Battle-tested from ‘77

In 1977 we did not get the mountain open until early January due to lack of snow and no snowmaking.

I was at Snowmass and we tried to get Fanny Hill open; we shoveled snow in the trees onto metal slides made out of roofing material, but that was not very productive, so then we went to all the horse and cow pastures and plowed up all the snow and trucked it to Fanny Hill and spread it out. Then we found the poop that cows and horses left but it was skiable, but frozen.

We got enough natural snow to open in early January, about the 10th. We just made it to the end of the regular season. Not all trails were open. Something had to be done; we found a used gas-driven Hedco snowgun in Pennsylvania and had it shipped out and hooked it up to the fire hydrants along side Fanny Hill. One gun was not a lot, but it was good on the bridges route down to Elk Camp.

1977 was a hard year, but we made it. And this year will be hard , but if we all pull together we will be OK.

Tom Marshall

Aspen