Today was sadley, our last day working at Jay. I started out in the Nordic center shadowing Tiffany, the manager, of what her job is. She gives out lessons, snowshoe rentals, cross country rentals, and guided snowshoe tours in the moonlight. The Nordic center may not be a big profit maker to the resort, but it is just another service offered at the mountain. Big events such as high school races happen on the course. Some people enjoy that activety and it is very popular in Canadian resorts. Tiffany must be patient and friendly to every guest that comes in because most of them never have been there before. She gave clear directions on where to hike on the map. The snow has been lacking, but in the woods the trails are really nice. Tiffany and other employees must groom the trails. The groomer cat is similar to the big ones on the hill, but it is much narrower so it can travel through all areas of the nordic trails. If their is thin cover the cat cannot get the job done, it can chew up the ground which is the golf course in the summer. If that is the case, the old pull groomer must get the job done. I cross country skied a few of the trails picking up any branches or trash in the trail. It was a peaceful morning. Once I came back, Tiffany showed future nordic expansion and also told me general resort expansion. New trails were just added this season to the nordic center and they plan to extend those trails out when the west bowl expansion is done. Also building more condos where you can ski and showshoe to your condo. Ski/ride all day, splash in the evening, showshoe/cross country ski in the monnlight to your condo...that sounds like a fun day to me. Tiffany also told me that the stateside lodge will be taken down and a new lodge, ski school, rental shop, and recreation facility with indoor trampolines will be put there. The Bonnie quad will be taken out and put where the Jet triple is and the Jet will be on another part of the mountain mainly servicing terrian parks. A six pack bubble detach will be put where the slow Bonnie is currently spinning. Jay Peak is well on their way to being a colossal, national destination.
In the afternoon I worked in the Ice Haus. There was not much going on today, but the weekend had a tournament and raffle prizes. I picked up some trash and got a tour of all the locker rooms and maintenance rooms. I found out that the ice haus heats the waterpark...thats interesting. A good way to be sustainable instead of installing a whole heating unit for the park. The ice haus also had a shop where you could buy sticks, hockey gear, Jay Peak clothing, stickers, and other small goods to attract customers. Another roomer I heard is that another ice haus will be put over on west bowl side. I am very interested into seeing what happens at Jay within the next decade. Looking forward to be working at Stowe for the next rotation.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Jay Peak Week 4
Friday, I was working in the lift ops department. I started out at the flyer (detach) and started pushing 90% of the chairs out of the barn. It is an everyday operation before the lift can run. Every lift also needs to be running earlier in the morning that way they can make sure that all the switches are working and safe to load, because the second a guests feet leave the ground, the resort is liable until they unload the lift. Lift ops employees working a detachable lift is a laid back job. One will stand near the buttons in case of emerengy and be friendly to the loading guest while the other employee would stand on the inside of the RFID gate holding a small computer that shows if the customers ticket is a season pass or an adult, junior, or senior ticket. Season pass holders would come up with a picture so you could tell if it is them or not. A lift op that catches someone using someone elses pass gets $100...that's a pretty sweet deal. The lifties also had a rotating system that will let them catch a run or two throughout the day (depending on the crowd). A good way to keep an employee happy and on their feet at work.
In the afternoon I headed up to the tram. The lift head honcho and the lady that always work the tram were their eating lunch and she has to count 55 guests to load the tram each time. I checked out some of the controls used to run the tram, but I wasn't their for long. The head honcho sent me to the Jet triple because they were short a man. Employees at a fixed grip job is a little different. One employee must swing the chair around the bullwheel so that the guest can safely be seated on the chair. It keeps it from being a hard wack on the shines which can cause people to fall and get injuries. The other employee would be doing the same RFID computer ticket checking. I was checking out the system and there is a statistic button. I could see how many times a customer passed through each gate and the total for the day. Last saturday the Jet had about 7200 custmers just on that one lift. Friday by the time I left for the day the lift had 2600 people...big jump on the weekends. One liftie was talking about how eventually every guest will be able to log onto a computer and check where they skied/rode, and how many runs they did. That sounds like an awesome idea. It would help get accurate statsistics for the mountain administration and the guests. Win win.
