Holy Moly Let it SNOW!!!

Well, after weeks of storm warnings for storms that missed us and buried Northern Colorado, we finally got a good one! Yesterday’s storm dumped well over 6 inches on our little gulch in Valley of the Sun, with even more up at the higher elevations. It was a beautiful, snowy day at last.

Christian and Clint left to start their routes at about 2 am, starting in Valley of the Sun before they head up to Placer. Just to give you a heads up, it might take us the full 48 hours to clear this storm. With this kind of accumulation, it always takes a bit longer, and additionally, we are 2 trucks down at the moment, so it’s all going to be done in equipment, which is more efficient but also much slower. Please be patient with us as we dig you out. We are coming, don’t worry.

As always, we ask you not to contact either Christian or Clint directly. We want them to finish up as quickly and safely as possible, and the best way to do that is to leave them alone and just let them do their thing. If you have any questions, please call the main line, Carey, or Christin. We are happy to help if we can.

That Mountain Life

Nothing quite prepares you for life up here. It’s breathless, both literally and figuratively, and I don’t think I’ve ever lived anywhere with crazier weather. You can be having a blizzard in town, and up at our house in Valley of the Sun, it’s barely a dusting, and vice versa. Yesterday was no exception! As I made my way home, it was snowing, blowing, and at times, whiteout and then a hundred feet further it was clear(ish) and eerily calm. Some roads were icy, thanks to the warm weather we’ve had over the last few days, some were powder, and some were slush. There was no steady consistency to it at all, and it was perfect example of how you really need to be prepared for anything up here, especially in the dead of winter.

Christian and Clint left around 4 pm to start the route up in Blue River and Placer, where it was dumping all afternoon. Thankfully, we were spared the worst of it here in Fairplay, but we still got a decent dump- when all said and done, we’ve probably received just about the trigger of 4 inches. Clint had some mechanical issues with one of our trucks, so he’s going to head back out early this morning in the skid steer, while Christian was out late into the night in the loader clearing the Valley.

As always, we ask you not to contact either Christian or Clint directly. We want them to finish up as quickly and safely as possible, and the best way to do that is to leave them alone and just let them do their thing. If you have any questions, please call the main line, Carey, or Christin. We are happy to help if we can. :)

Stay warm and safe!

Not-So-Dry January

Woooooohooooooo! More snow! Praise Ullr!

This morning we woke up to another 4 inches on our deck in Valley of the Sun, and so Clint and Christian headed straight out after breakfast to get a head start. Those of you who didn’t hit the trigger in the last storm, expect to see them today. If you want to help move things along, make sure to have your cars out of the way so that they can get in and get out quickly.

As always, we ask you not to contact either Christian or Clint directly. We want them to finish up as quickly and safely as possible, and the best way to do that is to leave them alone and just let them do their thing. If you have any questions, please call the main line, Carey, or Christin. We are happy to help if we can. :)

Stay warm and safe!

New Year, Fresh Snow!

Yesterday started strong with 2 inches already on our deck in Valley of the Sun when we woke up, with the promise of more to come. The storm continued through the day and by sundown, some pockets of the Valley had 4 inches, while others merely had a dusting. That’s that weird mountain weather for you- tons of microclimates all coexisting in one valley! Christian and Clint headed out in the early afternoon to start the route in Blue River (where they got a FOOT!) before making their way back through the upper parts of Placer and lower VOS, and called it for the night just shy of midnight (yay!) They both headed out early this morning, and finally finished clearing everyone just before sundown. If you had 4” in your driveway, they cleared you.

With this storm being over New Years, it was no surprise that we got a lot of calls from renters wondering if they were going to get plowed. As such, it’s probably a good time to review some information for renters.

First, make sure you educate your guests on how to measure fallen snow. A good trick is to tell your renters to measure the driveway with their credit card, starting in the middle of driveway, not on the edges where roll-off accumulates. Credit cards are just about 4” long, so it gives them a good idea as to how much snow they actually have. I can’t tell you the number of times we have received a panicked call from a client saying their renters are telling them there’s 8” in the driveway, only to discover that in reality, it’s not quite 3”. Some of our clients have been great about communicating this to their renters, and include a clause in their rental agreement that places the financial burden of plows outside our contract firmly on the renters. I’d strongly suggest following suit, as you can easily run through all your monthly plows with pushes that are below trigger.

