Eagle Cap Ski Club President Charlie Kissinger of Joseph examines the cable guides on one of the T- bar towers at Ferguson Ridge Ski Area in preparation for opening day once the snow arrives. Photo by Kim Lamb

The Eagle Cap Ski Club, which operates the 170-acre Ferguson Ridge Ski Area, received a green light to start operations once the snow flies this season. The facility closed last year before season’s end due to an insurance problem. “We had some insurance difficulties but got them worked out,” said Ski Club President Charlie Kissinger of Joseph. The new insurance company that the club is working through deals primarily with ski areas.

The company sent a representative out last week to inspect the ski facility. “We’ve got a list of things that we need to work on but the majority of things are just normal maintenance items,” Kissinger said.

There are two major changes, however, that will be implemented this year as a requirement of the new insurance policy. An operator will be present at the top of the hill on the T bar that will be able to shut down the lift if necessary. There will also be an operator present at the rope tow making for a safer environment at both lift areas. “It’s kind of double safety ,” Kissinger said. “We have always had a safety system in place but the insurance company wants somebody there at the top and on the rope tow to monitor the lifts,”he added.

Hill managers and Ski Patrol will trade off staying on top of the hill at the T-bar in a heated shed. In the shed will be a shut off switch so the lift can be stopped from there. “We’ve always watched it informally but now there will be someone on duty there at all times,” Kissinger said.Many of the volunteer duties in the past were carried out on an informal basis. Now volunteers will receive a higher degree of training for their job tasks.

Ticket price increases are possible, but are really dependent upon Mother Nature. “There are years when we are open for Thanksgiving and years when we’re hopefully open for Christmas, but we just really don’t know. Some years we are not open until January or February,” Kissinger said.

Fergi’s best snow is always later in the season with February and March having the best ski conditions.

The added cost of the new insurance policy is forcing the club to be more careful money wise. “We have to tighten up the number of tickets that we give away and really watch the way that we manage operations,” Kissinger said.

“Hopefully that will keep ticket prices where they are now,” he added.

The club spent the the majority of their operating capital carry over from last year earmarked for maintenance items, but is now looking at insurance costs. If snow comes early and conditions are favorable they hope to get by without a price increase ” Our goal is to keep ticket prices as low as we can,” Kissinger said. “Fergi is a family and kid oriented ski area so we need to keep it inexpensive for everybody to ski here.”

Ferguson Ridge Ski Area features seven trails with 600 feet of vertical drop from the top of the T-bar. Its longest run measures 6250 feet with 20 percent of its runs rated as most difficult, 45 percent rated more difficult and 35 percent rated as easiest. Trail ratings indicate the relative difficulty of runs within a given ski area and are not meant to be used for comparison between ski areas.