BOONE, Iowa — Seven Oaks Recreation in Boone hopes to have more snow this upcoming ski and snowboard season after it recently purchased three snow machines to help cover more of the hills after warm temperatures melted snow last winter quickly.
The machines cost between $25-30,000 on average, so the family-run business hopes staying open because of the new machines will overcome the cost of its recent purchase.
"I mean we're 25 total snow machines now," Seven Oaks owner Joel Bryan said. "So going from 22 to 25, that's three more spots that we can be at every minute that we make snow. We can be at three more spots on the hill... It definitely is an investment. But it's hard to be a ski area without snow. So you gotta have it. So it just makes sense to continue to invest in our snow-making system here."
Last season, Seven Oaks opened on Dec. 1, and closed the first week of March. Generally, the business aims to open Thanksgiving weekend, a similar opening goal for this season.
Abnormal temperatures during last winter led Seven Oaks employees to work harder to maintain snow depth on the hills to stay open as long as possible.
Into the last couple weeks of the season, hills became a bit muddy and thinly-lined.
However, Bryan believes these three snow machines will keep up with the changing climate, and potentially extend its upcoming season.