Saturday, I worked ski patrol. There was a bordercross event that we needed to set up on the "720 Park" which was the lower part on stateside. We started out by setting up the fencing around corners, high rollers, and areas that the guest had potential to get hurt if they slipped out (its been pretty icy). The patrol manager Brian had to think where those potential spots were and direct us where to put the fence. Then we set up all the gates and got ready for the race to start. My job was at the finish line. Brian would talk to me over the radio saying if he needs just the 1st place, 1st & 2nd, or 1st 2nd and 3rd, depending on the particular heat. I had to make sure the competitor cleared the last gates and get their bib number so that I could tell Brian the place order. We also had to make sure that the course was safe and clear to send the next heat. Once the race was over we immediately broke down the course. Once we were finished taking all the gates down I headed over to ski school. They had nothing for me so I rode...late in the afternoon the edge of the trail is the only slightly safe place to ride. Its deathly in the center, accidents are much higher this year due to the lack of snow. Lets hope we get some soon.
In the afternoon I headed up to the tram. The lift head honcho and the lady that always work the tram were their eating lunch and she has to count 55 guests to load the tram each time. I checked out some of the controls used to run the tram, but I wasn't their for long. The head honcho sent me to the Jet triple because they were short a man. Employees at a fixed grip job is a little different. One employee must swing the chair around the bullwheel so that the guest can safely be seated on the chair. It keeps it from being a hard wack on the shines which can cause people to fall and get injuries. The other employee would be doing the same RFID computer ticket checking. I was checking out the system and there is a statistic button. I could see how many times a customer passed through each gate and the total for the day. Last saturday the Jet had about 7200 custmers just on that one lift. Friday by the time I left for the day the lift had 2600 people...big jump on the weekends. One liftie was talking about how eventually every guest will be able to log onto a computer and check where they skied/rode, and how many runs they did. That sounds like an awesome idea. It would help get accurate statsistics for the mountain administration and the guests. Win win.
Saturday, I worked ski patrol. There was a bordercross event that we needed to set up on the "720 Park" which was the lower part on stateside. We started out by setting up the fencing around corners, high rollers, and areas that the guest had potential to get hurt if they slipped out (its been pretty icy). The patrol manager Brian had to think where those potential spots were and direct us where to put the fence. Then we set up all the gates and got ready for the race to start. My job was at the finish line. Brian would talk to me over the radio saying if he needs just the 1st place, 1st & 2nd, or 1st 2nd and 3rd, depending on the particular heat. I had to make sure the competitor cleared the last gates and get their bib number so that I could tell Brian the place order. We also had to make sure that the course was safe and clear to send the next heat. Once the race was over we immediately broke down the course. Once we were finished taking all the gates down I headed over to ski school. They had nothing for me so I rode...late in the afternoon the edge of the trail is the only slightly safe place to ride. Its deathly in the center, accidents are much higher this year due to the lack of snow. Lets hope we get some soon.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Jay Peak Week 3
On Friday Jay Peak had 700 guests coming in on buses from Toronto, Canada. Our job was to help unload the buses and assist the guests to Jays shuttle buses. I was with Tom Howel, director of sercurities and parking, and we had to go to the Canadian border because 2 of the buses drivers did not follow their duty. One of the drivers bought alcohol and could not bring it passed the border because he is a commercial driver, if he had patience and waited until he was at the Jay hotel, he would be able to purchase alcohol. The other driver had a criminal record that would not allow him into the U.S. so the DMV officer at the border had to escort him to a hotel. (talk about embarrasment on that bus company). At least at Jay Peak the guests will be welcomed and treated the way they should be with no hassle or confusion.
On Saturday I worked in the Pumphouse Waterpark that holds 300,000 gallons of water. The water gets recycled and cleaned all year. Most of the day I was shadowing Jason Bays who is the lifeguard supervisor and manager. Safety is the most important part of the waterpark. The park will have about 25 lifeguards on duty scanning every single area where guests are swimming. The lifeguards must pass the training that Jay Peak does at the beginning of the season following the Ellis and Associates lifeguard program. Once they pass that training they are cleared to go and guard a specific area of the park. The lifeguard supervisors (Jason, Amanda, Scott) go around to every lifeguard making sure that everything is going ok and that they have their water bottle with them because it gets extremely hot in there and they already have had 1 lifeguard pass out on the job from dehydration this season. Jason is also handling any questions or incidents that happen with the guests. Common incidents are locker malfunctions, directions, injuries, and other general info that a customer may need. Jason also controls employee payroll and scheduling. They use a program called "When to Work" where every employee can sign in, see their hours, messages, trade shifts with other employees, and request a certain date off. If an employee wants a date off they will make it and any other employee can claim those hours, but the employee that is scheduled must work unless they make a trade. I thought the program was very cool and would make every departments life easier if they all used that program. If everyone used that program the mountain administration would have no problem checking out every departments payroll and costs. Looking forward to seeing what changes in the park and management thoughout the years because things are never 100% perfect when a new attraction is built.
