First Weekend of Stowe Practicum 1/20, 1/21

Our first two days at Stowe we spent time working with individuals in departments ranging from the racing/events, and terrain parks. The first day we set up several different things for events that were in the coming days, all of which relate directly to sustainability, service and safety. Our first task was digging a small trench at the finish line of the race trail so that they could run a line underneath it to record finish times for a NASTAR event. Immediately after we fenced off a large area at the bottom of the gondola for the rail jam that was happening that night. Later in the day we familiarized ourselves with the mountain more by riding around and exploring different trails. To conclude Friday we set up the speakers, generator, and tent at the rail setup. Setting up the boundaries directly related to keeping people safe so they don't interfere with the rail setup, and enabling them to run the sensor under the finish line helps run the racing event smoother. Having both of these events run in correspondence to each other allows a variety of different people to enjoy the mountain in ways they prefer.

On Saturday we spent the whole day with the park crew which was a lot of fun. Their main responsibility is grooming and maintaining the park features. The bulk of the days work is done first thing in the morning where the guys will clear off any new snow that's on the rails and rake out the take-off and landing for each feature. The grooming for the open areas of the trail is done overnight so throughout the day the guy's will observe the trails and make any necessary adjustments as the day goes on. As a precaution every time they perform maintenance to one of their parks they call it in to dispatch so that they can keep record of it to prevent lawsuits and keep the parks safer. All the initiatives that are involved in working on the park staff contribute to service, safety, sustainability, and overall serving everyone who rides at the mountain.