggy Bank). Standard run will be serviced by the Boulevard Chair (originally named Standard chair) and the Magic Carpet will operate to service Bambi. Unfortunately our new Main Street chair will not run on Wednesday as it is undergoing some last minute programming changes and is scheduled to be inspected for operations by the TSSA on Thursday December 27^th. We hope to have our new quad chair with conveyor loading system open to the public by the end of the week!

Parking and access to the resort will be via Gate 4 and ALL LIFT TICKETS WILL BE JUST $20 plus HST! (ticket prices will increase as we open more terrain).

 

Our Slopeside retail store, Rentals, Brimacombe Snow School and East chalet (with food services) will be open during all operational hours 

The following is our tentative holiday operational schedule;

Wed Dec 26 9am to 4:30pm
Thurs Dec 27 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Fri Dec 28 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Sat Dec 29 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Sun Dec 30 9am to 4:30pm
Mon Dec 31 9am to 3:30pm
Tues Jan 1 9am to 4:30pm
Wed Jan 2 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Thurs Jan 3 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Fri Jan 4 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm

Our regular season operational hours are scheduled to begin Jan 5, 2013

 

On DECEMBER 27, 2012 Brimacombe welcomes Parachute and their partners, Canadian Ski Patrol and Canada Snowboard as they bring the 2012/13 SNOWSMART program (www.snowsmart.ca) to our slopes.  Together, we will arm children, teens and parents with the knowledge they need to help them take smarter risks so they can enjoy the season without injury. Our first SNOWSMART Day will be held Thursday, December 27, 2012 and a second will be held in March 2013.

ON SNOWSMART DAY WE WILL ALSO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE PACE PENGUIN PROGRAM...

Brimacombe is pleased to be taking part in a pilot safety initiative called PACE PENGUIN.
The objective of this program is to help reduce the risk of injury to young children in downhill sports by educating children, parents and fellow skiers/snowboarders.

This program is designed to not only address several of the known risk factors for children, but contribute to an overall positive experience for families. Early research indicates the PACE program has outstanding positive influence on parents’ resort selection. By helping children to have a safe and fun experience, we hope that today’s "little penguins" will grow into safe, dedicated life-long skiers and snowboarders, who will in turn, introduce their children to downhill sports.
Our SNOWSMART - PACE PENGUIN PROGRAM launch date is set for December 27, 2012!

For more information click on this link... http://www.pacepenguin.com/

I thank everyone for your patience and wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season,

 

Paradise awaits!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

CHANGE IN OPENING DATE

IMPORTANT NOTICE: OPENING DAY POSTPONED

 

 

The forecast temperatures for the weekend have led us to cancel our plans to open Monday Dec 24^th, 2012. Unfortunately there are simply not enough snowmaking hours predicted between now and Monday morning to have adequate coverage.

Our tentative plan is to open

Boxing Day DEC 26, 2012. 

This date is weather dependant.

 

The following is our tentative holiday operational schedule; 

Wed Dec 26 9am to 4:30pm
Thurs Dec 27 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Fri Dec 28 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Sat Dec 29 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Sun Dec 30 9am to 4:30pm
Mon Dec 31 9am to 3:30pm
Tues Jan 1 9am to 4:30pm
Wed Jan 2 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Thurs Jan 3 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Fri Jan 4 9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm

Our regular season operational hours are scheduled to begin Jan 5, 2013

 

We plan to have the STANDARD and BAMBI runs and the PIGGY BANK terrain park open weather and snow conditions permitting.

We apologize for the inconvenience and are working hard to get you on the slopes of Brimacombe,

Mark

All eyes on the weather, Opening soon!

Out here at the Brim all eyes are on the weather. Our excitement is high as we wait patiently to open our brand new Leitner Poma quad chairlift with a loading conveyor but our focus is watching for any and all opportunities to fire up our snowmaking system again.

Our crew have been hard at work with the intent of maximizing every opportunity they can to fire up the system to get you on the slopes as soon as possible. To date we have had the opportunity to deliver 2 million usg of water to our system to be converted to snow, however the lack of snowmaking weather (-3 wet bulb and below), marginal temperatures and high humidity when we could start up have been a real burden to our efforts. Add to this, we have received a number of days of rain this December which have also taken a toll on our snow reserves. Saying that, we have produced some good sized piles on the following trails; Standard, Bambi, Bunny Blvd, Piggy Bank (beginner terrain park) and the Vault (terrain park) with the intent of opening Standard, Bambi and the Piggy Bank terrain park first while we continue to work on providing terrain for all of our patrons, programs and terrain park users.

We are always very careful about announcing anticipated opening dates, therefore I write the following with the caveat that everything is weather and snow production dependant;

We are targeting Monday December 24, 2012, from 9am to 3:30pm as opening day! 

Weather permitting we plan to make snow straight through Saturday and Sunday spreading out our piles as soon as the temperature drops to snowmaking temperatures. Our intent is to open the Standard and Bambi runs as well as the expanded beginner terrain park Piggy Bank.

The following is our tentative operational schedule through the holiday season;
 

Mon Dec 24     9am to 3:30pm  CHRISTMAS EVE –CLOSE AT 3:30pm

Tues Dec 25    CLOSED
Wed Dec 26      9am to 4:30pm
Thurs Dec 27    9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Fri Dec 28          9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Sat Dec 29         9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Sun Dec 30        9am to 4:30pm
Mon Dec 31       9am to 3:30pm
Tues Jan 1          9am to 4:30pm
Wed Jan 2          9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Thurs Jan 3        9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm
Fri Jan 4              9am to 4:30pm, 4:30pm to 10pm

Our regular season operational hours are scheduled to  begin Jan 5, 2013

Looking ahead at some important dates...

