Stowe Week 4

On Friday I was with vehicle maintenance. For most of the day I was with one of the mechanics named Cory. There are many vehicles that need to be maintained or fixed. Groomers, snowmobiles, ATVs, Caterpillar buckets/excavators, company vehicles, etc. Mechanics definetly keep themselves busy in the shop all season long. My first task was to grease the groomers. There had to be about 20 zerk fittings on the front plow and the tiller. Every spot where a hydraulic piston or a joint it needed to be greased so that when the operator changes the angle of the blade/tiller it can easily move to where it needs to be. Keeping the equipment maintained keeps them lasting, working, and safe for the employee operating it. One of the four wheelers we were working on had a bad brake cable so Cory had to put on a Do Not Operate tag until the part gets replaced. That way there is no chance of an employee getting hurt on it. Stowes shop is also very sustainable. All of the fluids naturally flow to the center drain and then get filtered and seperated into the proper waste barrels which get taken out by a company that comes and loads their truck to transport it to the proper waste location. The vehicle maintenance department can be costly. You have to pay the mechanics a decent wage to fix/maintain the machines, buy parts/new equipment, buy fuels, buy supplies (brake cleaners, grease, W2 40, etc.), tools (wrenches, drills, torque testers, pliers, etc.) If Barry or Ted (mtn op managers) went to Reeves asking for a new this or that, Scott would have to look into the budget while also looking at other departments that need this and that. It can be difficult to effiently balance your budget with every department and see what REALLY needs to be fixed/upgraded first. Vehicle mainenace may not be my cup of tea, but it is an extremly important one to understand how it runs, even if you don't know how to find and fix a broken machine.
Saturday I started out shadowing Scott Reeves. We skied down the trails on the Mansfield side and Scott would stop frequently and look all around the trail to see whats thin/dangerous and just watch guests come down to see if they're making down safe and having fun...which was not the case on the gondola side. There were some narrow and unsafe areas of the trail that Scott said was not the Stowe experience and needed to be closed after today. Guest safety and their enjoyment satisfaction are what managers want. Then we headed over to Spruce and met up with Dave Merriam who is the snowsports school and recreation manager. We would ski around and still stop frequently to check out the terrain and get a view of mansfield from a distance. Scott and Dave were debating on what lifts should be operating during the week based on the terrian, business volume, and snowsports school. Dave wanted the Sunny quad and 2 of the fixed grip doubles, but Scott wasn't to sure on that. He thought that Sunny and 1 of the fixed grips should be opened which I agreed with because there is no point in running two fixed grip lifts that go to the same general area especially on the time of season and that they're won't be a big crowd. We went back to MOC and Scott took a big blank map of all of the trails and made the trails that needed to be groomed one color and making notes for the groomers on areas that need to be patched up based on what we saw when we were out skiing. He also wrote "nice job last night" so the groomers can see, and it might boost their self-esteem because they have just about had it for the season, its thin and dirty and the groomers are ready for summer, but the GM (and all managers) must keep his employees motivated until the season REALLY comes to an end. Everyday at 1pm they had a snow plan meeting where every manager would come to the conference room and Scott would say his plan, show the map he made, and go around the room asking every manager if they had anything to address. Most of the managers like to clairify things with each other that way everybody is on the same page (communication!) After the meeting I got a quick tour of the hotel which was very neat and a money maker. After the tour I went down to get in a cat with a groomer. Ted (snowmaking/grooming manager) had the map that Scott made earlier in the day and went over everything with each cat operator on what the plan is for this particular night. That night was a big patching night for the groomers. Grooming on thin spring snow is very tricky and it can be frustrating. Some areas that needed to be groomed/patched, the winch groomer had to push snow uphill while another groomer was the anchor because the trail didn't have a built in anchor for the winch...it was an exciting night to be with grooming. I was with Ben who groomed at Sugarbush, Squaw Valley, and now Stowe. Ben said that the groomers mostly just push all the snow that got pushed to the side of the trail by the guests, back into the middle making it nice corduroy again. Driving the cat can be tricky because you have to control the tracks, blade, and tiller. The tiller can press hard and light on the snow which varies based on what kind of snow you're grooming. If its powder you want to be very light and be heavier if the snow is hard. Ben spent a good hour patching up one small section of the trail. He would use the hydrants/snowguns as a gage and find the thickest base to shave a layer off and push it down to the thin spot. Ben said that each groomer burns about 40 gallons of diesel fuel a night. 40 gallons X 4 cats = 160 gallons. Lets say fuel is 4 bucks a gallon...thats 640 bucks just for fuel. 640 X 7 days = 4480 X 16 weeks (average winter) = $71,680 plus you have to pay the operators...the dough adds up! and thats just for grooming. Think about all of the other expenses in other departments.
When I was done shadowing grooming I stayed in the area with Blomback and his wife because it was kinda late to drive back to lyndonville. Kris and I chit chatted about the class (don't worry nothing bad) and other interesting stuff happening in the industry. He gave me some advice that I will take strong advantage of. EBITDA. "Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreiciation, Amorization" He said to study hard in the business and accounting side of things because expenses need to be managed with a close eye and companies are always trying to sell their products to Kris. Way back in the day, Pats Peak had trouble getting in contact with snowmaking compaines because they did not take them seriously. Now a days, Pats Peak has one of the best snowmaking systems in the east and if any snowmaking company wants to try to have Kris buy their product, they must give him a free test of the gun before making any purchases...big change on when a mountain moves up in the business world. Companies trying to sell their products take things more serious depending on the buyer. I also asked Kris if there was any daily job that a GM has to do. He said that daily he is making sure that everything is running smoothly, but it is the manager of that department to open, close, hire staff, and run that department. The GM is planning ahead for the future. Is there enough parking? Do our lodges hold our guests comfortably? (CCC) Expansion? Do any lifts need replacing or new area to put a lift? and general questions like that to consider so that the business can grow and be more successful. Kris asked me on what I was thinking about for senior internship. I told him I was looking at the Tahoe area. He said he has some connections out there. Everybody knows everybody. Things are looking good for senior internship already.

