The AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge was designed to provide a method for our forum members to get official answers to skiing-related questions directly from a ski area representative. Katie Fogel, Director of Public Relations of Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock, Massachusetts, took the AlpineZone Ski Area Challenge and provided the following responses on 9/4/2007:

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Greg: I asked a few questions in 2004 about your mogul philosophy and would like to follow up. The past two seasons, bumps have been almost nil. The bumps on Cutter are more like broad, sweeping push piles than actual bumps. “The Mogul Thing” is so flat and short that it hardly qualifies as a bump run; great for learning though so I actually support this approach. I do applaud the bumps often left on skier’s right of the Foxes. They are normally pretty good.

Is there any chance of getting a quality, top-to-bottom, side-to-side bump run? The obvious choice would be Jericho. If left to bump up, it might then live up to its double-diamond rating. Cutter could be returned to a groomer and along with Wild Turkey, Whitetail and Whirlaway, there will be plenty of steep groomers for the rest of your clientèle. It was rather ironic when a fellow AlpineZone member published a 1997-98 Jiminy brochure that touted moguls and bumps while today they don’t seem to be an important part of your terrain offerings. Expert level moguls are something that each ski area should offer, at least on one trail. Jiminy Peak seems to have plenty of terrain to be able to offer them without detracting too much from the number of steep groomed trails. Is there a chance of more quality moguled terrain from the folks at Jiminy this season?

Katie Fogel: The moguls at Jiminy this season will be on Cutter and The Mogul Thing throughout the season. It is not uncommon to find moguls pop up around the mountain in places like the Foxes, and even sometimes on the side of Jericho. So while there won’t be another trail dedicated to moguls, they will be around. Even though we have people who love moguls, we have many who wish we didn’t have any, so we try to minimize the amount of trails we let moguls take over on.

highpeaksdrifter: How about more lighted trails, even one more would be nice. It’s the same old thing year after year.

Katie Fogel: Unfortunately, there are no plans to add any new lit trails this season however Coyote Ridge terrain park is moving back over to Grand Slam and that trail will become Ace of Spades once again and that will be lit. It’s not a brand new trail but skiers and riders who didn’t use the Park will be getting a trail back!

L2RAFO: Congratulations on the wind turbine. I hope to see many more mountains going green in the near future. Would you discuss what, if any, obstacles Jiminy had to overcome in order to green light this project?

Katie Fogel: First of all, thank you for the congratulations! We truly appreciate all the support we have received throughout this process. The installation of the wind turbine was a long, challenging process. It took 3 years from the beginning of the project to the completion of the turbine. There were many obstacles that came up along the way including things like ensuring that all studies and necessary permitting was completed and making sure the turbine was grounded sufficiently for a lightening strike. The greatest challenge posed was that companies were not immediately willing to sell us 1 turbine. GE worked with us to make it possible for us to a get a single turbine and without their assistance and cooperation, the project would have never been possible. Check out green.jiminypeak.com for all sorts of details on the wind turbine project and other environmental efforts here at the resort.

skiprob: How did the riblet get its name?

Katie Fogel: I wish I had a better story for you on this one but my answer for this question is not very interesting! Riblet is the name of the company that manufactured the chair.

skiprob: Any plans for replacing the triple? If so, is there a target season?

Katie Fogel: Right now, there are no plans to replace the Triple chair, but as many of you know there is always something new going on around Jiminy and we’ll be sure to let you know if we decide to embark on such a project.

Greg: We received a number of questions about Widow White’s peak. Any chance of the Widow White’s liftline being added to the map? skiprob asks, “Can the Widows chair be converted to high speed? Any new trails (glades) off widow Whites Peak? It seems like the wooded area to the right of the widow’s chair above Left Bank would be nice for some glades!”

Katie Fogel: There are no plans to expand the trails on Widow White’s Peak. While the trail under the lift could make a great trail, we have so many trails that intersect with Left Bank currently that we don’t want to create another one. We can’t make the current Widow White’s chair a high speed chair and there are no plans to replace it at this time.

skiprob: Can you put a rope tow or used T-bar or poma next to The Mogul Thing? Something inexpensive but handy.

Katie Fogel: We won’t be putting a lift in next to The Mogul Thing. We are putting a carpet lift in Alex’s Park for this season.

skiprob: Watching from the six pack or novice chair – the 180 trail often looks very crowded on the busy Saturdays. Is there any chance to check spead for skiers dropping in from 360 or left bank? It could make the novices feel a little safer?

Katie Fogel: Yes! We have a radar gun that we began to use last year and we will be using even more this season. The 180 is one of our main areas to use it because of the amount of beginners and overall traffic in the area. So you will see the radar gun out this year and we will be carefully monitoring people’s speed in that area as well as all of our other Non-Speed Zones to ensure that they are places where beginners can take their time and feel safe.

Greg: We received a few questions about summer activities. Jonni asks, “Forgive me as I’m not all that familiar with Jiminy Peak as I haven’t skied there before, but one question about summer operations: I read some time ago in an ski industry magazine that you installed a Mountain Coaster to build on your active summer operations already in place. How well has that been doing for the resort? Was it a good investment? Do you have any plans to add anything else to your ‘summer arsenal?” Sparky asks, “Have you given any though to the new dry slope technology? What I have read about this stuff indicates that it can be used to make things like moguls and parks. It is padded and may be left down through the winter. It would be a great addition to your summer Adventure Park.”

Katie Fogel: The Mountain Coaster was installed during the summer of 2006 and has been a great investment for the resort. It is one of the favorite attractions at the mountain. A huge plus to the Mountain Coaster is the fact that we can use it during the winter months as well. We are always looking for new things to add to our Mountain Adventure Park. Keep an eye out for a new attraction for next summer!

Newpylong: Why would you ever install tile floors in the new lodge??? Tile + Ski Boots = broken backs and spilled food. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it!

Katie Fogel: The reason for the tile is mostly because of how well it holds up. Ski boots are tough on floors and our lodges are used in the spring, summer and fall for conferences and weddings in addition to acting as our ski lodges in the winter months. We tried to minimize the amount of tile used so that it is just in the cafeteria areas, and there is carpet in all of the eating areas.

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To view forum comments on this Challenge and the Challenge Results, please visit the following page: