General Communications
SVMA Annual Meeting
Dear Solitude Village Homeowners,
The annual meeting of the SVMA (Solitude Village Master Association) will be conducted virtually (via ZOOM) and in person at the Last Chance Lodge. Our SVMA website, www.solitudevillagemaster.org, will be updated ahead of the meeting with the SVMA FY23 Budget. Any questions for the Q&A should be asked in the chat or emailed to n.sieckowski@solitudemountain.com prior to the meeting.
MEETING DATE:
Friday, August 5, 2022
TIME:
HOST time 3:30 p.m. MT
Eastern: 5:30 p.m. ET
Central: 4:30 p.m. CT
Pacific: 2:30 p.m. PT
Resort Update
3:30 - 4:15 PM
SVMA Annual Meeting
4:15 - 5:30 PM
Solitude Water Company Update
5:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Thirsty Squirrel Reception (21+ hosted by SVMA)
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
SVMA Annual Meeting Agenda:
Welcome and Introductions
Zoom Housekeeping Items (mute microphones, put questions in chat, general questions in q&a)
Financial Review
Project Review
Club Solitude Update
Q&A
Adjourn Meeting
Steve Holtey is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: SVMA Annual Homeowners Meeting 2022
Time: Aug 5, 2022, 03:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 860 4240 2528
Passcode: 787848
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Other events during Homeowners Weekend:
Solitude Resort Lodging Open House
Saturday, August 6, 2022
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Creekside Meeting Room
Hike and Yoga at the Roundhouse
Saturday, August 7, 2022
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
For more information email b.parcinska@solitudemountain.com
Solitude Summerfest
Sunday, August 7, 2022
12:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Village Green Playground Update
Hello Owners,
I wanted to give you an update on the status of our playground. As some will remember, a few years back there was a concerted partnership between the SVMA and the Resort to re-imagine the Village Green. An outstanding item of which includes the Resort’s installation of a playground unit. With SVMA Board Approval, we have purchased a feature from Bears Playground out of New York. I chose this vendor by working with some friends of mine in the child care business. We were able to obtain a sample box of materials, and this company’s mission of “marrying nature with play” is what sold us on being the right fit for our beautiful mountain environment. We have a very small available footprint to work with, essentially the east corner of the green. I was keen to have the playground ready to unveil at our annual homeowner’s weekend in August, but due to supply chain challenges - it does not look like we will achieve installation until the September timeframe. However, I did feel compelled to give you an update - we will speak to this in our annual SVMA meeting on August 5th. Below is a link to an example of the unit we selected called The Proudest Monkey. Enjoy! Best, a.
Bears Playgrounds Proudest Monkey Tree Fort (Commercial), Letchworth State Park, NY
Owners Adult Only pool time
Dear Homeowners,
Starting on Monday July 11th the Inn swimming pool will be open 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. for Owners ADULT ONLY time.
This is offered on Mondays to Homeowners ONLY. You are welcome to bring one adult guests with you, but your presence is required.
If Monday is a Holiday (example: Labor Day) the Owners ADULT ONLY time will move to Tuesday 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Monday August 1st and Tuesday August 2nd currently are the only dates when the Inn will not be able to offer that to Homeowners. Any additional date will be communicated.
Reminder! NO GLASS is allowed at the pool deck
Adult is 18 years or older.
Due to water restrictions, we would like to ask all Solitude Village Homeowners to advise their guests to avoid splashing and clogging up the water slide while using the pool at Club Solitude. Too much water usage could force us to shut off the water slide for the rest of the season.
Please remember about our Homeowners Website for current updates
https://www.solitudevillagemaster.com/general-communication
Thank you
Solitude Adventure Park
Check out new bungee trampoline. New climbing wall is coming soon. Until then adventure park pass is 50% off.
Solitude is also offering bike lessons, bike rentals and disc rentals.