On Saturday I worked in the Pumphouse Waterpark that holds 300,000 gallons of water. The water gets recycled and cleaned all year. Most of the day I was shadowing Jason Bays who is the lifeguard supervisor and manager. Safety is the most important part of the waterpark. The park will have about 25 lifeguards on duty scanning every single area where guests are swimming. The lifeguards must pass the training that Jay Peak does at the beginning of the season following the Ellis and Associates lifeguard program. Once they pass that training they are cleared to go and guard a specific area of the park. The lifeguard supervisors (Jason, Amanda, Scott) go around to every lifeguard making sure that everything is going ok and that they have their water bottle with them because it gets extremely hot in there and they already have had 1 lifeguard pass out on the job from dehydration this season. Jason is also handling any questions or incidents that happen with the guests. Common incidents are locker malfunctions, directions, injuries, and other general info that a customer may need. Jason also controls employee payroll and scheduling. They use a program called "When to Work" where every employee can sign in, see their hours, messages, trade shifts with other employees, and request a certain date off. If an employee wants a date off they will make it and any other employee can claim those hours, but the employee that is scheduled must work unless they make a trade. I thought the program was very cool and would make every departments life easier if they all used that program. If everyone used that program the mountain administration would have no problem checking out every departments payroll and costs. Looking forward to seeing what changes in the park and management thoughout the years because things are never 100% perfect when a new attraction is built.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Jay Peak Week 2
On Friday I was supposed to be working in guest services and food&beverage. The weather was bad and icy so we could not make it. On Saturday I was in the Tram Haus Lodge observing people check in and out of the lodge. The lodge doesn't do anything out of the way for safety, the hotel has a fire system, housekeeping, inspected elevator, and the lisence to operate that expires every November, so the inspectors have to come in yearly before the ski season kicks off to make sure everything is safetly operating.
As far as the service for our guests, the hotel provides valet parking and they have employees that will bring the luggage to their room. The employees must be patient and friendly to all of the guests even though some of them may be difficult or not in a good mood.
For sustainability, the keys for their room is also their lift ticket. The RFID cards saves them from printing out tickets and key cards. The RFID cards are also erased when the guest leaves so that the same card could be used again. Each card is about $2.00 so it would add up quickly if you had to order more every time.
The hotel managment must keep everything on file so that they have the correct information for billing and what rooms are vacant. Their is a computer system that the front desk employee can use to check what rooms are vacant or occupied. VD means "Vacant Dirty". VC means "Vacant Clean" OD means "Occuiped Dirty". The housekeepers will change VD to VC when they are finished cleaning the room. That way the front desk employee can assign a room number to a new guest coming in.
As far as the service for our guests, the hotel provides valet parking and they have employees that will bring the luggage to their room. The employees must be patient and friendly to all of the guests even though some of them may be difficult or not in a good mood.
For sustainability, the keys for their room is also their lift ticket. The RFID cards saves them from printing out tickets and key cards. The RFID cards are also erased when the guest leaves so that the same card could be used again. Each card is about $2.00 so it would add up quickly if you had to order more every time.
The hotel managment must keep everything on file so that they have the correct information for billing and what rooms are vacant. Their is a computer system that the front desk employee can use to check what rooms are vacant or occupied. VD means "Vacant Dirty". VC means "Vacant Clean" OD means "Occuiped Dirty". The housekeepers will change VD to VC when they are finished cleaning the room. That way the front desk employee can assign a room number to a new guest coming in.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Jay Peak Week 1
On the first day we met up with Tom McGrail. He gave us our schedules and told us a good overview of what we'd be doing here. We got a quick tour around the lodges and got to see the pump house up in action. Then we boarded the tram and shredded the pow. It was nice to be riding in the trees again.
