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.