Stowe Clean Up Day

This past week our class was ready to watch the lift towers get flown up via helicopter on Tuesday, however the chopper remained in Maine for the better part of the day and we didn't get to see it that particular day. I made my way to Burke the next morning and saw it fly a few towers up the mountain in person, and it was really cool to see up close. The amount of technology and skill involved in the process is unbelievable, and exciting to watch happen so quick as it only took about 5 minutes for the helicopter to make a round up and down the hill with the parts.
On Thursday we drove back to Stowe to see the progress they made on their new quad. They had the whole thing up and running, and were conducting weight tests when we arrived. They simulated the weight and movement of humans on a chair with barrels full of water. Pending an inspection from the state their new chair looks like its ready for Stowe's opening day. After checking that out we took the the rake's and leaf blowers and   cleared out the drainage ditch that ran alongside Stowe's access road on the bottom of the mountain. It was a time consuming process even with the whole class at it, but we eventually knocked it off. The last thing we did was drive up to the summit to seed and spread hay around the unloading area that surrounded the lift and check out the top of the lift. We went up into the unloading station to see all the new components and got another good look at the complexity that is a chair lift. As well as get an additional follow up tour of the new ski patrol building which was coming along really nicely. The gentleman who showed us around the top was a good guy and seemed like he really enjoyed his job at Stowe. It was definitely a long day, but nonetheless I took out a lot of it.

Burke/Chili Cook Off

In early November we took a trip over to Burke Mountain to tackle the task of putting the seat cushions on all 160+ chairs of the Willoughby quad. We knew the job would take a decent amount of time, being that there were so many chairs, but we split up the work really efficiently and got it done in just under two hours. We had people take turns operating the lift stopping and starting it, while a group of about 4 to 5 people would attach the seat pads with bungee cords to each chair. It became a mini competition to get each pad on quicker than the other group, and it made time pass a lot quicker, and ultimately helped us finish the job sooner. The more and more tasks we do around different mountains all puts into perspective the amount of work that seemingly never ends to keep a ski area functioning at its best potential. 

The following Saturday our class had the Chili cook-off event that we had planned for so much in advance. Last year in my Theory and Practice Class with Thom Anderson we volunteered for it so I had a good idea of what to expect from it. This year was unique because of the combination of the skate jam with the cook off. While we can agree that it would have been nicer to have more skaters sign up to make more money the event itself was a success in my opinion. We made plenty of money for the LOC and people enjoyed themselves watching the skaters and sampling the food. The games we ran could have done a lot better in terms of participation and revenue, and it's something that we'll have to look at more for next year. Overall I was glad that so many people showed up, and I had fun being at it as well.