work,” she adds. “We had employee housing readily available for them, and our food and beverage director came in, and we figured out how to feed them.” It was something of a trial by fire for the food and beverage director, Justin Barnes, who was newly hired and set to start April 1. “I said, ‘Your orientation is going to be a little weird,’” recalls Chum- bler. Luckily, in addition to feeding the crews, Barnes also had experience oper- ating a chainsaw. At the end of the day, “We built some great relationships,” says Ortlieb. “Some of the folks are still in touch with each other. It was really cool to see those connections form within the Boyne network.” “It was neat to see the people that stepped up and the community draw together,” says Chumbler. “Leaders were born. Robby’s leadership and Mari’s, I can’t speak enough to that,” he adds. “They were on full display, and it was cool to witness.” THE LEARNS While much has been accomplished, recovery is ongoing. Kissinger estimates, “between our outside help, our inside help, our visiting help, we’re in over 15,000 man-hours of labor just focused on storm cleanup. We probably have another 5,000- plus hours to go before the season hits. We still have to get into our gladed areas and beyond, because there are still trees that are snapped in half and hangers.” Summer business rebounded, but not without effort. Golf opened nearly on time—just one course was delayed by a week. Mountain biking was slow to restart, but it and most other summer activities resumed. There were casualties. The adventure business was a total loss, which may be fortuitous. “Zip lining had been flatlin- ing a bit,” says Chumbler. “We’ve got esti- mates for a new zip tour, and we think there’s an opportunity to reimagine it.” Assets for the winter Enchanted “WE’RE IN OVER 15,000 MAN-HOURS OF LABOR ... WE PROBABLY HAVE 5,000- PLUS HOURS TO GO.”
Trail nighttime light walk were also destroyed, but it had already been slat- ed for relocation. That plan now has momentum, says Kissinger. Despite it all, the resort is “OK, rev- enue-wise,” says Chumbler, and doesn’t anticipate closing any terrain this winter. But “given the extent of trail clearing and maintenance work to be completed, we’re going to need every bit of the sum- mer to get ready for winter,” he adds. “We’ve been estimating it takes about one week per run.” Managing future risks. The risk management side has seen some positive outcomes. Power lines that were previ- ously overhead have been moved under- ground. The slope maintenance team will continue its proactive tree auditing practices and is now better equipped for future weather events. “We now have the right equipment on property,” says Kissinger. “Woodchip- pers, PPE, all of it.” What could have been done differ- ently? “There’s not much you can do to prepare for something of this magni- tude,” says Chumbler. “They called it a hundred-year storm. We’ll probably get one every three years now.” Chumbler was joking, but his sug- gestion is supported by the fifth Con- gress-commissioned National Climate Assessment, published in 2023, which found an increase in severity, extent and/ or frequency of multiple types of extreme events, including major storms—a reali- ty experienced on the ground at many mountain resorts as they grapple annu-
ally with flooding, fire, and sometimes to their benefit, extreme snowfall. Controlling one’s own destiny. Highlands has had to rely on its own resources to manage its recovery. Federal and state assistance have been nonstart- ers, and insurance claims are progressing at “a glacial pace,” says Chumbler. But the team remains grateful in the face of such a large-scale remediation effort. “I think it brought a lot of great out of people,” says Ortlieb. “Just imagine hang- ing out with a crew, feeding a woodchip- per for eight hours a day. You’re going to bond, I promise you that.” “We all just did what we could for each other,” adds Chumbler. “You wouldn’t believe how many people still thank me for us opening the hotel, for letting them stay there, for feeding them a meal a day, how much that meant to them. It was a challenge, but we had some good come out of it, for sure.”
BELOW: A radio tower on the summit collapsed from ice buildup two nights into the storm. BOTTOM: The weather event didn’t just down trees, it left masses of brush and branches to mulch and burn.
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