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.

Friday and Saturday at Stowe

Friday our group worke with te lift staff. We went around and looked at several of the lifts including the new quad, midway gondola, and sensation triple. Wes and I worked a little bit over at the new quad helping with directing guest traffic through the gates in the lift line. We also got to see how the new RFID system works. The RFID system is pretty cool. Lift attendants are able to see each guests name, address, number and picture through the use of a tablet positioned inside a podeum right by the RFID gates. After the quad we took a trip over to the midway gondola to work with Kelly who was operating the lift that day. At the end of the day our whole group went over to spruce peak and met Geoff, a lift mechanic who services all of the lifts at spruce peak. Geoff took us up in the top thermal of a detach triple to show us how the lift works. Saturday I worked exclusively with Geoff. We went up into every loft terminal at Stowe. This experience was unreal. The repetition of seeing all of the terminals and drives really helped me get a better understanding of how a lift functions and the differences between brands. The mechanics behind how a lift works is truly amazing. It was a lot of information to take in for such a short amount of time. I learned about the differen types of lift sensors (brittle bars and cps sensors). I learned the differences between Poma and Dopameyer. Proper lift maintenance is essential for the survival of a ski resort. Lift mechanics have to be knowledgable of fixing and diagnosing problems with lifts. This benefits the employer and employee because the mountain is using safe lifts instead of unsafe ones. This helps reduce the risks associated with operating and riding a lift and also acts as a form of risk management and loss prevention. Guests benefit from properly maintained lifts because their safety is Garranteed while riding a lift at Stowe. Routine year round maintenance on lifts is key to preventing problems and mechanical failure associated with chair lifts.

2/4

Saturday I rode in a fleet groomer. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had at a ski resort. I have always wanted to ride and operate a groomer ever since I began teaching snowboarding many years ago. I rode in a Piston Bully 400 with Ed, the head groomer. Ed works just beneath Ted, the manager of grooming and snowmaking. Ed Showed me how the groomer operates and the different functions of the blade and tiller. Though I did not get to ride in the 600 winch, the 400 was good enough. I think I will go back to Stowe to do a full shift in the 600 soon. Pushing snow through the steeps is one of the most exhilarating feelings I have ever experienced. I am actually thinking about grooming next year at Stowe. Proper grooming techniques aid employees and managers because good snow quality= more lift tickets AND can all enjoy the snow! Guests benefit because they are able to enjoy good snow quality and will certainly come back for another visit!

Stowe 2/3

This past Friday I was able to meet and work with Ted, the director of snowmaking and grooming at Stowe. Stowe's snowmaking system is totally state of the art and is controlled mostly through the use of electronics and computers. A control room operator oversees the entire operation from a command post consisting of 6 computer screens and radios to communicate with on hill snowmaking staff. These computers control smi and tehnoalpine fan guns. These computers also control all compressor and valve functions for the entire operation. Though I didn't get to make snow, I was able to check out the entire operation from the command center, pump houses, compressors and snowmaking ponds. It is really important that a Ali resort produce good snow because that is what the guest wants. Employees and managers both benefit from good snow because it gives their mountain a good reputation and makes the entire staff feel good that they are producing a good product. The customer benefits by being able to enjoy good snow and pumps more money into the resort during their stay because of the good snow conditions.

Stowe 3

Hello there everybody. Yesterday our group made our way back over to Stowe to do some work in the guest services department. This consisted of parking just about 20 tour buses and provided information to guests. That lasted for about an hour. After parking the buses, we took a lot of park laps and finally got to hit up Tyro, Stowe's biggest park. Tyro was sick all day even after I managed to dead stop on a close-out rail and get tossed like a rag doll. Other than that the day was great. I'm pretty excited to be doing my first overnight in a groomer next week.

Stowe Round 2

Yesterday my group was at Stowe. We worked with the parks crew all day. While working with the park rangers we learned how to groom and shape lips and jumps the Stowe way. Stowe parks uses an X shape pattern to groom their in-runs. This pattern fills in more gaps and is faster than traditional raking. The parks crew is sustainable because they not only properly groom their park features and re-use snow, but also create every one of their park features. These rails, boxes, and jibs are often constructed out of left over materials. Grooming the park features also, ensures safety to the user, and is just good guest service to the customer. Consumers, employees, and managers benefit from the park crew operations because the crew is offering another service to the guest who visits Stowe Mountain Resort. This means that the guest is happy after hitting the step down and flat bar, the employee is pumped to be able to hit fresh park features, and the manager is happy because guests are buying more lift tickets and passes to be able to ride on these park features.

First weekend at stowe

This past Friday and Saturday myself and a few other students from LSC did some work for Stowe mountain resort. On the first day out group helped set up a race gate and finish line for a NASTAR race course. We then took a few runs and met up with Kurt, the parks director and several employees from the marketing department to help set up fences, a tent, and a pa for that evenings rail jam by the midway lodge. The first day was great. By setting up fencing and helping with odd jobs our class made sure that the rail jam would be safety fenced off from the general public. These jobs also assured resort managers that we are compitent in out work ethic and that the rail jam and race course are safe to use by guests.