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.