Last weekend at Burke. well...not really.

This weekend I did not attend practicum at Burke. Instead, I returned home to get work done on my car and the NYS vehicle inspection. Sitting here at the computer gave me a good idea on what to blog about, days off. Employees and managers both need days off. Days of rest are very important on a personal and business level because they help prevent job burn out and encourage higher productivity. Job burn out means that an employee can become disgruntled when working too many hours over and over again. This eventually results in lower productivity and lower customer satisfaction. This is bad in all job settings, but especially bad in the ski resort industry. Let's say a lift mechanic is working 10-16 hour days 7 days a week. Sooner or later that employee will begin to resent upper management and not perform his or her task(s) to their fullest potential. This could result in a lift breaking down or even worse, a massive casulty incident at a resort as result from poor maintenence and fatigue. Days off are important to both an employee and manager because the human body and spirit needs a days rest at least 1 day a week. This benefits the employee because it keeps them in happy spirits and most of all, safe. A manager benefits from days off because they can rest then come back to work with a clear head ready to tackle the next challenge. Guests benefit from this because they can be assured they are safe when using equipment at a ski resort (lifts, terrain park, facilities, etc). This is also sustainable because the human body needs rest in order to keep performing to it's highest potential.

Burke 17th

This past sat. I worked with Steve Mahone grooming park features in Dashney Mile. Steve and I went through and raked and salted each feature to make sure each lip was safe and ready to use and that each feature was still secured in the ground. Salting is only effective in warm weather. It causes the snow to melt and freeze again around whatever surface you are trying to secure in the ground. In our case, we use salt to throw around the legs and sides of rails and boxes. This process helps keep the features secured in the snow. We also use our feet and rakes to stomp in the sids and corners of features after salting. This keeps the features from coming loose in the ground. Methods like salting, raking and stomping are essential to running a good park because it keeps everything safe and re-uses existing snow, which is sustainable. Managers and employees benefit from good spring parks because the longer the mountain can stay open the more money it can make by attracting guests. This means more money and working hours. Guests benefit from late season openings because they can still get turns in late into the season and spring months.

Burke 16th.

Friday was a bust this weekend for practicum. I didn't end up grooming at 4 due to the weather. Randy and Jeff went out at 4am to groom because of the rain. A groomer cannot run efficiently in lousy weather and soft snow. 1 groomer weighs just about 10 tons. This means that this huge and heavy object would only sink deeper into the snow base and either get stuck, or chew up the ground with the tiller. Spring conditions make grooming very difficult because of temperature fluctuations, newfound rock exposures and the most difficult task of trying to make a slush bowl look appealing to guests. By holding off and going in early in the morning, the Burke crew was able to salvage what snow was left on the trails to make St. Patrick's day a memorable day on the slopes.

Burke 4

This past Saturday I worked in the park with Steve mahone, park manager. Steve and I rode together all day from 830 right till 5. Steve showed me his method of taking features that was slightly different than stowes method. Steve uses a classic top down rake style instead of the x pattern used by Stowe. A full day opening and closing the park was the most riding I have done in a day by far. Good parks benefit managers and employees because they will draw more customers to the resort and result in more profit and paid working hours. Grooming a park is essential in mediating high risk and high injury rate among all park users including staff. Parks are often sustainable because they mostly contain recycled metal and other materials.

Burke day 3

For my 3rd day of work at Burke I was in a groomer with randy, the head groomer at the mountain. We road in a bombardier bison. I was really impressed with the way the machine handled some of burkes steeper trails, such as ledges and upper dipper. I am grooming every Friday, so I will elaborate through each post. Randy and I got to know one another thru this first meeting. We talked a lot about the machine and the function of the different components. Good grooming in spring conditions benefits the manager and employees because they can stay open longer and make more money. Guests benefit from this because they can slide on well maintained snow late into the season. Grroming is also sustainable because reuses snow left on the hill after a day of usage and is safe because ruts, ice patches and other hazards are often smoothed over by the machine.

First day at Burke

First of weekend with practicum at Burke had my group working at the sled dog dash south of the actual mountain on Pincham road. Our group was split up and paired with freshman from other MRM classes doing community service. My group was set up on a trail crossing on Pincham Rd. It was our job to maintain the course through the road crossing by shoveling snow in the road and directing traffic when needed. Getting to see part of the races was pretty cool. This guest service work is needed for any event. Proper guest service work benefits the resort owner because he or she knows that their product is being properly delivered to the public. The employee benfits from being a part of a good work team, and the guest benfits from a worry free fun day at the resort.

Last day at Stowe

Our last day at Stowe was awesome. We got to ride in the morning with Scott reeves, the vp of operations at the resort. Scott was taking runs with the north east bid representative about a snowmaking revitalization plan proposed to be taking place next season. We got to learn how guns are layed out on the hill depending on the trail usage and countour of the landscape. Proper snowmaking benefits managers and employees because good snow = more customers and more working hours and most importantly, more money for all. Guests can benefit because they are sliding on a good product that is being produced by state of the art snowmaking.