Summer Olympics 2024 - Oklahoma City

[Luke]

The Tahlihina Drive area would make for great skiing, if the snow could be created.

That's where this ski resort would be.

[ETL]

Do ya'll have money for this? I don't! So how do you get the rich interested?

[Luke]

How do you get the rich interested in anything? If they can invest their money and make more in the long run, then it will be worth their while. It's convincing them to do that that is the challenge. I would imagine that this idea would strike a chord wealthy visionaries.

[jbrown84]

This Cloudmont doesn't seem to amount to much. The difference with Gatlinburg is that it is much higher AND further north than SE Oklahoma. We certainly have bigger slopes than Alabama, but snowmaking would be very expensive on this scale and the warmer temps by February would melt it all. It's possible but might not be profitable.

[Luke]

This Cloudmont doesn't seem to amount to much. The difference with Gatlinburg is that it is much higher AND further north than SE Oklahoma. We certainly have bigger slopes than Alabama, but snowmaking would be very expensive on this scale and the warmer temps by February would melt it all. It's possible but might not be profitable.

That's why it's a year-round resort. Skiing, snowboarding and sledding in the winter; hiking, biking and golfing the rest of the year. Of course, my idea would be for the resort itself to be a destination with a few restaurants, some shops and a ski lift to the top of the mountain for the view.

However, you'd be surprised what they can do with snow making and grooming equipment. The idea is that when the temperature and humidity get to a certain point (usually in the middle of the night in the winter time), then the snow making equipment fires up and blankets the slopes with snow. By morning, you have several inches of fresh snow that can be groomed. Over the course of weeks through the season, a snow base builds up that won't melt easily, even through the warm spells during the winter.

Since these slopes in SE Oklahoma are comparable in length, angle and height to most ski resorts back east and even a few in Colorado, this would be a great draw for the millions who live within a 5 hour radius of the ski resort.

[jbrown84]

Yeah I know how snowmaking works, but most ski areas just use it to provide a little "padding" when snowfall is low. Here, it would have to be 99% snowmaking.

[Luke]

MOUNTAIN STATISTICS @ Gatlinburg vs. SE Oklahoma

Base Elevation (valley): 2,700 ft vs. 700 ft
Summit Elevation: 3,300 ft vs. 2,500 ft
Vertical Drop: 600 ft vs. 1,800 ft
Annual Snowfall: 50 in vs. 6 in
Longest Run: 5,000 ft vs. 5,000 ft
Snowmaking: 100 % vs. 100 %

[ETL]

Why would Gatlinburg have to make 100% of the snow?

[Luke]

I believe that means they have the capabilities to blanket 100% of their slopes in snow. I assume this is so they can open ALL their slopes up no matter how little snow they get. This is as opposed to those ski resorts that don't have snow making equipment on all their slopes which would mean that if they have a down year for snow, they are limited to the slopes that DO have the snow making equipment and not as many people can ski.

[ETL]

Oh!

[jbrown84]

Snowmaking equipment is portable. I'm not positive but pretty sure that that means that less than one percent of their snow is natural, which would make sense if they only get 50 inches a year. Those stats make me less skeptical. That's a whole lot more vertical drop than Gatlinburg, which is a key thing.

Cloudmont has only a 150 ft. drop, which is basically a joke to anyone who's skied in the Rockies. They have 90% snowmaking and a 1700 ft summit elevation.

Monarch in Colorado has an 1100 ft vertical drop and an almost 12,000 ft. summit, although it's one of the highest. The summit is on the Continental Divide.

[jbrown84]

It could be done but it would have to be on a northwest facing slope and unlike ski areas in the Rockies, all rocks and obstacles would have to be removed from the runs and it would have to be smoothed out almost like a golf course because you're not going to have 4 or 5 feet of snow to cover it all up. I think if it were a real year-round destination it could do well. That area already has a big influx of tourists from the Dallas area. Texans are building vacation cabins in the Beavers Bend area like crazy.

The Ouachitas in winter:

[Luke]

I've looked at Rich Mountain for a north facing slope. It has the angle, the height and the length needed for a good slope.

[OUman]

Keep in mind that we are much more prone to ice storms than snowfall, that doesn't bode well when it comes to having peace of mind for outdoor Winter Olympics events like snowboarding, skiing, etc. Just a thought.

OUman

[jbrown84]

We were discussing the Summer Olympics, we just kind of got off topic on the idea of a ski area in OK.