Find more information on Solitude Website
https://www.solitudemountain.com/plan-your-trip/lift-tickets/summer-lift-tickets
SVMA Guidelines for Air Conditioning
Owners,
As the summer Utah heat begins to uptick, I wanted to remind folks of our current protocols regarding Air Conditioning (AC). Per our SVMA CCRs, any changes to exteriors of buildings must go through the SVMA Design Review Committee. Currently, the Committee is not in favor of any exterior units, including window units and/or venting for internal systems, due to concerns related to noise and unsightliness. However, any in unit AC that doesn’t require ducting, or uses dryer ducting would fall under the purview of your respective HOA.
Thank you,
Amber
Club Solitude Summer Hours Update
Dear Village Homeowners,
On Thursday June 16th, the Club will change to our Summer hours 8am – 10pm, and Solitude Resort will open for Summer operations.
However, we will have a tree removal crew on that day to work around the pool deck. As a result, The Club pool and hot tubs will be closed on Thursday but will reopen Friday June 17th.
The rest of Club facilities will be available.
Homeowners and guests are welcome to use pool and hot tub at The Inn at Solitude ( pool will be open 10:00 a.m. - 10 p.m.).
Starting June 16th Summer hours for the Club will be:
CLUB FRONT DESK
Daily 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
POOL
Daily 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
(starting June 17th)
GAME ROOM
Daily 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
GYM
Daily 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Please check out our summer activities and events on Solitude Village Master Association website
https://www.solitudevillagemaster.com/events
Events — Solitude Village Master Association
Enjoy an informative lift-served guided hike around the resort studying rock formations and learning the history of how Solitude was formed. The talk starts at 9:00 a.m. by the Solitude Village pond.
and Solitude Resort website
https://www.solitudemountain.com/things-to-do/events-and-activities
Utah Events Near Salt Lake City | Solitude Mountain Resort
Quick Links. Ski & Vacation Packages in Utah | Solitude Mountain Resort Find exclusive ski and lodging and excursion packages to give you the ultimate mountain experience at Solitude Mountain Resort. Book today! Buy Solitude Lift Tickets Today | Solitude Mountain Resort With 1,200 acres of incredible terrain, you'll find some of the best skiing in Utah. . Purchase your ski and snowboard lift ...
Additionally, we will have inclusive Owner's events scheduled in June, July and during Homeowners weekend (evenings of Friday August 5th and Saturday August 6th ). More information will follow
Solitude Resort Hours of Operation
F&B
Honeycomb Grill
Thursday through Sunday: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
St Bernard's Breakfast
Monday: 7:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Friday through Sunday: 7:00 - 11:00 a.m.
(opening Saturday 6/11/22)
Stone Haus
Daily: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Thirsty Squirrel
Friday: 3:00 p.m. - close
Saturday and Sunday: 12:00 p.m. - close
(opening Friday 6/17/22)
Retail
Village Store
Daily: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Canyon Fever - Village
Thursday through Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
(opening Thursday 6/16/22)
Spa
Solitude Mountain Spa
Thursday through Sunday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
(opening Friday 6/17/22)
Guest Services
Powderhorn Ticket Office
Monday through Wednesday: 10:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Thursday through Sunday: 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
(opening Thursday 6/16/22)
Rental Equipment
Powderhorn Adventure Center
Thursday through Sunday: 9:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
(opening Thursday 6/16/22)
Lodging
Solitude Resort Lodging
Daily: 24 hours a day
(Monday through Wednesday: 11:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m. guests will be referred to the Inn)
The Inn at Solitude
Thursday through Monday
(opening Friday 6/10/22)
Community Town Hall - Recording
Hello Solitude Village Homeowners
Thank you to all who participated in Community Town Hall on THU, 02 JUN. For those who had missed it, here is a link to recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKX_7hCxog4
Thank you for watching
Best,
Beata
Community Town Hall
Hi Folks,
I wanted to remind you of our Community Town Hall next THU, 02 JUN at 4:00 PM. It will be held in person at Moonbeam Lodge and online. Find event details and link on our Events Calendar. The forum will recap the season, talk about summer projects, and shed some light on our 5 year plan.