Second, as it says throughout the neighborhood, snow chains or adequate snow tires are required to drive around our mountain roads. It’s not a suggestion or an opinion, it is a fact. Most rental companies are not going to equip their cars with expensive studded snow tires, but there are a number of places locally where you can purchase chains or AutoSocks. Al-Mart and Napa both carry these items and are less than five minutes from both Valley of the Sun and Placer Valley. Plowing cannot remedy being unprepared for this environment, and ultimately it will be a lot cheaper to buy chains than it will be to have their car towed from a ditch.

Finally, you know that we always ask that you do not call Christian or Clint directly during their route to inquire as to when your driveway will be plowed. We are going to take this one step further and ask that you also remove their contact information from your House Information Booklets, and instead provide your guests with Carey’s information or Christin’s information. We are both more than happy to speak to them and assist if we can. As we tell you with each storm, stopping to answer calls can put our men’s lives and your property at risk, and it delays the route, which means it will take longer for everyone to get plowed. We don’t want that, and we know you don’t either. Please make a point to update your information packets with the following-

Carey Bjornnes
469-396-4601
carey@cavebuug.com

Christin Lander
469-396-6141
christin@cavebuug.com

Main CaveBuug line
970-406-2724

If we work together on this, we can make sure that the rest of the season runs smoothly for all of us, including your guests.

Happy New Year! :)

The Weather Outside is FRIGHTFUL

Holy moly is it cold outside or what?!?! This morning we woke up to a fresh 5 inches on our deck (yay!) and a windchill of -28! I hope you all have plenty of wood and warm, cozy blankets!

Christian and Clint started their routes around 4 am, starting with Valley of the Sun, before moving on up to Placer. If you haven’t seen them yet, you surely will soon. As always, we ask you not to contact either Christian or Clint directly. We want them to finish up as quickly and safely as possible, and the best way to do that is to leave them alone and just let them do their thing. If you have any questions, please call the main line, Carey, or Christin. We are happy to help if we can. :)

Stay warm out there today!

Ullr, bring us snow!

Ullr Fest is kicking off this weekend in Breck and to get it started, Summit certainly got a good dump, but unfortunately most of it missed us on the other side of Hoosier. This most recent storm dropped about 3-4 inches on Valley of the Sun and Placer, with most of it concentrated up top near the peaks. Christian and Clint started their route at 1:30 am and managed to clear almost everyone by noon. If there was 4 inches or more in your driveway, they plowed it. If not, you’ll just have tracks.

Sorry for the delay in this post, we are juggling a couple of sick kiddos between us. :) Stay warm out there, and feel free to contact Carey or Christin if you have any questions.

The Storm that Wasn't

Boy, oh boy, the way it looked in the forecast, you’d have thought we were going to get buried under 3 feet of snow, with avalanches every few minutes. In reality, the latest storm spent most of Friday snowing lightly on the Mosquito Range and blowing around the falling snow, with total accumulations somewhere around 3-4 inches for most of our little corner of Park County. The boys set out at 2 am to start the route, and should finish sometime this afternoon. They’re knocking ‘em out quickly, so if you have plans to get out today, you should be good to go.

As always, we ask that you direct any questions to Carey or Christin or you can call the main line to speak to one of us. Stay warm and enjoy this gorgeous snowy Saturday!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!

Well I feel like this is a word I’ve used all month, but it is FRIGID outside today! And we finally have a decent snowfall for show for it! The storm passing over the Mosquito Range right now hasn’t quite dropped the 4” trigger, but the boys are out regardless, checking driveways and pushing where needed. If you have 4” in your driveway, they will clear it. If not, you’ll see tracks.

As always, we ask respectfully that you do not call Christian or Clint directly. They will get to you as they make their way through the route, and interrupting them to ask when they’re coming will cause delays and could put them at risk. If you need immediate assistance or have any questions about your service, please call the main CaveBuug line at 970-406-2724 or call Carey Bjornnes at 469-396-4601 or Christin Lander at 469-396-6141. We will be happy to assist you in any way we can.

Have a spectacular day and LET IT SNOW!!! Woohoo!!!

Start of the Season Storm!

Hello and welcome to another winter season up in the Mosquito Range! Thank you all so much for trusting us to serve you for yet another gorgeous, snowy winter. Yesterday we got our first storm of the 2022/23 plow season, dropping just about 2 inches of accumulation in Valley of the Sun. For good measure, the boys set out at 4 am to check all of the driveways on the route, because you just never know up here. If you had more than 4 inches in your driveway, your driveway was cleared. If not, you’ll only see tracks.

This is a great opportunity to explain to our newer clients how we operate and answer some frequent questions.

When Do We Plow?