Stowe Week 3

Friday, Sam and I were with ski patrol. We were in the new summit building for most of the day because it was raining. All of the employees live off coffee. Every break room around the mountain has a coffee machine. All of the ski patrolers would sit on the comfy couches, nap, read, or just chit chat until a guest gets hurt or if a lift is having mechanic issues, then they would have to respond. Guest safety is their number one job...and pretty much only job. In the early morning patrolers will sweep the trails checking the conditions, markers, fences, closing unsafe trails, and fixing any other common sense obstacle that could increase the risk of a guest getting injured. When we did a run down with 2 of the patrolers they showed us what a normal morning sweep was like. All of the patrolers would go down different trails and then meet up again where they intersect, that way if one patrolers doesn't make it to the next check point, it won't be hard to hike back up that little part of the trail and see what happened. In the patrol building I asked some of the patrolers general questions like how long have you worked here, whats the most common incident, whats the worst you've seen, etc. Some of the older guys that are patroling there been patroling there since they were 16 years old! Thats commitment. One guy said that skiers usually break their femers and snowboarders usually hurt their wrists, do a face plant from catching the toe edge, or nailing the back of their head from catching their heel edge. Those are the most common injuries I see.
Saturday I could not make due to personal reasons, buuuuut I did go to Stowe on Wednesday and sat  in with the ski & ride school. I picked a perfect day to go because there were 5 other riders and 4 of them are going for their level 3 in a couple weeks. One of them happened to be in my level 2 exam. Our trainer was Bonnie who was going for the National AASI Division team out in Copper mountain, CO in April. We all did a small task of showing what fun is on a snowboard, talked about different ways to show and explain things to guests taking a lesson and making sure that each sensory cue is touched because every guest learns differently and if a guest can come out a little better each lesson, most likely they are going to stick with the sport and spend more money at the resort. We also did some personal riding improvements. Bonnie brought us over to some nice soft bumps that went down forever. We worked on switch traverses and did heel to heel noserolls which was kinda sketchy because you're spinning blindside. It was a really awesome afternoon. It was a good hint of what a level 3 exam would be like which I would not go for next year, but maybe senior year. It would be pretty sweet to have some gold bling on my graduation gown.

