Extra snow machines prove a success at Seven Oaks as they stayed open during warm week

Yahoo

05-02-2025

BOONE, Iowa — Seven Oaks invested more time and money into preparing for this winter season, and their efforts paid off.
Last summer, the winter sports resort added three more snow machines to its slopes, bringing its total number of snowmakers to 24. The snowmakers use 1,600 gallons of water per minute to create snow. Seven Oaks started putting them to work in November so they could guarantee enough snow on their slopes by their opening week.
'The weather in Iowa, across the Midwest, has been pretty unpredictable the last several years, and so, we're just going to continue to reinvest in the snow-making system,' said owner Joel Greer.
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These extra efforts were proven to be a good investment, as this winter saw the least amount of snow on record and temperatures were high last week. An unusually dry winter and a week of back-to-back days with temperatures in the 40s and 50s would normally be enough to shut down a ski/snowboarding resort, but that wasn't the case for Seven Oaks.
Greer said all of their slopes had 24 inches of snow throughout last week. Some people even thought last week's conditions were perfect for winter sports.
'It really is the time to come out,' said Greer, 'There might be some more spring conditions, so soft snow, but it really brings a lot of people out.'
For more information on Seven Oaks' days and hours of operation, click here.
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