Final Day at Stowe

Our final day at Stowe was a great one.  When we arrived, we knew we'd be spending the day with Scott Reeves, and were interested to see what he does during daily operations at Stowe.  We met up with him and Mike Manley, our supervisor and manager at the mountain, at the base of the Gondola.  Scott introduced us to a representative from HKD, a supplier of snow-making equipment, who was riding at the mountain and discussing future business with Scott. We needed to recharge our Stowe Evolution cards to ride that day, so we did so and were told to meet back up with the three of them at the quad.  From there, the morning consisted of riding around with Scott, Mike, and the representative from HKD, looking for strategic places to put snow-making towers on the trails.  I thought that it was very interesting the amount of knowledge that Scott had of both the mountain and the weather conditions on each trail.  For example, he knew that a 30 foot tower in one location was more ideal than a 20 foot tower based on the direction that wind hit the trail and where that would carry the snow.  It was pretty cool to see Scott so casual when discussing business over a purchase that will likely cost more than you or I will make anytime soon.  It really said something about the financial backing behind Stowe (AIG) and how deep their pockets are when it comes to re-investing the various areas and departments at the mountain.  During the runs we took, we also were keeping an eye out for safety hazards and concerns that we would want to bring up to Ski Patrol, such as an unmarked hazard on the slope, or a "slow" sign needing to be put back up near an intersection.  The other very important part of our "morning runs" was to get a strong understanding of the snow conditions and to decide which trails would need to be groomed for the next day.  If there was an area of concern, such as the conditions on the trail Lower National, a double-black diamond, we would take a run on it to see if it needed grooming for the next day.  From a managerial perspective, these runs were important for Scott and Mike so that when the time came for the morning meeting with the heads of each department, they could tell everyone what to expect for the following day as well as any improvements those department heads could provide for the future.  This is exactly what we ended up doing.  For example, Gary, the head of the lift operations at the mountain, was told by Scott that a lift attendant needed to always be standing attentively both in front and in back of the RFID system at the quad.  The reason that Scott brought this up is because when entering the line, he noticed that the lift attendant was not paying attention, that is, until Scott showed up in the line.  While this may seem like a minor issue to bring up to the head of lift operations, Scott takes them very seriously.  Stowe is all about representation.  Their goal is for every employee to represent and maintain the appearance of a world-class resort.  Because they focus on this from top to bottom, Stowe's overall appearance is extremely professional.  The customers also enjoy an added benefit from the information Scott gathers on these morning runs.  Each trail that has been groomed was done so for a reason. The location and quality of the snow from their snow-making department is the product of good discussion with representatives from the companies themselves.  These small considerations on the part of Scott Reeves, and the commitment to a very high standard, ultimately improve the every day experience of the customer at Stowe.  Once the meeting was over, Scott told us that he was booked with meetings for the rest of the day and that we were free to go and ski for the rest of the day.  As you can imagine, we were stoked to here that and took full advantage of the situation.  The conditions were beautiful that day and we had a great time riding until we were ready to go.  We even saw a baby moose on the trail near the end of the day!  When we were done, we said our farewells to everyone we had met and worked with for the last five weeks and thanked them for everything they taught us.  I really enjoyed our experiences working at Stowe.  It was very informative and a lot of fun.  We had the opportunity to work with some great people and had a good number of great days skiing.  However, I'm very excited to see what Jay Peak's program will be like in the second half of the class and I'm particularly interested in checking out their new water park. It should be a lot of fun.
Because this is the final post on Stowe, I thought that I would add a bunch of the photos I took last week as well as the ones from this past Friday. Cheers and keep shredding that snow....wherever the hell it is.

 A day in Guest Services

 The view from inside one of the nicest Condos at Stowe

 View from inside the terminal of the bottom-driven Quad on Spruce Peak

 A second view

 A view looking out at the chairlift from the terminal

 The view from the top of the Gondola lift

 A view from the top terminal of the Gondola

 Downloading off of the quad like a true Liftey

 Lift station at the top of the quad

 Mike Manley at the top of the quad for morning runs

A baby moose!

