Mt. Lemmon - Ski Valley

[hikeaz]

Has anyone been to Ski Valley this summer? Are they running the lift and/or is the restaurant open? Is there music, as in past years? I called them but there is no answer.
Thanks in advance for any current beta.

[Jeffshadows]

also as we all know arizona snowbowl is going to go through a huge upgrade over the next few years and i even hear of a ski resort in williams arizona that is going to get way bigger also. So that means 3 of the 4 ski resorts in az are trying to get bigger or upgraded etc.

If it must be something, I prefer an expansion of the Ski area or the creation of a resort over the inevitable continued packing of McMansions into the hillsides up there...

[JimmyLyding]

The sad thing is that the vast majority of cabins that burned down have been replaced by McMansions that are far far larger than the original cabins. It's always a trip to go up there, and I miss it dearly when I'm looking at driving 2+ hours to get anywhere good from here in the Valley. I remember visiting the gift shop up there, and I asked the lady working there if she'd heard of anyone seeing any bears. She replied that her neighbor saw a 500-pound female with 2 300-pound cubs. I somewhat chuckled and told her that a 300-pound sow bear would be large for the Santa Catalinas. She responded with a comment along the lines of "you city-slickers don't know nuthin' about these mountains." Maybe not, but I was already looking for an egress at that point. I'm not trying to bash this informative lady, but the character that Summerhaven had for decades is now probably lost forever. Largely gone are the people who have lived up there for decades, and called the Santa Catalinas their home. They've been replaced by McMansions that are virtual timeshares. Instead of people living there year-round who support the few local businesses, we have Tucsonans driving up for a long weekend with cars full of supplies from Costco to stay in $1000/week "cabins."
Oh well, enough venting. Bearing Down on getting up to the Catalinas sometime soon.

[azbackpackr]

It's sad. I haven't been there since before the fire, but I used to go up there all the time. And I agree that a remodel of the ski area would have been preferable to allowing large homes to be built where once there were small cabins, assuming we were ever offered a choice in the matter. Why don't people like small cabins, anyway? I love little bitty cozy log cabins! Easier to heat, too!

[Jim]

It's sad. ... large homes to be built where once there were small cabins, assuming we were ever offered a choice in the matter. Why don't people like small cabins, anyway? I love little bitty cozy log cabins! Easier to heat, too!

Because a small cabin doesn't say, "I've arrived, and am mortgaging a second home with Chinese money to show everyone how pretentious and self important I am" the way a McMansion on the mountain does.

[Jeffshadows]

It's sad. ... large homes to be built where once there were small cabins, assuming we were ever offered a choice in the matter. Why don't people like small cabins, anyway? I love little bitty cozy log cabins! Easier to heat, too!

Because a small cabin doesn't say, "I've arrived, and am mortgaging a second home with Chinese money to show everyone how pretentious and self important I am" the way a McMansion on the mountain does.

Exactly

[Ckzona]

A ski resort in Williams?!?!?

Not exactly a ski resort more of a ski hill. Like 10 trails with some tubing.

[azbackpackr]

I think it's there already, right? It's been there a long time? I think they used to have one of those things you hang onto that pull you up the hill, but I'd heard that was long-gone. So are they trying to open that up again?

[Jim]

The Williams Ski hill was open this year. I remember seeing an advertisement for it somewhere, maybe on TV.


Edited to add: The ski area is south of Williams, AZ and can be seen on the north slopes of Bill Williams Mt. It isn't very large, but it can be viewed on topos and by satellite images.

[dysfunction]

ski hill I understand.. ski resort.. sent my mind reeling it just did not correlate at all...

[joebartels]

Dazzle her at the Circle K Lounge with Show Stoppers on video. Grab a cord of firewood and a 96oz Hot Chocolate snuggle buster for that special evening.

[dysfunction]

Hey, it worked for me.

[azbackpackr]

A CORD of firewood? How big is your pickup?

Sure can tell yer a city slicker! ;)

[dysfunction]

Used ta have a 1 ton dually w/a flat bed


Course, there's then the confusion of cords and face-cords

[azbackpackr]

The question I ask the woodcutter is this: is it a true cord, or is it just a pickup load? Most of the time, it's just called a "load" because they can't fit a cord in the back of the truck, no matter how high they stack it.

But your big flatbed, on the other hand...!

[dysfunction]

Yea, they hate me. I make em stack it and measure it.

[Jim]

The best way to scale fuel wood is by weight, since a given species of wood in a geographic locale tends to have a consistent specific gravity and therefore a consistent weight for a given volume, say a cord or "load". In Florida we scaled pulpwood, which is basically fuel wood, by the ton. last time I was into that it was around $30 a ton, and if I recall correctly it was about 2 1/2 tons per cord. The volume didn't matter since the weight was what was important. Oddly, in that area we scaled logs for lumber the same way. That didn't make much sense.

You might not always get a full, cord, but if they claim to sell you a ton of juniper fuel wood for $150, they better sell you that. Its easier to sue if they have sold 100 people in the Springerville area a ton for $150, when they only delivered 1700 pounds of wood, instead of a "cord'.

[dysfunction]

yes, but I do not have a means of measuring a ton of wood.. but I do possess a tape measure (many really) an the math to calculate volume. I suspect almost all consumers are in the same boat. Then again, I've seen a whole lot of people buy "seasoned" wood that didn't have any checks...

[Jim]

Ever heard of a bathroom scale?

That would be hard. Ideally, you could use a truck stop scale, or they might have one at their facility, but I suspect its not practical.

I thought seasoning was just a little thyme an rosemary sprinkled on the wood.

[joebartels]

A CORD of firewood? How big is your pickup?

Sure can tell yer a city slicker! ;)

When I was about 15 I worked in a country minnow bait store out by a lake. I only knew there was some word for it, so I googled it. Obviously paying no attention to the volume. But hey it entices my quote even more

Dazzle her at the Circle K Lounge with Show Stoppers on video. Grab a cord of firewood and a 96oz Hot Chocolate snuggle buster for that special evening.

[azbackpackr]

The cost of firewood has really gone up a lot since I moved here. It used to be about 50 bucks for a load, although it would vary. Now it varies from $150 to $400 per pickup load (NOT a full cord) depending upon the type of wood and the greed of the woodcutter. The types of wood that are available here are fir, aspen (called "quakie"), pine, pinon and juniper. Oak is also occasionally available. Most people have wood heating stoves, and they like to start up their fires with the aspen, then add some juniper or pinon. I have a fireplace, however, and I burn whatever I can get. I no longer have sons at home to cut it for me, and my husband can't do that kind of work for health reasons. Mostly we have been heating with propane and also wood pellets, as we have a pellet heater and a propane furnace. We also have electric baseboard heaters and space heaters. (A pellet stove runs on electricity, burns wood pellets, is a fairly cheap way to heat. Dang things can be finicky, though.)

Going to Yuma made it so much easier on my husband, but we can't do that this year. I am looking at closing off even more of our big house, (we use only half of it in winter) covering the windows with plastic sheeting, re-doing the weather stripping on the doors, etc., etc.