I Can't See!

Someone asked me the other day how they could keep their goggles from fogging, especially while wearing a facemask. This is a problem that skiers and snowboarders have been battling since goggles were invented and there are a number of very good solutions to be found.

First-off, be sure you have a pair of goggles that have a dual-pane lens. This is the essential feature to a non-fog goggle. Think of a glass of ice tea on a hot day. The warm air surrounding the cold glass causes moisture to condense on the glass. Well, the exact same thing can happen with your goggles. The outside air will keep your lens cold while your body heat will warm the air inside your goggles. As you can imagine, this situation will lead to fogging. Now, with a dual-pane lens, the outside lens will stay cold and the inside lens will stay warm while the "dead air" barrier between the two will keep both of them from fogging-up. The next step in the battle against fogging goggles is the anti-fog treatment on the inner lens. There are two basic kinds of anti-fog treatments and while I won't get into the science of it here they both act similarly to windshield wax for your car. They won't allow any water to "stick" to your lens.

Technology can only go so far in the battle against fogging goggles, there needs to be some proactive help from the goggle users as well. The number one thing you can do to prevent goggle fogging is to put them on in the lodge and then once you get out on the hill, NEVER TAKE THEM OFF! Maintaining a seal on your face will insure that your dual-pane lenses are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Of course, skiing and snowboarding are action sports with many perils associated with them. Often times you can't avoid your goggles coming off on their own. When this happens, your best bet is to head into the lodge and eat ten minutes of your day to dry them off. Fighting that fight out on the hill is an uphill battle at best. Aside from taking lessons to help prevent the situations that lead to premature goggle ejection, consider that helmets will not only protect your noggin' but provide a secure point of attachment for your goggles.

As you may (or may not) have noticed goggles come in all shapes and sizes. Some of this is intended for fashion reasons but there are actually some performance benefits as well. I get a lot of people in the shop that want the smallest goggles they can get. What these people don't realize is that the volume of the goggle (the amount of air trapped between your face and your lens) plays a huge role in how easily it fogs up. A higher volume goggle is much less likely to fog up on you than a low volume goggle is. Higher end goggles can get away with smaller frame sizes by utilizing spherical lenses. The goggles may be a bit smaller but since the lens curves away from your face it is less susceptible to fogging (and yes, even a tiny bit of distance makes a difference). If you are a facemask user or if you produce a lot of body heat then you will need a higher volume goggle.

Last but not least on the goggle feature list is ventilation. Ultimately, you want to keep the air moving through your goggles. This will exchange the muggy air for crisp, dry mountain air. As long as you keep moving, this air flow will act like the defroster on the windshield of your car and keep your lenses nice and fog-free. Some of you may call me out here by pointing out what I said earlier about keeping the air inside your goggles warm and not cool. Well, the foam barrier in your vents will slow down this air flow enough for you body heat to regulate this. Also, having dry air inside your goggles is more important than keeping it very warm. However, this can sometimes be a problem but Smith has your back with their Regulator system. You can simply close the vents when things are looking clear and then open them back up for a quick defrost when necessary.

If you keep this stuff in mind you may just have a fog free season. If you think you may need new goggles here is our collection of Smith this season ranging in price from the $28 Sun Valley to the $160 Turbo Fan Phenoms.

Smith Spherical Series:

Smith Regulator Series:

Smith Airflow Series

Smith Classic Series:

And for the person that absolutely can't have their goggles fog on them, the Turbo Series:

Gearing up for the season

This time of year becomes interesting and challenging around Bear Valley Mountain Resort. As we prepare to open for the winter, we close out summer operations where we have focused on repairing and maintaining the assets in preparation for winter. Many great things have occurred this summer.

Of course the highlight of the summer has been the installation of the new Polar Express detachable high speed quad lift. But many other improvements have happened that will go pretty much unnoticed by the majority of visitors.

Our lift maintenance crews have been very busy. They have replaced the old analog drives with state of the art digital drives that will improve our ability to trouble shoot Kuma and Grizzly chairs; both lifts have also had new communication lines installed between each tower and Grizzly has received a new electric motor. These improvements have all been installed and spearheaded by John, our new lift electrician. The desired result of this $100,000 expenditure should be smoother operating lifts with less down time and fewer stops. The lift loading ramps have had wooden platforms built along them to improve the loading process and several lifts will have new information centers. The best though, has got to be that each lift station will have a clock - and not just any clock, but an ATOMIC CLOCK. Atomic clocks talk to a satellite which cues its time off the atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado, thus all clocks will have the same accurate time, providing we keep them plugged in and batteries up to date.

AND yes, we will still scan your lift ticket; our goal is to scan it every time you enter an "access" lift. We have re-engineered our scanning system which should increase the speed of the scan. It has become necessary to scan every ticket in order to validate, count and have the revenue "drop" for the use of that ticket. Many tickets are sold outside the Resort now, at off-site ticket outlets. Tickets sold off site must be scanned to validate their use. The advantages of selling tickets off site are multi-tiered. It offers you the convenience of pre-purchasing your tickets, which in turn means shortened lines at the ticket office because off site tickets can be taken straight to the lifts, thus completely bypassing the ticket office. Off site tickets increase our distribution network and those tickets are offered at a discount, saving you a couple of bucks!

Lets talk rentals next... We have initiated an electronic sign in system- type in your information once and you will be remembered into the future. Our strategy is that it will save time in the future because you will be remembered along with your ski size and boot size. In the Grizzly Den, we have completely replaced the snowboard & boots inventory with Burton step-in equipment. The new step ins have been engineered with a binding back, unlike the older designs with just a step-on plate.