Solitude Town Hall (solitudemountain.com)
Thanks,
a.
Club Solitude Hours Update
Dear Village Homeowners,
I hope you all had a great winter season!
Beginning Monday May 2nd Club Solitude will be open 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. These hours will continue through June 16th when Solitude opens for summer season.
Monday through Thursday swimming pool will open by request only.
If you or your family will be arriving outside our operating hours, please let us know, and we will make arrangements.
Best,
Beata Parcinska
Club Solitude Manager
Mailroom Location Change
The Mailroom has moved from the Admin Building to the SRL Front Desk. This move is a result of feedback from owners who have had difficulty picking up packages during the mailroom hours. The SRL Front Desk has an advantage of being open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and located in a similarly convenient spot. Linked below is the Solitude Mailroom Village Package Policy.
https://alterraassets.widen.net/s/cnxmdglzrc
If there are any questions please contact Beata at Club Solitude or Nick at SRL.
Village Store to Remain Open
Hi folks, in light of Brighton shutting down their General Store from late April through early May we have decided the right thing to do for our staff, owners, guests and community is to keep our Village Store at the Inn open through the off-season. We plan to run it Daily 10 AM - 6 PM. The store carries basic sundries, eggs, butter, milk, beer, wine, liquor and more. We hope this helps those of you that live up here with us or may be planning a visit during May - early June.
Our last day of winter operations is SUN, 01 MAY. It will be our 160th day open making what we believe is the longest season at Solitude. Parking will be free on this day and we will honor all valid Solitude Passholders, including Midweek Passholders. It will be a Retro Ski/Ride Celebration where all guests in the Moonbeam Cafeteria will be treated like our employees receiving a 50% off food. We plan to kick the kegs in our pubs/bars so please pop by for some great tap specials too.
I plan to hold a Community Town Hall on THU, 02 JUN at 4:00 PM in Moonbeam Lodge and via Zoom. This will be a forum to recap our winter ‘21-’22 season, talk about our summer 2022 operations & projects, and start to give share our vision for our five year plan. Stay tuned for details.
Summer Operations is scheduled to begin on THU, 16 JUN.
Our next SVMA Board Meeting is on THU, 19 MAY so please be sure to send along any comments/questions to your representatives: Gaylis, John & Susan.
Thanks for a great spring,
a.
Fitness Center Survey Results
Dear Village Homeowners,
Below you can see results of our Club Solitude Fitness Center Survey.
Based on response, this season we are planning on replacing :
- Two stationary bikes
- Two treadmills
- Rower
- Free weights (completed)
- Add air purifier
Amber’s Podcast on Storm Skiing Journal
A few of you have inquired as to my background and story on how I made it here to Solitude. You can learn more at this podcast on the Storm Skiing Journal. He has changed his platform so a subscription may be necessary to get to some of the content. Warning - it’s not short!
Podcast #76: Solitude President & COO Amber Broadaway (stormskiing.com)
Alterra Capital Investments
Dear Owners,
I am sure some of you read the press release announcing $344M in capital improvements across the Alterra Family. The bulk of this growth capital is being spent in the continuation of big projects at Steamboat Springs and Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw), along with new buildouts at Deer Valley, Mammoth, and Crystal. Alterra has broken its resorts into roughly 3 waves of investment groupings, the above represents the first wave. Solitude is in the second wave, and we have received growth capital for this year in the amount of $2.8M. This growth capital envelope is separate and aside from our annual capital allotment for recurring or regular maintenance. The money for this year is being used in three primary ways: (1) snowmaking exploration, engineering design, and permitting; (2) summer buildout of beginner mountain biking in the Moonbeam area, and a paved walking path between the Village and Moonbeam; and (3) planning, architectural renderings, and permitting for changes to our bus center, Moonbeam and Last Chance Lodge areas, and the future development of our Inn and Inspo parcels.
