SUNRISE PARK RESORT A NEW BEGINNING BY ANNE GROEBNER Sunrise Park Resort has been owned and operated by the White Mountain Apache Tribe for almost 50 years. Starting out in December of 1970 as a one-mountain ski hill with only three trails — Spruce Ridge, Crown Dancer and Lupe — and only one mountain — Sunrise Peak. Sunrise has since grown to a three-mountain ski resort (with the opening of Cyclone and Apache Peak in the 80s) and has increased the number of trails to 65 on over 800 acres. Hundreds of thousands of skiers and snowboarders visit the ski hills every year and it has played a major role in the development of the local White Mountain communities. This year, however, marks the beginning of a new era for Sunrise, its employees and, most of all, its skiers and snowboarders. Taren Burke, general manager of Sunrise Park Resort, along with Todd Macalady, operations director, and their staff have brought new technology to the Mountain and now it has been transformed into a high-tech operation. There are so many new changes to the ski hill that it is jaw- dropping — and this is just the beginning. Perfect Snow Conditions One of the most incredible changes to hit the Mountain are its new snow making machines — high-tech has caught up with Mother Nature. Sunrise has purchased new snow guns that are programmed to produce as close to real snow as you can get. “You don’t have to hook up air to them, “explained Macalady, “just water — and they run off of new technology. ”The new machines can be operated from a cellphone or a computer and they can be programmed to produce enough snow based on the need in every quadrant. “These snow guns can be programmed to automatically turn on when the temperature drops below 29 degrees,” Macalady told us, “and they will stay on until they make enough snow or, when the temperature goes up, they will automatically shut off.” Weather in the White Mountains can be hit-or-miss -- with temperatures fluctuating on any given day – but, so far, Sunrise has made progress with its snowmaking. What they are making is sticking in piles and, within the next few weeks, they hope to have several 15-foot piles and then Fred Tague, grooming operations manager, will push it out onto the trails with the Snow cats — and even the Snow cats are high tech. They are equipped with GPS technology called “Snow Gage.” Burke told me that, with this technology, they can program the depth of the base for the entire season. For example; for a one-meter base (three feet) they will program in the average temperatures for the five months they are open for skiing — noting that it’s warmer at the beginning and end of the season — with the average melt being a certain percentage. So, in each quadrant the snow machines will make 1.5 meters -- edge to edge -- and then it talks to the Snow cats and says, “Here is the pattern that you use to push the snow to make sure of the coverage.” This technology gets within two centimeters of accuracy. It will show a green screen when an area is good to go and also track where the cats are going and how much fuel is used. This is super-efficient and cuts down on the cost of utility bills. “We will save over $1,000 per acre this year,” Burke enthused. How good is this snow, you ask? “The quality of this snow is better because of this technology,” Burke commented. “The snow they are making now is no different than what Mother Nature makes.” She told me the computer makes all of the micro-adjustments -- making sure that the moisture of the air and water are just right. Back in the day, you would go out and make adjustments to the snow guns based on a guess. Now, computers make it easier and scientifically correct and a lot more efficient. Denny Walton has worked as the ski patrol director (and other positions) for Sunrise for over 30 years. He retired and handed his ski patrol duties over into the very capable hands of Fernando Larzelere — and then Walton came back. Now he is in charge of Mountain operations. I talked with Denny a few days ago and he explained the process for getting the Mountain ready for opening day. “The goal is to make snow at the base and work our way up as temperatures go down,” he said. “We would like to get at least one run from the top but it is definitely dependent on the weather.” Some days are better than others. There were a couple of days when they ran the snow guns for 48 straight hours. The temperatures were down in the teens and lower. “We’ll take those temperatures any day!” Walton exclaimed. Fred Tague has a night crew of two other snowmakers who help him and then two more during the day. They are staffed 24 hours and would love to be able to run the guns 24/7 if the weather would let them. As the temperatures get colder more frequently, they will staff more help and run all of the guns. “The procedure is to let it sit a little bit; let the moisture drain out of it and then start dispersing it,” Walton explained: “They will go Enfield, Bunny Hill, Pinedale and Fairway so they will have those covered. Midway will be an option — if the weather doesn’t cooperate — they will probably go Spruce Ridge to No Name to get one lane down.” No More Standing in line Technology has finally caught up with demand. This year, Sunrise has updated its software and implemented a new lift ticket purchase system. It’s called “Sunrise One Pass” and it is the answer to e-commerce e-fficiency. “Now you can go online, set up an account, load your card, buy your lift tickets, set up ski or snowboard lessons (even pick a specific instructor) and pay for everything online,” Gwen Stutler, digital media and marketing manager, showed me. “Then when you visit Sunrise, you can just go straight to the chairlift, ski school or skis and board rental shop." You can even buy items in the Ski Pro Shop or buy food in the restaurant. — as long as you set up your account ahead of time. If your card gets lost, as soon as you report it missing, they will stop it and issue you a new card (no one else can use your card because your picture will come up as soon as it is scanned). The cards are in and will have to picked up during the first visit to the ski hill. There will be a designated line for One Pass holders at the ticket booth — then it’s a forever deal and no more standing in line for lift tickets! YAH! Other changes include those at the Sunrise Hotel which has newly renovated rooms (new beds, new furniture and paint) — and it too has the capability of booking your room (s) online. The restaurant and bar are open with new menus and a new chef. They also have newly renovated cabins for rent — some with Jacuzzis, lake views and sunsets and -- as management states — “fully stocked with friends”. One of the best changes at Sunrise include the purchase of all brand-new Solomon ski and snowboard equipment for rentals and ski school — and a new sharpener. “Better skis and snowboards make for a better and safer experience,” said Burke. …and Speaking of Safety. On November 3rd, I drove out to the Base Area at Sunrise and watched the Nationals Ski Patrol train for the upcoming season. Sunrise Ski Patrol is affiliated with the National Ski Patrol, Far West Division. Their team is comprised of both professional (Pro) and volunteer (National) patrollers, both involve skiers and boarders. This training is done every year before opening day to get everyone on the same page. They learn protocol such as how to fill out incident reports, search and rescue and chairlift evacuations and a lot more. Did I say Chairlift evacuation? It doesn’t happen a lot but there may be a time when the chairlift could get a glitch and they have to shut it down — with skiers on board. “We are lucky here,” Walton explained, “because Chairlift One (1) has three back ups including a diesel motor and a generator. It has three different ways to get people back down.” Chairlift Two (2) has two, including a diesel motor. However, Walton tells me that there could be that day when a tree falls on the lift and they can’t get it off or there is something mechanical that they can’t dissect to get the lift going and they will have to do a chairlift evacuation. “Ski Patrol is the last option,” Walton said. “If they can run the auxiliary, the policy is that you get people off and stop loading.” The last thing Ski Patrol wants to do is a chairlift evacuation but they are trained to do it. “It’s safe but it’s time consuming,” Walton told me. Sometimes, when they are going to do a chairlift evacuation, weather comes into play and they want to be as efficient as possible. “When lift maintenance tells us that the lift is not functional, we start getting our teams together,” explained Walton. “We have someone ski the line to get a head count because we need to see how many people are on the lift and if there are any medical issues.