A few weeks back I had the honor of speaking at a Hurley-Ironwood Rotary Meeting. I started out by quoting Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead....... “what a long strange trip it’s been”.
And it has been exactly that, especially this last summer. Right from the time that we closed for the ski season last March we have faced numerous adversities. In April we recorded two additional snowstorms here that equated to another 48” of snow which led us to postpone the opening of golf season and ultimately the cancellation this past summer of golf here at Whitecap.
This summer, we took the first steps to upgrading our snowmaking. We installed a new pump, which in the future will supply water to a reservoir up on the mountain which will be the site of our new pump house. The upgrades will enable us to make more snow over a larger area of the resort and also lengthen our season.
This past summer we welcomed many new property owners to Whitecap! Several lots, homes and condo’s were sold and there are currently two new homes under construction with a few more to start in the Spring. We are currently working on the new Tyler Forks subdivision which will be all ski in/ski out lots. If you ski the new Lower Arlberg trail look to your left and you will see the Tyler Forks properties. You can always inquire at the front desk for more information.
In the Hotel we built a Guest Business Office for your convenience while you enjoy your stay here. There is also a new retail shop directly across from the restaurant in the Hotel. We also finished upgrading another set of rooms and next summer we will complete the remainder of them. In our restaurant we hired a new Chef and you will certainly enjoy his offerings! Don’t forget about our Friday night Fish Fry!
A big shout out has to go to our staff. This summer they accomplished a lot of projects will help make your visit to Whitecap more enjoyable. In addition to items that we had wanted to get done on our “to do” list there are things that come up on almost a daily basis that need attention. The staff can shift gears and get these additional things done. I am proud of the fact that we do almost all of this work with the staff that we have in house. It was always my idea to create jobs and use our staff to build this place. I think they all do a great job!
My hat is off to the staff once again. This past summer I was diagnosed with a brain tumor which set me back mentally for a bit. While it is always my intention to inject some humor into things on a daily basis, that became a hard task to accomplish due to my diagnosis. Everyone here took things in stride and we continue forward. Sometimes I have to ask for things to be repeated to me due to a loss of hearing in one ear and sometimes I have very small balance issues but I will be fine and there is no place I’d rather be every day than here at Whitecap. Yesterday was a good day at Whitecap, today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today!
Lastly, I thank all of our guests, skiers, property owners, employees (past and present) and others that have been involved in this journey that we call Whitecap.
Come out and enjoy this beautiful place as we open tomorrow for the new ski season!
#whitecapstrong,
David