Stowe Week 2

Friday I was with administration. I got a perfect day for this because Fridays are the days where all of the managers (head honchos) have a meeting lead by Scott Reeves. This week was important because Chardis (company that owns Stowe Mountain Resort) will be at the resort all of next week, there also will be the Eastern State Cup Race Finals in the upcoming week. The managers were stressing out a little and making sure everything is planned accordingly and effectively. Certain lifts need to be open at earlier times for the racers and groomers will have to groom accordingly for the race and all of the netting that needed to be properly placed on the trail so that the groomer has an edge marker. Communication is needed everywhere and key to running a successful resort. Stowe has these meetings every single Friday and other days if needed...management is run very smoothly at Stowe. Reeves talked about the upcoming project that will happen this summer. Last summer was a lift construction year this year is a snowmaking improvement year. Stowe will add 16 SMI pole cat fan guns, 318 HKD tower guns, and about 20 miles of new snowmaking pipe to the resort...thats a lot of metal. Is there a way to sustain this? Reeves also talked numbers in the meeting. This year Stowe's revenue is down 1% and they are 5-7% over budget on diesel fuel. So Scott told them to think twice before making a trip because every gallon counts. The good thing about Stowe is that it has a special bank in New York that they can take money out if needed and then payback in the future. I want to find out about the other ways on why Stowe is extremly wealthy. Meetings may be boring sometimes but they are really interesting and very important for making sure that all employees are on the same page.
Saturday was probably the best practicum day so far. I got to work lift mechanics.  I started out at the top of the Sunny Quad on Spruce with Lind-say Hill (electrician/mechanic) There was a little bit of ice on the grips which was causing a space malfunction and making the lift stop. Sam and Geoff were at the bottom terminal trying to get the ice off while Hill and I were testing all the switches in the top terminal. Hill took a mallet and hit every tire to check for air. Its a good thing he did that because one of the tires were flat and would not have pushed the chair around the terminal. I took a skinny bar and tested every zone deflector around the terminal. The deflector should be standing up straight and get knocked down if the grip is not properly in place in the zone its in. I would flick the deflector down and then back up to see if it is still functioning. It is very important that the lift mechanics do these tests EVERY morning before opening the lift because safety is number one to our guests. The lift mechanic must tell mountain dispatch that the "blah blah" chair is ready to be loaded. Dispatch will then make the announcement to all radio stations saying, "The blah blah lift is now open and loading the public." Communication! Once all of the lifts were on and spinning Sam and I were with Geoff Myles who was a lift mechanic that just started this past summer. (funny thing is he is from the town next to my hometown and his home mountain is Pats Peak)...small world. Geoff brought us into every single lift terminal at Stowe. It was awesome because we got to snowboard around all day and see what a lift mechanics usual day job is. I'm not going to explain on how the lifts run. I took Jacks class for that...anyways every lift uses the same type of technology to make a lift work, but different maufacturers tweek things in their own way. The strangest lift I saw was the lookout lift. The chairs had to grips. Where a grip would normally be was metal that stuck right into the rope between the strands. That seems like a quicker way to wear out the rope and cause problems, but hey its a part of history. Geoff had to check in with the lift operator and ask if everything is going ok. The mechanic also has to sign a paper in the shack to show that he was there. Lift mechanics rarely interact with the guests, but the lift ops interact with them all day long. The operator must rake/shovel the ramp so that the guests can load and unload safetly.
No break downs happened that day which is great, but it would of been cool to see how Geoff would respond to a broken down lift. Next week should be interesting with Chardis in town.

Stowe Week 1

For the first week at Stowe we worked with the terrain park staff. Personally I am not a big fan of terrain parks, but Stowe's parks have creative features that many guests can enjoy, and parks are a very popular part of the industry. Friday we had to set up features in the North Slope park. Kurt, park manager & designer, would drive the cat with a rail feature on the forks of the plow. The park crew would then hold the feature in place while Kurt pushes/scraps snow around it so that it is securely in the snow. He would then push snow to the front of the feature for the lip. Then backing up using the plow to form the takeoff jump. The crew would then shovel and rake the jump, around the feature, and the landing so that everything is square and smooth. Stowe put in a huge bus that was at Okemo. We raked all around the bus and then tested it out. It was a pretty sweet feature that I liked hitting even though I'm not a park rider.
Saturday we started out by raking the features in the mini park. The grooming from over night messes some of the features up so we have to resquare the takeoffs and level out any snow that builds up around the feature. Park staff life isn't so bad. Rake, ride, rake, ride. The raking and spray painting around the lip are very important because it keeps the feature safe and looking "BA"
In the afternoon we headed over to the bag check on Spruce side and worked with the Mercedes vendor. Mercedes had 3 vehicles that could be test driven by anyone who has a valid license and who is at least 21. The test drivers would get 2 lift tickets to Stowe after returing the keys. Our job was to escort the test driver to the vehicle and show them how the car works. One guy had a car out for about 45 minutes. The test drive should only take 15-20 minutes. They were about to call the cops, but he returned before doing so. Next week Drew might test drive a car so we might get passes..that would be sweet.
Mike gave us an overview of what we'd be doing next week, I'll be doing administration and lift mechanics. Sounds like another exciting weekend to come.