Last Weekend at Bretton Woods (3/23-24)

This past weekend at Bretton Woods I worked with Ski Patrol both days. Since there was only one trail open other than the learning area we had very little to do. On Friday I hung out with a bunch of the guys and they gave me run through's of what they normally did. The work that we did get to involved taking down pads from the snowguns and lift towers on closed trails, as well as collecting "trail closed" signs from parts of the mountain that were no longer accessible. On Saturday we arrived at 7am to help set up for the downhill mountain bike race on the one open trail. Ski Patrol's tasks were to set up bamboo and fencing along the side of the trail where the racers were going to be, and set up mesh fencing at the bottom so that skiers and racers would know where to go. With so little snow left on the mountain the event gave some life to an otherwise depressing amount of terrain for this time of year. I wish I had been able to work with Ski Patrol when there was a larger variety of terrain open to ride, but even though I didn't get to experience any calls I still got a sense of what it's like to be a patrolman, and can definitely understand the value of their knowledge and experience for a mountain. Since Bretton Woods is closed monday-friday for this week last Saturday would seem to be a fitting end to our time there. Everyone who I had the opportunity to work with was more than welcoming, and in addition to learning a lot I had fun and got to know some new people in the process.

Bretton Woods 3/16, 3/17

This past weekend at Bretton Woods I worked with Courtney the supervisor of lift operations. Over the course of the two days I got to see the top and bottom terminals of the Bethelhem, Zephyr, and learning area lift. Essentially I lived a day in the life of Courtney for the most part though. In the morning I set up the magic carpet and worked that for a while and from about 10 o'clock on I went from lift to lift with her and gave the lift attendants breaks. Because of the extreme temperatures we usually gave them a break and shoveled as much snow as we could onto the loading/unloading ramps and raked them out for them. At times I got sent to do different tasks around the mountain which gave me an opportunity to ride which was nice. I got to experience the terrain park which was basically a lawsuit waiting to happen. As you can see by the rail sitting on its side in the middle of the trail unmarked, held up buy Kory. Other than that I attended the department manager meeting in the base lodge on Friday and just helped out where it was needed throughout each day.

The job of lift supervisor is very busy and it seems that each day can be drastically different from the next. Once the lifts start spinning there needs to be an unending sense of alertness, and responsibility from the lift supervisor. A reliable lift operation is essential for a ski resort and is easy to overlook, but constantly dependable lifts and operators are key to the big picture of a successful mountain operation. I have a lot of respect for everything that she does on a daily basis and got to experience it first hand this past weekend.

Bretton Woods 3-9,3-10

This past weekend at Bretton Woods we helped put the nordic marathon into action. On Friday we were introduced to Pete, the head of the nordic center. From that point on we shoveled, a lot. There were multiple points on the cross country race course that were running low on snow, so with the magic of our several shovels we moved and compacted as much snow as we could on several stretches of the course. This work took our entire first day at Bretton Woods, but hopefully it was going to be worth it for the racers the next day.

Saturday was the day of the nordic marathon and we had a lot of work to do to set up for it. I dug a shallow valley across the finish line so that a wire could be run through to track finishers times. We set up all the fencing in the finishing area as well to keep spectators out of the way and so the racers would know where to go once they finished. After that we carried the PA system from the starting line to the finish line, it was really really heavy. While the races were running we set up and re-stocked the refreshment table for the racers as they came in through the finish. After the racers were finished up we cleaned up the food table, PA system and fencing around the finish area. Even though it wasn't glamorous work it gave us a better understanding of what goes into hosting an event like this at a ski area. Everyone needs to help even if it's outside of their general duties in order to best prepare for something like this.

First Weekend of Bretton Woods Practicum 3/2, 3/3

The first weekend at Bretton Woods I was sent to work in the rental shop. I met a few interesting people and had the opportunity to learn how they ran their rentals. It was pretty similar to Stowe's system just smaller in scale. There were a few people at each station, sizing boots for renters, tuning ski's/boards, and later in the day dealing with returns. Having a few people doing specific jobs like an assembly line helps move people in and out onto the slopes quicker which makes our lives easier and the customers experience better. I spent my time distributing boots like I did in Stowe and just gaining more of an overall understanding about how all the equipment works. It's important for the people working with the equipment to be knowledgeable and know how to fit someone for ski's so their safety isn't compromised. Although I didn't tune ski's or boards for customers, I observed it being done for several hours at both Stowe and Bretton, and on top of my previous experience I feel much more comfortable being responsible for tuning equipment, and just interacting socially with the people renting who are generally beginners. In addition sustainability of equipment is essential to running a smooth rentals operations. Small things like getting boots to the dryers as soon as they're returned, or not always going for a pair of boots that's closest to you on the shelf, so that each pair is used equally as much, can all make a difference in the long run so that the equipment stays in better shape for longer periods of time. I didn't make the trip Saturday because I was sick, but I still took away a few new things and gained some knowledge from spending time in Bretton Woods' rental shop.