I am planning to host an in-person and virtual Town Hall in May to conduct a winter season recap, discuss our summer projects and maintenance plans, as well as give an overview of our updated 5 Year Plan - Vision to Build. The date for this Town Hall has yet to be set, stay tuned for more details on this coming in late April.
Don’t forget, we are Springing Forward this SUN, 13 MAR with expanded Saturday and Sunday lift hours (on select lifts only) until 5 PM. This means we will have Solitude’s FIRST 9-HOUR DAY of operations since the good ol’ days of night skiing here.
See you on the hill,
a.
Mask Policy Update
Dear Village Homeowners,
As of today, we are updating our mask policy to being recommended in all public indoor areas. Masks are still available for guests at our front line locations. Communication updates and signage will follow.
Please email b.parcinska@solitudemountain.com with any questions.
Thank you,
Beata
New Shuttle System
Dear Owners,
Thank you for the many of you that have shared your appreciation and support of our new shuttle system. The Shuttle Team tells me this year’s guest, owner, and employee usage has been off the charts. But after a recent conversation with a couple of you, it occurred to me that our reason for this change may not be fully understood.
In late fall, our ski and ride department requested we purchase two new snowmobiles and pull behind sleds so that they could pickup our lodging guests to transport them from the Village to their lessons at Moonbeam. Apparently, this was a practice in use season’s prior. The need conveyed to me for this new equipment was that our shuttle system from SRL to Moonbeam was unreliable and guests were frequently missing their scheduled lessons. Our team spent quite a bit of time researching these equipment items and trying to find unbudgeted monies to make this work.
At the same time this request was happening, we were having internal discussions with our shuttle & parking team on the Nordic shuttle and how difficult it was to support that on busy days due to canyon traffic. The team reported many days last season that the shuttle would take several hours to get from SRL up to the Nordic Center and back. Soon thereafter, Nate went out to walk the road between the bridge and Moonbeam to see if it was possible to run our shuttle the backway. If we could do this, it meant we could keep our shuttle off the main road, removing yet another car from the canyon traffic, and hopefully increase our reliability in getting guests from the Village to the Moonbeam area. Much to my amazement, Nate was able to pull this off and here we are.
We know the system has opportunities for improvement. These include: smoothing out the drop-off by Last Chance, possibly paving the entire section, removing the grassy area in the middle of the bridge, looking at a new extension of the bridge for a covered pedestrian walk-way, widening the roundabout so the vans can make a turn in one fell swoop, addressing some drainage issues, and improved signage.
We know for some of you this shuttle change has altered your accustomed Village look and feel, and we get that. However, the functional improvement for our village guests (and yours) - leave us with our intention to keep this change for the go forward. In addition, we now utilize the UTA Bus from Moonbeam as our primary shuttle up to the Nordic Center. This bus goes more frequently (versus 2x per day) and generally has more space on it. This change has also been favorably received by our Nordic & Snowshoe users.
We assure you we will continue to hone our process and plan work on some of those improvements for next season. In the meantime, thank you for your ongoing patience and support as we continue to try and enhance the Solitude experience.
Best,
a.
Propane Bill Discount
Dear Owners,
Today, our tank levels are reading 50%. Daily deliveries have been on schedule as promised. Additionally, our finance team was able to get Ferrell to agree to one free load of propane. Therefore, we will be extending to all of you a 5% Discount on your next billing statement, which I believe is scheduled in the next two weeks.
Thank you for your ongoing support, we appreciate it.
Think snow,
a.
Propane Update
Dear Owners,
Today, we received two additional loads of propane. The tank is now reading close to 39%. Our maintenance team is watching the deliveries and gauges very closely, and they are updating me the status via texts throughout the day. We also had a conversation with the General Manager at Ferrell today. They took full responsibility for what was a failure of two parts: 1) not informing us of our service contact change (and hence why communications were going unanswered), and 2) an error in the remote monitoring system communication.
