The Ski museum at Cannon Mountain was pretty sweet! I saw a lot of pictures from back in the day and it was cool to see how much skiing has grown since then. The thing that sparked my interest was pictures from Belknap Recreation Area, which is now Gunstock, my home mountain. They had pictures of old groomers from Belknap Recreation Area. Before yesterday, I did not know that before it was Gunstock, it was Belknap Recreation Area. We got a presentation from a guy who works there talking about the history of skiing and it was very interesting. He showed us a lot of pictures and explained them to us. Then we went to the top of Cannon and rode the tram way. I wish the day was more clear because we had the opportunity to see some sick views but all we could see was clouds :-( A few of us did the rim trail to go to to the observation tower and it was crazy windy and sideways raining on us! I was surprised to see some old folks out there during that inclement weather.
All in all, it was a pretty good day, just wish the weather liked us for one Thursday...
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Stowe
For Thursday's class we went to Stowe to check out the new lift that is going in! I learned that there is a LOT involved in installing a new lift and coming up with new processes. They are building a huge barn to store each chair of the lift in so that they don't freeze over night. I think this is a great idea to prevent freezing but it seems like it is just more work for the employees to do. Before this barn, if the chairs are frozen, they would have to go and get all the ice out of each chair and it is a long process. However, its a similar process to take each chair off the cable. I feel like either process is going to be time-consuming, but you wouldn't have to always chip the ice off the chairs if there's no ice to chip (when doing things the old way). I have faith that the employees who have to deal with taking the chairs off will eventually get used to it and there will be a good system in place for it. When they first start, there will be a lot of problem solving and kinks to work out. I think that eventually though, it will get easier for everyone involved.
We also checked out the new ski patrol building and it is pretty impressive! I like the system they have up there for taking the excess hot air from the chairlift and heating the building with that excess air. It is environmentally friendly and will save energy costs! I have never seen or heard about a system like that and I got really excited when I heard about it. It sounds like Stowe has a pretty sweet Ski Patrol that includes doctors on staff as volunteers. Its great that a doctor will take time out of his/her busy schedules to help out Stowe's ski patrol as well as donate things to the building that will make the patrol staff happier.
I'm really glad we got the opportunity to take this trip to Stowe!
I can't wait to see what the rest of our field trips are like!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Sunday River Snow Summit
The Show at Sunday River was awesome! I talked to a lot of people, expanded my knowledge, and got a bunch of free stuff!
My favorite person to talk to was the National Ski Patrol guy from Pat's Peak. His name was Chris Rousseau and he works with the youth ski patrol on his mountain. I asked him if people who got knocked unconscious ever get confused when they wake up and hit him. He said that it has happened to him before. He was very easy-going and easy to talk to.
Another person I talked to was Patti Dykeman who is the Office Manager from Leitner-Poma. She told us about chairlifts and about the bubble chairlift that is being put on Mt. Snow for the upcoming season. I asked her what it was like to be a woman in the industry. She told me that it's no different than being a man. She is not treated any differently and that she gets along well with all of the men. I also asked her if she had gone to college. She said that she did not go to college and that she started out working in the office at the age of 17 and has stayed there ever since.
I talked to Matt Vanderbrook who is the Senior Project and Sales Manager for Sustainable Energy Developments. He talked about windmills and the benefits of wind power. I asked him if it was possible for there to ever be a resort that was off the grid completely. He told me it wasn't likely because there is always a need for back-up power. Also, it's good to be connected because excess energy created from the wind turbine can be sold to the community and benefit them as well. I asked him what the fastest wind gust recorded from a wind mill was and he told me that it was 100 mph in Berkshire.
John Jacobs is the President of Reliable Racing Supply. He told us about an alternative to Neveplast which is much cheaper and just as effective. He had some samples of fencing on his table so I asked him if there was a machine that could roll up fences easier than getting on your hands and knees and rolling them up manually. He told me that people have made makeshift fence rollers but there is no product on the market for it.
