After three years, Sky Tavern is officially making their own snow after raising $2.4 million for brand new equipment and installation.
Sky Tavern says this is a really big deal for them and for people who ski here. Every year they would be unsure when their season would start and end because they were completely dependent on the weather. But thanks to the community's donations, this new equipment allows them to change that.
Aussie Field, a junior student athlete at Bishop Manogue Catholic High School, says, "It definitely helps earlier along in the season when there isn't like a bunch of snow."
Pat Cashell, CEO of Sky Tavern, says, "We can guarantee our opening season for snow, we can stay open longer, we can get more kids on the mountain. It's really important to us, it's important to our community so it's a big deal."
Cashell says they now have six state-of-the-art machines spread across the main slope where kids come up to learn how to ski, train, and compete. He tells us you can work these machines through an iPad, connect them to their sno-cats, and measure snow depths to determine which area need more snow.
Sky Tavern is well-known for hosting their junior flagship ski program and several competitions.
Ryan Gini, an assistant coach at Bishop Manogue High, says that snow making is essential for competitions; so now he's excited for extended ski seasons and already looking forward to more possible projects.
"We love this, we love to see more of it and it's all community-based. This helps us. Someday the thoughts are they get some night lights too, and that helps all the programs - especially more of the high school racing and college racing."
Sky Tavern will officially be open to the public on President's Day weekend. Tickets will be $65 for adults and $45 for kids.