It turns out, the remote monitoring system did in fact do its job and sent three separate emails to the Dispatch Portal requesting refill deliveries. For some reason, the Dispatch Portal did not pick up these emails. Therefore, they are in process of investigating why this happened. Ferrell has committed to the following changes with our contract: 1) To install a new monitoring system at their expense, 2) To dedicate a new single point of contact for Solitude deliveries, and 3) Deliveries will be made every Tue, Wed & Thu for the remainder of the winter season.
In addition, Solitude will now have more members of our team receiving the daily propane level emails so we have a larger group of people watching our tank levels. And we now have the direct cell phone numbers of several individuals at Ferrell above and beyond our new Service Contact. We are also awaiting competitive pricing information from UT LP Gas and will look at that when it arrives.
We are moving in the right direction.
Thank you,
a.
Resort Propane Management
Dear Owners,
We appreciate everyone’s patience as Solitude worked through an issue this morning with our propane supplier, Ferrellgas. We rely on them to remotely monitor our tank levels and dispatch trucks as appropriate. For reasons that we are still in process of investigating, Ferrell allowed the tank to fall to a level which, in these cold temperatures, resulted in an under-pressure condition. Working with them we were able to get a tanker dispatched to our location within an hour of encountering the problem. Additional trucks are scheduled over the next 48-72 hours to ensure the propane take is returned to, and maintained at, the proper level. Our maintenance manager receives a daily email on tank levels. He began calling Ferrell a few days ago when the readings began approaching 25%. He left daily messages that went unanswered requesting a refill. Unbeknownst to us, our service point of contact left the business; we were not notified of this nor provided a new contact.
Here is what we are doing right now to stay on top of this issue: Effective immediately, we will begin checking the gauges daily as we are concerned about their accuracy. Today’s tanks went empty even though the meter read 7%. We will be verifying truck deliveries over the next few days. If the Ferrell truck’s fail to arrive, we have a secondary supplier ready to act. We are in process of reaching out to Ferrell’s senior management team to better understand what they are prepared to do to make this right and win back our confidence. In the meantime, we are in process of talking with a new vendor, UT LP Gas to obtain quotes on taking over this contract.
Today we fell short and we are embarrased. We sincerely apologize to all of you for any inconveniences incurred. We will get this sorted and keep you informed via this platform. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to me direct at any time at a.broadaway@solitudemountainresort.com or 801.536.5776
With apologies,
a.
Amber L. Broadaway, President Solitude Mountain Resort
Verizon service during resort peak times
Dear Village Homeowners,
Here is an email from our IT Manager Jack Harris, regarding concerns about phone service during resort peak times and his recommendations,
“We understand and share your safety concerns about phones working during the busy days and weekends we now see. In the past Verizon was a reliable carrier which is why the resort has used them for our business plan. That said our staff has been noticing the issues you've described with Verizon for the past couple of years and have been working with our account rep to remediate those problems. What it comes down to is that on the busy days between Solitude and Brighton there just isn't enough capacity to handle the load, and currently our rep hasn't been able to find out if there are any plans to upgrade the equipment to handle the load. It's interesting that they claim not to be aware of any issues since we've put in several trouble tickets in the last couple of years. What I think will have the most effect on Verizon is if they receive a large amount of complaints about service and not just one complaint from one entity with a relatively small account. I can however offer you some advice on some things that could possible help.
1. Talk with a Verizon rep about putting boosters inside your buildings of course this won't help you outside
2. Coordinate residents with Verizon to call and complain, the more complaints they get the more it will push them to make changes
As a matter of information for you the resort completed a side-by-side test of Verizon and AT&T phones during MLK which was a busy day in the canyon. We found that voice and data performance of AT&T was far better than Verizon. Basically, out of almost 20 test call locations Verizon worked at 2 locations and AT&T worked at all but one location.
Jack Harris
Senior IT Operations Manager
Solitude Mountain Resort
j.harris@solitudemountain.com”