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.