01. The Start of a New Chapter: 25/26 Ski Season
Hello Unofficial Okemo Fans! Abby here! It feels so good to be writing to you all again, but it feels even better to know that tomorrow is the OPENING DAY OF THE 25/26 SEASON AT OKEMO! 🥳
Who's hitting the slopes tomorrow? First chair spins at 9 a.m. at the Clocktower Base and it's going to be a great season kick-off. With two full top-to-bottom runs on the dock to open, it will be one of the better opening days we've had in recent years. Read Okemo's full report and plan here.
But before we dive in, we've got some good news and some bad news...
After many discussions with my pal and co-owner, Noah Schmidt, we've decided to no longer write daily snow reports. I know, I know, that sounds like an April Fool's joke, but we're being real with y'all. Simply put, our lives just don't have room for it anymore. We will get more into that later in this update. But writing a full-blown email report 5 days a week is a lot harder than it sounds. Yes, it's fun and sounds like an awesome job, but our real jobs are demanding more and more of us. So, we are pivoting to a form of content that is faster, easier, and takes less time.
That being said, the good news is that Unofficial Okemo is not being put to rest. We're actually focusing the energy we do have into our social media pages: Instagram and Facebook. Our general updates, skiing videos, snowfall coverage, and everything else you know and love about Unofficial will live on our socials. We feel it's the happy medium of being able to offer our insights, but we can make it happen on the fly.
We hear that a lot of our newsletter readers don't follow us on our socials, so now is the time to do so if you want to keep up with us.
BUT, we have a surprise. 😮 We did say that we are no longer writing daily snow reports, but that doesn't mean this is the last time you'll hear from us in your inbox. Noah hopes to send out a report periodically to provide everyone with the Mega Update™️. So while we are leaning into our social media content more, you can expect to receive a handful of email reports this season. All of our email content will be absolutely free, no more paywalls.
If you're wondering what led us to this decision, here's a bit of a deep dive about our personal and work lives:
Abby's Life Update ⬇️
As some of you may know, Abby is the owner of Wavy Grape, a Graphic Design Studio based in Ludlow. She’s been creating brand identities, websites, and graphics over the last 5 years for local restaurants, shops, and spots you love like Mountain Munchkins, Viking Nordic Center, Green Mountain Lavender, and many more. She's also involved with the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance as their website designer and graphic designer. Plus, Abby is the Marketing Manager for the local favorite, the Ludlow Farmers Market.
At home, she’s wrangling her two dog-daughters, Maple (9) and Ruby (2), and probably chasing them around Jackson Gore. Abby has also helped her husband, Danny, get his business off the ground this year. Danny is the owner of First Chair Carpentry & Tile, and that guy can basically do it all, from bathroom renovations to window installation. Abby helps Danny with design plans, accounting, and lunchtime. As they say, behind every great man is a better woman.
You can also often find Abby at Create Together at Fletcher Farm and inside the Pottery Studio, just getting her creative juices flowing. Or, you can find her at her sister Avery's apartment (which is actually just Noah and Rachel's house lol). Or in Maine with her mom, brother, and almost-sister-in-law. Life is good for Abby. She's happy.
Noah's Life Update ⬇️
Where do we even begin? Noah Schmidt is involved in a lot of things, too many things if you ask me. He's the owner of Open Door Vacation Rentals, the booming and ever-growing vacation rental management company. So this is your reminder to book your ski trip with ODVR now!
Noah is also one of Ludlow's Selectmen, and he loves it. You can often find him at multiple meetings a week at Town Hall, helping Ludlow grow to its greatest potential.
Depending on the season, Noah's weekends are either spent cycling incredibly long distances or skinning up Okemo at incredible speed. He doesn't do anything chill. His evenings are filled with his wife Rachel's delicious meals and probably reading something philosophical.
Oh yeah, he and Rachel just bought a house too, and boy is it a project. They are proud to be the new owners of a lovely home in the village where they envision growing their family and making mems. For now, you can probably find our entire friend group at their digs, working on everything from tearing down 70's wallpaper to scraping off popcorn ceilings.
With his one-eyed cat, Wink, keeping him up at night and his ever-growing to-do list and buzzing phone, Noah somehow gets it all done. He's a boss. And he's happy.
Unofficial Okemo is just one piece of our beautifully busy and full lives. The growing pains of being 30+ years old have brought changes to how we spend our energy and time. While we will continue to post content when we can (and when we want) it’s become more and more difficult for us to prioritize daily snow reports.
We hope you understand this change, and please know that it was a hard decision to make. It doesn't go unnoticed how much our readers love our reports, and we love you for caring all these years. Thank you to all of our sponsors who helped us get this thing off the ground in the first place - your support means the world.
We hope you'll continue the Unofficial Okemo journey with us in this new chapter.
Think Snow,
Abby & Noah
