Well, our practicum class enjoyed what Sean Doll calls a "rare" cancellation of our class on Friday. However, it came with good reason as most of Vermont was slammed with freezing rain on Thursday night. Better safe than sorry never hurts when talking about icy roads.
Saturday was still on and as usual, we took off for Stowe. When we got there, we took a look at our sign-in sheet for where we would be working that day, as well as the supervisor we'd be reporting to. Mike Manley told us where to go, who to meet up with, and told us he'd be bringing us Stowe jackets to wear while working there. We met up with a woman named Lauren, who was in charge of the bus and shuttle part of Guest Services. Our job for her was to assist in the unloading and parking of the tour buses that were coming to the mountain that day. There was an estimate of about 20+ buses for the day, so it was important that we parked the buses as close as comfortable in order to fit them all within the designated parking space. Parking and controlling the flow of traffic can be an important job at a resort. This is particularly important on a day when it is very busy, as customer satisfaction can definitely be affected by a lack of parking. Luke and I directed other traffic around the designated parking zone and directed the buses where to go as they arrived there, while Dom helped corral the buses into their parking spaces. We successfully parked and unloaded about 20 buses in a relatively short period of time, as well as providing simple directions to some of the guests as they unloaded from the buses. Once we were done with that, Lauren said that we were no longer needed and free to do whatever else Mike needed us to do. We went back to the administrative offices, and Mike told us that we would be sitting in on the morning meeting with Scott Reeves and the heads of the various departments of the mountain. I found this to be one of the more informative things we had done at the mountain yet. I am hoping to eventually be the head of a department or work in some form of upper management at a Ski Resort, so to see all of them in one place, getting an overall view of how things were across the hill, was pretty cool. I also took the opportunity to catch up with Kurt, the head of Stowe's terrain parks department, about holding an interview with him to use in a project for my Risk Management course this semester. He was happy to help and gave me his business card so that I could reach him. Once the meeting was concluded, we were told that we could go skiing for the rest of the day. Since Stowe uses an RFID system of ticket checking, we need to recharge our lift cards every week. Scott Reeves, the General Manager of the mountain, wrote us up the vouchers that we would bring to the ticket counter in order to recharge our cards for the day. Its hard to not appreciate the opportunity to ride a mountain as nice as Stowe for free. We had a great time and I was even able to meet up with a friend from back home, who was riding that day with his girlfriend who attends UVM. Overall, despite a day off and a pretty easy Saturday, I'd still say that there was plenty to take away from our experiences. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait until next week!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
First Impressions at Stowe
This past Friday and Saturday, a few other students and I took our first trip to Stow Mountain Resort for our first week of our Sophomore Ski Practicum. I was very excited to go and get the hands on experience of working there. Having worked during the majority of our most recent break between semesters at Jiminy Peak, I was already into the swing of working at a mountain. However, I was not expecting Stowe to be as big as it was! I always enjoy exploring and riding a new mountain and we were able to do so during our first week there.
On Friday, our first job was to assist in putting the fencing around a newly put in terrain park near Stowe's Midway Lodge for a rail jam that was to be held later that night. By doing so, we made sure that the general public did not ride any of the features ahead of the scheduled rail jam. This meant that the features stayed in the ideal conditions, and were therefore safer, for the riders who would be participating in the event.
After we put in the fence, we were given shovels and hiked a small ways up the hill to a location that was currently being set up for downhill racing. When we got there, we began to dig a small trench, about a half-foot deep, across the end of the trail. The reason for this is because a sensor wire was going to be put into the trench in order to record when each racer crosses the finish line. It was tough work, even requiring a chainsaw in order to cut through the ice that our shovels couldn't. By doing this though, we ensured that the mountain would be able to record accurate times for the racers who will eventually use that course.
Once we finished digging the trench, we were told to meet back at the terrain park at 2PM and were told we could take some runs until then. The riding at Stowe was phenomenal with the fresh snow that came down the night before. At 2, we met back up at the terrain park and met both Kurt, the head of Stowe's terrain park department, and the events coordinator who's name is skipping my mind right now. We helped set up a small tent and a PA system that would be used at the rail jam. Once that was done, we were done for the day and took off for the college. It was a great first day at the mountain.
On Saturday, we were told that we would be spending the day with Stowe's Park Crew. We met up with them and had an awesome day taking runs through the terrain park and learning how to maintenance the features. One of the park rangers taught us how to properly rake the lips, or edges, of the boxes, rails, and jumps in the terrain parks. What was really cool about Stowe is that they had multiple terrain parks with a good variety of different features in each one. By maintaining the features throughout the day, we made sure that the conditions were safe to ride. This is better for the guest, who can enjoy a safer, better experience in the terrain park, as well as for the mountain, who is less susceptible to lawsuits as each maintenance time is recorded by ski patrol for that purpose. It is also fun for the Park Crew, as they are able to take laps though the park all day and make sure that the features are in good riding condition. We had an awesome time getting to know the staff and the mountain better on Saturday.
Overall I would say that we had an excellent first week at Stowe. We were able to meet a variety of staff members, make connections, and familiarize ourselves with the mountain. We performed a variety of tasks and I hope that I'll be able to apply the knowledge gained at some point in the future. The fresh snow made it a ton of fun and I can't wait to see where they put us next week.
On Friday, our first job was to assist in putting the fencing around a newly put in terrain park near Stowe's Midway Lodge for a rail jam that was to be held later that night. By doing so, we made sure that the general public did not ride any of the features ahead of the scheduled rail jam. This meant that the features stayed in the ideal conditions, and were therefore safer, for the riders who would be participating in the event.
After we put in the fence, we were given shovels and hiked a small ways up the hill to a location that was currently being set up for downhill racing. When we got there, we began to dig a small trench, about a half-foot deep, across the end of the trail. The reason for this is because a sensor wire was going to be put into the trench in order to record when each racer crosses the finish line. It was tough work, even requiring a chainsaw in order to cut through the ice that our shovels couldn't. By doing this though, we ensured that the mountain would be able to record accurate times for the racers who will eventually use that course.
Once we finished digging the trench, we were told to meet back at the terrain park at 2PM and were told we could take some runs until then. The riding at Stowe was phenomenal with the fresh snow that came down the night before. At 2, we met back up at the terrain park and met both Kurt, the head of Stowe's terrain park department, and the events coordinator who's name is skipping my mind right now. We helped set up a small tent and a PA system that would be used at the rail jam. Once that was done, we were done for the day and took off for the college. It was a great first day at the mountain.
On Saturday, we were told that we would be spending the day with Stowe's Park Crew. We met up with them and had an awesome day taking runs through the terrain park and learning how to maintenance the features. One of the park rangers taught us how to properly rake the lips, or edges, of the boxes, rails, and jumps in the terrain parks. What was really cool about Stowe is that they had multiple terrain parks with a good variety of different features in each one. By maintaining the features throughout the day, we made sure that the conditions were safe to ride. This is better for the guest, who can enjoy a safer, better experience in the terrain park, as well as for the mountain, who is less susceptible to lawsuits as each maintenance time is recorded by ski patrol for that purpose. It is also fun for the Park Crew, as they are able to take laps though the park all day and make sure that the features are in good riding condition. We had an awesome time getting to know the staff and the mountain better on Saturday.
Overall I would say that we had an excellent first week at Stowe. We were able to meet a variety of staff members, make connections, and familiarize ourselves with the mountain. We performed a variety of tasks and I hope that I'll be able to apply the knowledge gained at some point in the future. The fresh snow made it a ton of fun and I can't wait to see where they put us next week.
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