Week Four at Stowe

This week at Stowe was both informative and educational as it was fun.  Working in lift operations and guest services this week allowed me to meet some pretty interesting and genuinely nice people. On Friday, we were in lift operations. It was really cool being able to take rides up and down the chairlift without equipment on. Coming back down the chairlift was also something I'd never done before.  We were able to check out the terminals of a few different chairs as well as the gondola.  It was really cool to check out the technical aspect of the machines we depend on daily. Everything seems to run so smoothly on a regular basis but there really is a lot going on and to see it all working was pretty cool.  Probably the most beneficial part of Stowes lift operations for the mountain has to be their recent shift to the RFID system.  Similar to EZ-Pass, there are scanners that pick up the lift ticket, in the form of a re-loadable card, on the customer.  When it does, it sends a signal to the stoppers either allowing the customer through or not depending on whether or not their ticket is valid for the day.  The coolest part about it is that it shows all of the customers information to the lift attendant who works at the entrance to the lift.  This information can be useful for many reasons, like identifying a missing individual, as well as cutting down on theft of services.  Its easy to take someone else's ticket, but showing a mans photo with a girl skier is a lot easier to spot out.  This is good for the mountain as well as the customer as they are able to get through the lift lines much quicker than when manual scanners need to be used.  It also cuts back on the staffing needs and dullness of being a lift attendant.
On Saturday we worked in guest services.  We were fortunate to work with a woman named Heidi who was very nice and showed us everything there was to know about guest services. She even hooked us up with some very professional looking vests.  With her we learned a lot about Stowe's program to improve the customer's experience at the resort at all places and at all times.  Each week, a rule is focused on by every department. This week focused on the "zone of influence" rule.  A smile and nod at 10 feet, and an ask for any way to help within 5 feet.  We were also able to fish for e-mails for a survey sent out by a company working for Stowe on how the customers experience was.  The mountain uses these surveys to improve the customer experience in the future.  Almost all of customer service revolved around this point.  The better the customer satisfaction, the more likely they are to return, as well as more likely to recommend it to a friend.  This is extremely important for a mountain, as building their core and returning customers is essential to running in the long term.
I was able to take some great photos from this weekend, and I'll be loaded them up on another post. At the end of the day, Heidi was nice enough to show us the "Front Four."  These are the nicest rooms available for both rent and ownership in Stowe's main lodge.  It was extremely impressive and we were happy to have a chance to check out what is normally an exclusive area. It was another great week at Stowe and we're all looking forward to our last day there on Friday, where we will be spending the day with VP of Mountain Ops, Scott Reeves.

Week Three at Stowe

While we unfortunately weren't able to ski at all during this past weekend at Stowe, we were able to get a very strong base of knowledge on the daily functions of a Ski and Snowboard Rental Shop. Both Friday and Saturday were spent in the Rental Shop located on the Spruce Peak side of the resort.  Due to the professional appearance that Stowe takes with pride, we needed to dress up for this job.  Collared shirts, dark pants, and an overall professional appearance were needed for this job.  It was chaotic at times, as all rental shops are, but we were able to work with some great people and learned a lot of very useful information.
The services provided in Stowe Mountain's Rental Shop are extremely efficient.  Everything from the ground up is meant for customers to be able to quickly get the proper equipment they need so that they can get out and put that $95 dollar lift ticket to use! The fact that they use a large amount of technological assistance means that they can handle a very large body of people with very few errors in a very short period of time.  This is not only good for the customer, who is looking to get through the process quickly, but for the mountain as well, as they can handle a larger number of customers in a shorter period of time.  The employees job is made much simpler by the use of technology in the shop.  for example.  Every piece of equipment in the shop is labeled with a bar code that can be scanned.  This bar code provides essential information on things like where the binding needs to be moved to for a certain pair of skis. A simple scan of a code, quick adjustment to the bindings, and the customer is ready with a factory recommended set up based on their skill level.
By focusing on efficiency, Stowe's rental shop is successful in pleasing the customer quickly as well as making their employees job easier.  This comes together to make for a very profitable business and their numbers certainly reflect that.  It was a great experience to learn and I look forward to next week.