CB Vaughan who does Business Development for EFX USA told us about RFID technology. He told us about how the EFX bracelets work to help achieve better balance and less stress. He tested our balance to prove that they work and then let us pick out our own! I asked him if people ever wore more than one bracelet to achieve even better balance. He said that athletes sometimes wear necklaces and bracelets to increase their effectiveness.
I heard from a lot of other different people from chairlifts and groomers to marketing and hiring. I was able to use everything I had learned in Intro to Ski Resort Management to talk to all of the vendors.
We also got to sit in the groomers and see what the inside of those were like. They were really neat and looked really easy to operate. It made me want to try grooming at some point so I now have a goal to do some grooming this winter.
This show has gotten me really excited about all the different facets of being in the ski industry. Hopefully, in the near future, I will be able to attend this show as a representative from the mountain I work for!
I'm looking forward to learning about cable splicing next week!
(I'm also glad I'm not at Reach the Beach today! :-D)
Adios amigos!
My favorite person to talk to was the National Ski Patrol guy from Pat's Peak. His name was Chris Rousseau and he works with the youth ski patrol on his mountain. I asked him if people who got knocked unconscious ever get confused when they wake up and hit him. He said that it has happened to him before. He was very easy-going and easy to talk to.
Another person I talked to was Patti Dykeman who is the Office Manager from Leitner-Poma. She told us about chairlifts and about the bubble chairlift that is being put on Mt. Snow for the upcoming season. I asked her what it was like to be a woman in the industry. She told me that it's no different than being a man. She is not treated any differently and that she gets along well with all of the men. I also asked her if she had gone to college. She said that she did not go to college and that she started out working in the office at the age of 17 and has stayed there ever since.
I talked to Matt Vanderbrook who is the Senior Project and Sales Manager for Sustainable Energy Developments. He talked about windmills and the benefits of wind power. I asked him if it was possible for there to ever be a resort that was off the grid completely. He told me it wasn't likely because there is always a need for back-up power. Also, it's good to be connected because excess energy created from the wind turbine can be sold to the community and benefit them as well. I asked him what the fastest wind gust recorded from a wind mill was and he told me that it was 100 mph in Berkshire.
John Jacobs is the President of Reliable Racing Supply. He told us about an alternative to Neveplast which is much cheaper and just as effective. He had some samples of fencing on his table so I asked him if there was a machine that could roll up fences easier than getting on your hands and knees and rolling them up manually. He told me that people have made makeshift fence rollers but there is no product on the market for it.
CB Vaughan who does Business Development for EFX USA told us about RFID technology. He told us about how the EFX bracelets work to help achieve better balance and less stress. He tested our balance to prove that they work and then let us pick out our own! I asked him if people ever wore more than one bracelet to achieve even better balance. He said that athletes sometimes wear necklaces and bracelets to increase their effectiveness.
I heard from a lot of other different people from chairlifts and groomers to marketing and hiring. I was able to use everything I had learned in Intro to Ski Resort Management to talk to all of the vendors.
We also got to sit in the groomers and see what the inside of those were like. They were really neat and looked really easy to operate. It made me want to try grooming at some point so I now have a goal to do some grooming this winter.
This show has gotten me really excited about all the different facets of being in the ski industry. Hopefully, in the near future, I will be able to attend this show as a representative from the mountain I work for!
I'm looking forward to learning about cable splicing next week!
(I'm also glad I'm not at Reach the Beach today! :-D)
Adios amigos!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Neat website
Working on my market analysis and doing some research on closed ski areas.
Check it out if you're into history! There's some interesting stories in there...
Check it out if you're into history! There's some interesting stories in there...
Thursday, September 8, 2011
our new classroom
First time in our new "classroom" today...I'm glad that the Lyndon Outing Club has become our new home base. I remember last semester during a Risk Management presentation I asked the question "Does LSC have any partnerships to help LOC?" Well my question was answered! I think it's a great opportunity for us as students to put our knowledge to use and its also an opportunity for LOC to grow by having a new group of people taking care of certain aspects. This will definitely be a mutually beneficial relationship!
I can't wait to get out to places and start learning the ins and outs as well as the people in the field! This is gonna be a fun class!
I can't wait to get out to places and start learning the ins and outs as well as the people in the field! This is gonna be a fun class!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)