Champion, PA

Saturday, Jan 31 and Sunday Feb 1, offer all of you a chance to "free your heels!" Yes we know it's Superbowl weekend and we intend to be in front of the flat screen too!! Registration for Telepalooza starts at 8:00 in the Main Ski Lodge (look for the banner) and there's rental and share gear available for you to try telemark skiing. Plenty of time to give a whole new deminsion to the slopes, trails, and woods and be back in time for kick off!!!

Ten years ago after mastering skiing and boarding Wags took up Telemarking. He wanted to find a way to put the edge back on his snow time experience. His good friend Jim Kapp got him into the sport and they've spent many trips out West together skiing the back bowls and trees.

One of the benefits of telemarking is that it's great for skiing on the off piste. The free heel setup gives the skier much more freedom in making an approach for a back country line. Here in the groomed, it adds another challenge in balance and fitness to ski the free heel.

Thanks to the Appalachian Telemark Association (APA) for their efforts in making this their 7th annual event. You can sign up for one ($79) or two days ($99) of instruction, ski pass extra. There are PSIA Level III Certified Instructors just waiting to get you hooked! Garmont boots and Karhu skis are available to demo, and the swag (give aways) at the afternoon parties is worth the admission! Girls, if you're hesitant to start out with the guys there's also an all women's clinic offered both days! Don't be selfish, bring the kids along!! See you at registration!!

GO STEELERS!!

We've had some neighbors who ski as much as they can point out to us that for December the hours of operation, Monday through Thursday, BEGIN at 11AM. That means no one is on the slopes until 11AM.

Knowing that this is a change we wanted to make sure before you make the trip up you go directly to the Seven Springs site for verification! Let's make the best of our time on the mountain!!

3007 Swiss Mtn $115,000

I-11 SunRidge $400,000

Recorded sales transfers for the resorts are acquired electronically from records inputted at the Somerset County Court House, Office of the Recorder of Deeds. We review sales in Jefferson (Hidden Valley) and Middlecreek (Seven Springs) Townships on a weekly basis. The free county site contains a real estate search feature but is not as detailed as the paid site.

Prices do not reflect bill of sales and other out of settlement transfers. No monetary value is assigned to furnishings which are normally included in the majority of sales.

It's Kick Off weekend already and the snow makers have been working overtime! With the early cold snap you'll find the conditions awesome with 12 to 15 open slopes and trails! So says Wags who was on the slopes last Saturday! Keep in mind that Ski Magazine readers ranked Seven Springs NUMBER ONE for Mid-Atlantic Ski Resorts!

Here are a few pictures of what to expect when you get here will be posted this weekend! Eric Mauck, CEO of the resort shared what's new for winter enthusiasts this year.

Wagner RegradedThis created a beginners glade skiing area to skiers left. This was a massive project of moving dirt and clearing trees! It made this slope more skier friendly and opened up this normally congested area. Remember to watch the top 30 feet as most skiers make their first turn at the top of the slope and quickly carve through new snow making to the base. In other words it's slick so make sure your skis are tuned!

Snow Tubing lovers are rejoicing as a second magic carpet uphill lift is ready for this snow filled season! Twelve tubing chutes make this the largest facility around!

Customer convenience will soon leap into the 21^st century with "Buy on Line" and not stand in line ticket sales! Doesn't matter if you're looking for skiing, tubing, equipment, and or lessons all will soon be obtainable on line!

We're going to post info for the boarders out there separately! Look for it before Monday!

A few weeks ago at the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureaus 50^th anniversary celebration at Seven Springs we got to meet Bob Nutting (one of the owners). He was insistent that we get together with CEO Eric Mauck and check out all of the new and exciting projects in the works at the resort. Bob also expressed his families desire to be a good neighbor and their intent to encourage visitors to check out businesses and venues in the area.

Eric is a ball of fire! We dare anyone to keep up with him. He talked about some of the major projects he had been involved with at Oglebay Resort that have prepared him for his leadership role at Seven Springs. It seems he is driven by an impressive mantra that he brought with him, "How can we make our customers experience better?"

In the 75 years that the Dupre families owned the resort many projects were completed and many were not. We believe that you are going to see an unbelievable transformation in the resort for years to come. "CHANGE" will be an every day common word and occurrence. There is a generational shift in thinking, planning, and implementing. Seven Springs Resort is entering a new era at warp speed.

Here's an example, last year "A bit of the Burgh" was opened which was to be a sports bar with quick food in the ski lodge. This year it's gone. It's been replaced with a new vision, expansion of the Foggy Goggle. The center of the decision, make the consumer even happier. Make the inside experience as good or better than the outside experience. We see flexibility, we see commitment, and we see completed projects.

We're going to report on the projects we discussed in segments. That way you may comment on each separately. Here's what to look for, infrastructure, winter improvements, technology, hotel, pool, customer service, convention, sweet shop, Trillium, go green, food service and restaurants, and sporting clays, not necessarily in that order!