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.

“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 infield, 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.”

 

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! 

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. 

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. 

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. This also helps narrow down where to send our teams.” This operation is coordinated among ski patrol, lift maintenance and management so everyone is on the same page. “The big thing we want to hear is ‘LIFT IS LOCKED DOWN — LOCKED DOWN SAFE!’ so we know that lift is not going to start,” Walton said. Communication is extremely important.

Ski Patrol is trained to do the Belay System. Rock climbers should be familiar with this term as it relates to lowering someone down to the ground using a rope. In real life, the ski patrol will use a slingshot to shoot the rope over the line, with other patrollers geared up in harnesses, helmets and other equipment so they can set up and rig the chair and then bring it down to the people that they are going to evacuate. Every tower and every location are different. You have high spans and low spans and sometimes there are obstacles -- such as trees -- so they learn how to shoot the line at different angles. This eliminates the high risk of climbing a tower like they used to have to do years ago. The Belay System is very safe but sometimes there will be a lift rider who will refuse to leave the chair so there is a method where ski patrollers can cable-slide down to the chair and talk to them face-to-face and then they can belay them right from there. “But do not jump!” Walton states. “Some people want to jump --like ‘I’m outa here’ -- but that is not an option.”

There is a lot of wind at Sunrise so they have wind meters on the lifts. “Everybody thinks there is a magic number (around 40 miles per hour) — and that will raise some eyebrows,” commented Walton. “but basically, it is the direction the wind is blowing that will shut down the lifts. 40-mile-per-hour wind coming downline, straight-line, isn’t as bad as a 30-mph crosswind.” What they are looking at is the swing of the chairs. The wind is more of a problem around Apache Peak than at Sunrise Peak so they have people watching the chairs and if they are hitting the tower, then it is a no-brainer and they will shut down the lift. Unless, however, they feel that it is still in control, then they will just slow down the lift to control the swing and monitor it. Skiers may not be too happy about it but It’s for safety reasons. Sometimes, they will reopen the lift if the wind subsides but it could be an all-day thing. Walton also told me that the four seaters may not swing as much as the 2-3 seat lifts.

The good news is that this year, instead of taking chair lifts up to Cyclone, they will be offering Snow cat rides. Two 9-passenger Snow cats will rotate every 15 minutes or so, driving skiers to the top of the mountain. This is great news because, if you remember the old chairlift to Cyclone, you’ll know that it took over 18 minutes to get to the top of the Mountain. Not to mention that the Snow cats will be heated. You have to purchase a special pass and they are only available to season pass holders.

Yes, there is a Twilight Zone at Sunrise. But don’t go there. It is where wandering skiers end up and it’s where Ski Patrollers find them — on many occasions. Walton tells me that the procedure for search and rescue starts with getting information about the missing person, such as how old, where and when they were seen last and what they were wearing. Then they will do a sweep through all of the runs to find out if they are on the inside or the outside. If they don’t find them, they form teams and hit certain areas such as the infamous “Twilight Zone” where their wandering could end them up at Horseshoe Cienega or “Idiot road,” taking them to Greer. Ski Patrollers carry packs with thermal blankets, hot chocolate, fire makers and other gear with them to help with hypothermia or any other issues. The difficult thing about having to search the outer places is that sometimes they can only take the Snow cat so far and then they have to search on foot. “Why do they leave the ski area?” I asked Walton. “They look at an area and think that it would be a great place to ski,” he suggested. “In the Twilight Zone you’ll see good snow and a lot of trees and think: ‘This will be great!’ but the trees get thicker and the skiing becomes difficult. So, they’re out in the Twilight Zone and they can almost hear cars so they know the highway is there so they go over one ridge; then they have to go over the next ridge so they can see and then they can’t get out and don’t see anything; so, then they may drop down to the third ridge and wind up working their way to Horseshoe Cienega. It can be a search that starts at 5:00 p.m. and doesn’t end until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. and that depends on how fast they are trekking or if they finally decide that they need to turn back.”

There are about 16 full-time ski patrollers and about 45 Nationals this year. All of them have many hours of training and all of them can handle just about any situation that may occur. As much fun as skiing or snowboarding may be, there is always an element of danger but it’s comforting to know that, in any given situation at Sunrise, there are many professional caretakers ready and trained to attend to any incident that may occur. 

The new management at Sunrise want you to know that this is just the beginning. Both Burke and Macalady have extensive business backgrounds; Burke in the restaurant and hospitality industry and Macalady, long-time owner of the Native Development Consulting and Construction business, and they have a lot more changes on the way. “We can see all of the opportunities here,” explained Burke, “and how to increase revenues and make it the world-class resort that we want it to be.” The White Mountain Apache Tribe Chairwoman, Vice Chair and Council Members have supported Sunrise Park Resort and see what needs to be done. Burke boasts that 70% of the management are Tribal Members. “It is important to us to develop them to run the resort,” Burke states. “The more they know and the more transparent we are and the more we share with and teach them our skills and what we know, will help them run the resort better — because they will share that knowledge with everybody else. “You have to like people and love working with people,” Burke further explained. “The core staff of Sunrise – and everyone here -- work very hard and they are very passionate about it. And great things are on the horizon. Just watch for them!”