Night school visits start the week of January 8^th, 2013

8 week lesson programs start Wed Jan 9, 2013 (first weekend Jan 12-13, 2013)
Pee Wee Ski Camp begins Jan 19-20, 2013 and runs for 6 weeks
Family Day Feb 18, 2013
March Break Fri Mar. 8, 2013 to Friday Mar. 15^th 2013

For a complete list of events and details see our Event Calendar and News feed at www.Brimacombe.ca 

Over the past few months we have updated our faithful members and followers of all the excitement taking place out here at the Brim. We took on two major projects this summer with the end goal being improved services and guest experience. The most visible and obvious investment is of course our new chair lift "Main street". This lift is one of four lifts in Ontario that have the added twist of a conveyor system installed in the loading area to ease the process of loading, which in turn reduces slow downs and stops related to incidents in the loading area. The conveyor reduces the differential speed between the passenger and the moving chair giving a similar effect to having the chair slowed for every passenger while in reality the lift remains at its normal operating speed. In some ways the loading experience will be similar to loading a detachable high speed lift. A set of loading gates stops the passengers at the loading area entrance point and once the chair ahead passes, these gates open allowing the group of riders to move ahead into the loading area, or in this case onto the conveyor. The conveyor carries all four passengers standing side by side at an equal speed towards the loading point. The chair lift itself is travelling at a greater speed than the conveyor and as the passengers arrive at the loading point the carrier (chair) has approached from behind and is timed to meet the group of passenger at a precise location every time! The result is less struggle for young or new riders to get to the loading point in time, as well as a gentler load for passengers as a whole. It has been estimated that a loading conveyor installed on a fixed grip lift can result in an increased uphill capacity of 25% or more...and that means shorter lines and more runs for all of us!

Here are a few shots of the conveyor loader in the construction process...

We are pretty excited to be one of only four resorts in Ontario to have a loading conveyor and we are sure you will find this lift to be a fantastic addition to our facility.

You may have already seen our construction slide shows, but if you haven't you can check them out here;

Part One
https://vimeo.com/48074515

Part Two

https://vimeo.com/50159706

Part Three in production!

TERRAIN....

We receive a lot of feed back on Facebook about our decisions of which runs or terrain to open first.  I want to assure everyone that we carefully consider the needs of the mass of our membership and interest groups. The Terrain Parks are VERY important to us and we work hard to get them open as fast as possible however we must also have terrain available to our general membership and guests. Brimacombe is blessed to have a number of programs and facilities that cater to a broad range of interests, from freestyle terrain to our lesson programs and racing clubs we work hard to provide a balanced approach to providing the terrain required. 

If you haven't already heard we have re branded our terrain parks for the 2012-2013 season! Our Main terrain park becomes the VAULT (because it's where we keep our jewels!) and our relocated and expanded beginner park becomes the PIGGY BANK! (see what we did there?)
As in years past we will once again be adding to our roster of features in our terrain parks. From new "dance floors" for our Piggy Bank beginner park to an exciting addition we are working on securing for our main park, we are dedicated to providing top rated Freestyle terrain at Brimacombe!
 
The Piggy Bank "Dance Floors"...

 
You will also notice a few other tweaks to our trail system on the east side. As mentioned the Piggy Bank beginner terrain park has been relocated and is now on the lower section of Park Ave. where all traffic from Park Ave. and Pete's Elbow previously led guests to the bottom of the Boulevard Chair (previously known as the Standard chair). This allowed for easier access of the loading area of the new Main Street chair lift for all beginner guests and in turn allowed us to create a slightly bigger beginner terrain park with more suitable terrain.
In order to reduce traffic flow restrictions in the lower half of Bunny Blvd. and the exit of the Vault terrain park, we opened up the tree line separating the Standard and Bunny Blvd. runs in this area. This allows skiers and snowboarders on Bunny Blvd. to travel westward into the wider Standard run towards the bottom of the Main Street chair.

PACE PENGUIN

Brimacombe is pleased to be taking part in a pilot safety initiative called PACE PENGUIN.

 

 The objective of this program is to help reduce the risk of injury to young children in downhill sports by educating children, parents and fellow skiers/snowboarders.

This program is designed to not only address several of the known risk factors for children, but contribute to an overall positive experience for families. Early research indicates the PACE program has outstanding positive influence on parents’ resort selection. By helping children to have a safe and fun experience, we hope that today’s "little penguins" will grow into safe, dedicated life-long skiers and snowboarders, who will in turn, introduce their children to downhill sports.
Our SNOWSMART - PACE PENGUIN PROGRAM launch date is set for December 27, 2012!

For more information click on this link... http://www.pacepenguin.com/

NOT FINISHED CHRISTMAS SHOPPING?

If you are anything like me, you still have Christmas shopping to do (or start). Our retail store is open everyday leading up to Christmas day 11am to 5pm weekdays and 10am to 4pm weekends, Christmas eve day will be open the same hours as our operations. Once operational the store hours will follow our operational hours.

Check out all of our available gear in our Slopeside Catalogue available online here http://www.brimacombe.ca/rentals_retail/proshop/catalogue

Don't forget, ALL MONEY SPENT HERE STAYS HERE! Slopeside Skis and Boards is owned by Brimacombe (your club!) and all profits are directed right back into the operations of this facility. ONE LOCATION ONLY, at the BASE of BRIMACOMBE! 

HAPPY HOLIDAY'S!

From all of us at Brimacombe, we wish you a happy holiday season and best wishes in the new Year...Paradise is coming soon,

Cheers,

Mark