There have many other improvements around the mountain - other things to share: new stripes in the parking lot, another new snow cat, remodeled cafe and service line, the new Monte Wolfe Saloon and to those who have the privilege of a seasonal west locker, new carpet. I also look forward to sharing with you more of our environmental policies.

GOOD WILL AMBASSADORS

...Feeling really good about a newly developing Ambassador program here at Bear Valley Mountain Resort. Our new team of Ambassadors will be essential to the company's overall success and goal of providing exceptional customer service. Ambassadors wearing the "Gold Jackets" will become the face and personality of Bear Valley. Individuals selected for this position will have a critical impact on how visitors experience and perceive the resort experience. The primary role of an Ambassador is to make Bear Valley guests feel welcome, at home, and do whatever possible to "make their day" at the mountain more enjoyable. In essence, spread the good will that is Bear Valley.

Inspiration for Bear Valley's Ambassador Program came while attending a retreat at Whistler, BC last summer. I learned about the unique way in which Whistler's Ambassador Program grew from its local community of business owners/leaders across all industries. Whistler's management realized that for their resort destination to reach world class levels in terms of guest service and experience, the effort and approach had to be community based. It truly does take a Village - of 10,000 in Whistler's case - to please guests and keep them returning season after season, to convert winter guests to summer visitors, and for summer guests to frequent Whistler and Blackcomb mountains for a ski/snowboard trip during winter.

So last Friday I gathered at the local coffee shop with four Ambassador recruits from the local community: Dave Waterman - pastor at Chapel in the Pines, husband, father of four and avid skier; Isabel Lyle - professional at SG Marketing, mother of two and just all around great gal; Ron Motta - retired attorney, husband, father, grandfather, former disabled ski instructor and friend of Bear Valley; and Jon Murphy - agricultural buyer (nuts), husband, father, Alpine Nuts Co. owner, and former ski patrol. Not present this morning, but on the potential Ambassador roster includes Colleen O'lau - business owner of Colleen's Corner hair salon, mother and avid skier; Sharon Harper - Columbia Elementary librarian, wife, mother and snow aficionado; Dana Johnson - Paramedic Fire/Fighter; former youth ski racer and all around great guy (doesn't know he is on the list yet); and two other gentleman named Ken and Mark who I have not had the pleasure of meeting in person yet. I am delighted to boast that Bear Valley's new Ambassador Program will feature one of the most diverse, dynamic and professional group of individuals who share enthusiasm for the mountain and are excited about the positive changes ahead. This group likes to have fun, help others and will be integral in taking Bear Valley's guest service to the next level.

Bear Valley is asking for a minimum commitment of 6 days a month to be considered for the Ambassador Program. Here's a brief overview of an Ambassadors responsibilities -

• Greeter & Promoter of "BV Express"
• Customer Sign-In Support
• Mountain Tours
• Special Event/Marketing Support
• Information Resource

Share the vision, the passion and the fun that is Bear Valley. Sound like something you'd enjoy? Send me an email at andrea@bearvalley.com today and I'll fill you in on all the details and benefits of becoming an Ambassador.

Think Snow! Think Good Will!

What's New in The Winter Lift?

Well, for starters, we can stop calling it The Winter Lift. Say hello to Reba Sports. The new name is a nod to the Mt. Reba Ski Area of old as well as to the spirit of Reba Blood, one of the pioneers of our area. Also, I have to ask, What the heck did "Winter Lift" mean anyway?

Aside from the name change we've got a new POS system (No, POS doesn't mean what you think it does, it actually stands for Point of Sale) which should speed up our line quite a bit. This new system will also add a lot of behind the scenes functionality that will help us serve you guys better. We can finally accept Gift Cards now, Yay! Remember...to receive your 10% season pass discount you must flash your pass before you purchase!

We've got a couple new lines in the store this year as well. The underwear phenomenon Under Armor is here along with Dragon eyewear, Foursquare Outerwear and Smith Helmets. You'll find these alongside the other brands we've carried like Burton, The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Spyder, Descente, Columbia, Orage, Ripzone, Wigwam, Turtle Fur, Seirus, Gordini, K2, Atomic, Sessions, Obermeyer, Electric, Smith, Spy and all the other great lines you've come to expect from us.

Here's a Foursquare Jacket we have this Season:

The new Smith Helmets are awesome:

You asked for it, check out the new Goggles from Dragon:

We got some awesome coverage this week in the San Francisco Chronicle. Check out what they had to say about Bear...

Bear Valley's owners have big plans
New high-speed quad leads way for many changes

Under its new team of owners, Bear Valley's modest winter sports mecca seems poised to grow into a spectacular destination.

Check out the original post at sfgate.com!

Blogging - new to me and cutting edge for our ski area - what a way to keep in touch, what will they think of next.

The BV staff and friends that I have made in Bear Valley still introduce me as the "new guy", even though I have now been here just shy of 18 months now. Many things still feel new and I definitely learn something new everyday. I have found that there is a great amount of loyalty, passion and no shortage of ideas on how to make Bear Valley a better place. I have received input from how to groom & operate lifts to food/beverage and day care. While I may have not answered each comment individually, I have made note and shared with our staff the suggestions that have been provided. As the "new guy," I look forward to this next season with great anticipation of taking all that I have learned from your valued input and taking a positive step toward meeting your expectations. With that in mind let the season and games begin.

Welcome to Bear Valley's Blog! We're busy gearin' up for another exciting season in Bear Valley. With over $5 million in improvements, for the 06/07 season, this is sure to be the best year yet. We've started by putting Hibernation to sleep and are firing up the all-new Polar Express high-speed quad! There's many more changes ahead... Keep checking our blog to find out about the hottest news, deals and every day life on the mountain.

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