Per our terms, we will automatically plow your driveway when there are 4 inches or more of freshly fallen snow accumulated in it within 48 hours of the storm ending. This does not mean drifting, or windblown snow; if you need drifting cleared, it will be counted as an additional push and could result in an additional charge. If you are on a per-push rate, you simply need to call, text, or email, and we will get you cleared, regardless of depth.

Why Do We Do It This Way?

Plowing is hard on…everything. It’s hard on trucks. It’s hard on plows. It’s hard on equipment, such as loaders and skid steers (which we prefer to use when possible). Pushing too little snow can result in unnecessary damage to our vehicles and equipment, and can absolutely destroy a plow over the course of a season, especially if your driveway is in need of resurfacing. Additionally, we don’t want to see our clients run through all of their monthly plows in one storm, and have to pay even more money to keep their driveways cleared. That’s why we don’t include drifting in our terms, and unless we have a huge storm (think like 24 inches or more), we wait until the storm is over to start our route.

Another thing to consider, plowing is also really hard on driveways. If we plow your driveway and there’s too little snow or zero snowpack, we end up pushing your driveway material (rock, gravel, road base, etc) around and you’ll have to either hire us to come out and re-spread it or you’ll be out there yourself with a shovel come Spring. No one wants that.

I Got 4 Inches and My Driveway Isn’t Cleared Yet. He’s Still Coming Right???

This is a question we get pretty regularly, and it has the simplest answer- we follow a set route that we decide on before the season starts. This maximizes our time and our fuel use, which helps us to keep costs down, for us and for you. If we ran around to every house that called when they called, it would take us days to clear out all of our clients, and we would burn through hundreds of gallons of fuel in every storm. That’s not efficient, and it is not how we roll. We know that there is little we can do about the fact that our trucks and equipment burn fossil fuels (for now, we are aiming to have an all electric fleet within 10 years), so to help lessen this environmental burden, we carefully plan our route to optimize each mile we drive. This results in less fuel burned, which ultimately results in fewer costs passed onto you.

Don’t worry. We know that there are some shady characters up here, and you may have been burned in the past. We will not abandon you, we will not take your money and not plow, and we will always do our absolute best to communicate with you quickly if there are any delays. This is a promise.

Who Do I Call If I Need Assistance or Have Questions?

This is an easy one- call Carey or Christin. We are the operating partners, the wives, the moms, and your point of contact for all your snow removal needs. You can call our main number at 970-406-2724, or you can text, call, or email either one of us directly. We respectfully ask that you do not contact either Clint or Christian while they are out plowing. Distracting them with a message or call while they are on their route can be dangerous and result in damage to our equipment or your property, or even cause them bodily harm. We don’t want that, and we know that you don’t either. We know the route and we can see their locations at all times, so it’s best to reach out to one of us and we can give you a good idea as to when you can expect them.

Additional Info

Some things to keep in mind-

It’s highly likely that we will be plowing your driveway before sunrise, especially if you are in Valley of the Sun. Typically, Christian likes to leave around midnight to start his route, and Clint sometime soon after that. If you don’t want to get out of bed in the middle of the night, it’s advisable that you move your car out of the way during the storm so that the guys can get in and get you cleared out without disruption to the route (or your sleep).

If you rent your house out as a short term rental, it’s your responsibility to communicate this to your renters. We will honk a few times to alert them to our presence if their cars are blocking the driveway (during the hours of 8 am-5 pm), but we cannot allow for the time to stop, get out, ring the bell, and wait for them to drag their hungover butts to the door. We have a full route this season, and it’s not fair to our other clients to have their service delayed due to hangups at one property. If no one comes out, we will plow around what we can, and move on.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out via email to any of us. Let’s have a great season, and of course, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

Save the Best for Last

Well, it wouldn’t be Colorado if we didn’t save the craziest storms for the end of the season! This weekend’s storm finished Monday morning, dropping a little over a foot on the Mosquito Range, and up to 15 inches in some pockets. Though we are so grateful for the moisture, it was rather unfortunate timing for us, as both Carey and Christin were in Dallas until Monday evening, leaving Clint and Christian on Daddy-Duty. As a double whammy, our regular sitter (who comes to our house) came down ill over the weekend, so she couldn’t watch the babies, leaving the guys to scramble to get the boys to school and the babies to another sitter. As a result, their usual routes were disjointed, creating a delay in service. You know we hate that.

Both of them left before sunrise this morning, after plowing what they could get to yesterday. They will be out all day, so expect to see them at some point. If you have cars in your driveway, plan to have them out of the way all day so that the guys can get your drive completely clear as soon as possible. And as always, please do not text, email, or call either Christian or Clint. You can direct all inquiries to Carey and Christin.