On Saturday we were put to work. The rental shop may not be everyones preffered department to work in, but its an important one. Just in that one shop people are coming in and out all throughout the day. Getting rentals, returning them, boots are not feeling right after a run, somethings breaks, attemping to get deals/discounts, and other small things that keep the employees on their feet. It gives a pretty good contribute to the resorts profit. The shop isn't a huge contribute to sustainablilty, but all of their Burton LTR equipment users a safe plastic, and they also rent and reuse.
An employee that can test skies before giving it out to every skiing customer must be certified. That makes sure every guest is safe with the proper equipment. The snowboareds have safe Burton LTR strap-in bindings, so the leases are not needed anymore. All of the employees must work as a team to get the customer all of their equipment. The cashier would hand down the form to the boot person who would find the proper size in stock and then give one boot to the customer to make sure it fits. The other boot was giving to the next employee would looked at the height and weight so that he/she could get the correct skies or board. Then they would use that boot to make sure it is properly adjusted and mounted. The employees must smile and be patient to all of our guests because most of the crowd will be beginners.
From the management side of things, Jason and Rebecca must make sure that the whole shop is running smoothly and correctly. The managers have a budget, just like every other department. The shop has to order new equipment every five years. That is the maxium amount of years they are allowed to use it. Equipment, tools, and wax for the repair shop is also part of the shops budget. They also have to take inventory of all of the equipment and file the form to make sure everyone returns the equipment.
Doing payroll for all of the employees is another task that needs to be done daily. The manager would check the punch in/out clock and make sure that the employees are doing that properly, and when to go on break. If its a slow day the manager will have to send a couple people home so that payroll doesn't get high.
The managers and employees are pretty laid back and have a great sense of humor when appropriate. I think you'll see that in many departments.
On Saturday we were put to work. The rental shop may not be everyones preffered department to work in, but its an important one. Just in that one shop people are coming in and out all throughout the day. Getting rentals, returning them, boots are not feeling right after a run, somethings breaks, attemping to get deals/discounts, and other small things that keep the employees on their feet. It gives a pretty good contribute to the resorts profit. The shop isn't a huge contribute to sustainablilty, but all of their Burton LTR equipment users a safe plastic, and they also rent and reuse.
An employee that can test skies before giving it out to every skiing customer must be certified. That makes sure every guest is safe with the proper equipment. The snowboareds have safe Burton LTR strap-in bindings, so the leases are not needed anymore. All of the employees must work as a team to get the customer all of their equipment. The cashier would hand down the form to the boot person who would find the proper size in stock and then give one boot to the customer to make sure it fits. The other boot was giving to the next employee would looked at the height and weight so that he/she could get the correct skies or board. Then they would use that boot to make sure it is properly adjusted and mounted. The employees must smile and be patient to all of our guests because most of the crowd will be beginners.
From the management side of things, Jason and Rebecca must make sure that the whole shop is running smoothly and correctly. The managers have a budget, just like every other department. The shop has to order new equipment every five years. That is the maxium amount of years they are allowed to use it. Equipment, tools, and wax for the repair shop is also part of the shops budget. They also have to take inventory of all of the equipment and file the form to make sure everyone returns the equipment.
Doing payroll for all of the employees is another task that needs to be done daily. The manager would check the punch in/out clock and make sure that the employees are doing that properly, and when to go on break. If its a slow day the manager will have to send a couple people home so that payroll doesn't get high.
The managers and employees are pretty laid back and have a great sense of humor when appropriate. I think you'll see that in many departments.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Stowe
Today we went to stowe for the second time. This time we were put to work. We cleared all of the leaves out of the water bars along the toll road. We had a few people on backpack blowers and the others operating the rakes. We worked together and got the job done by lunch time. After lunch we hayed the summit around the new dopplemayr lift and patrol building. Then we got a tour of the new lift and patrol building. We saw it during construction earlier in the season so it was pretty cool to see the before and after. The new lift is top drive, has one electric motor and two diesiel motors for back up. It was cool to be able to go under the motors at the summit terminal. We were able to see a lot more of the parts of the lift and how it works. Can't wait to start working at Stowe for one of my practicum mountains. It should be a exciting and eventful winter.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Burke - Willoughby work
Today we went to Burke and put all 328 pads back onto the seats of the willoughby quad. One person would run the lift and then stop it so others could bungee the pads back on. We were able to complete all 164 chairs in an hour and a half which was a new record for the practicum students. Team work was key because it got the job done much faster. The towers for the new lift were looking good. The helicopter for the rest of the towers is scheduled for Monday, so that should be an exciting day.
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