The bums are back for the last podcast of the summer! Our favorite time of year is just around the corner and now we’re just checking in you to make sure you’ve got all your pre-season shopping done? What, it’s not? You’ve got a week and the bums are here to help you get on track.

NOAA just released their latest weather predictions for the fall & early winter in the USA. Meteorologic fall begins in September 1st and meteorologic winter starts on December 1st.

NOAA is calling for a 55-60% chance of La Nina this fall/winter and this outlook follows a La Nina pattern. La Nina generally drops above average snow in the Pacific Northwest and that’s what NOAA is calling for this fall and early winter.

According to a press release from Valemount Glacier Destinations Ltd., the company received its Master Plan approval yesterday from the B.C. government.

The company plans to open a new resort that will become a major year-round skiing destination and will provide lift access to the summit of Mount Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The new resort will have 6,726 feet of vertical drop—the most vertical of any resort in North America.

Unlike the Jumbo Glacier Resort project, this project did not face a lot of opposition in the community.

“The project embodies the best of B.C. – environmentally sustainable design coupled with some of the best vistas and mountain experiences in the world,” says Tommaso Oberti of Oberti Resort Design and the Pheidias Group in the press release.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2017, with an ultimate opening in December 2017.

The Amtrak Winter Park Express will be fully operational for the 2016-2017 ski season after a seven-year hiatus. According to the press release, the weekend passenger train service from Denver Union Station to the slopes of Winter Park is back, with Amtrak, Winter Park Resort and Union Pacific Railroad having reached agreement to operate the trains from January 7th through March 26th, 2017.

“This is the culmination of a long but rewarding process and we couldn’t be more excited to have passenger rail service return to the doorstep of Winter Park Resort,” said Gary DeFrange, Winter Park Resort President. “We know there’s incredible demand for a viable transportation alternative to I-70 and we’re deeply appreciative to Amtrak, Union Pacific, CDOT, City of Denver, and the Town of Winter Park for helping to make this long-standing dream a reality.”

The round-trips will run on Saturdays and Sundays, with an additional round-trip on Martin Luther King Day and Presidents Day. Winter Park Express trains will give skiers and riders the option to skip heavy I-70 traffic, while enjoying a comfortable and scenic two-