Special events and Rentals

This weekend, there was a "special event" but really it was about 10 buses coming from Canada to Jay Peak for the weekend. Our job was to assist in unpacking buses. However, there was an issue with a couple of buses getting through the border smoothly so we had to go up there and switch people from one bus to another bus. It was really easy but it was cool because we got to hang out with Tom Howell who is in charge of security, parking, and transportation at Jay Peak. On Saturday, I got to work in rentals all day. I got to be the one to get the boots for the customers because I'm not certified to tech skis. It was fun for the most part, but it gets boring when there's no customers coming through.
Neither department I worked with really had anything to do with environmental sustainability. However, financial sustainability is an important part of both departments I worked for. Having about 700 people come to the resort in buses from Canada is a great way to bring revenue from Canada to the Northeast Kingdom. On top of those that came by bus, there were many other people on the mountain spending money at Jay Peak. Rentals is a great way for financial sustainability because you pay one price for the boards and skis and you can use them over and over again. Rentals has a hugeeee opportunity to bring in a high amount of profit.
From a service perspective, both departments are extremely important in providing service to customers. Because of communication with this large group of Canadians, the mountain was able to plan and accommodate many people to be on the mountain throughout the weekend. Without the planning, everything would have fallen apart. Working rentals is all about service so good people skills is a must. Customers come to have a good experience and by providing the option of rentals gives people a chance to learn without spending crap loads on brand new equipment they may never want to use again.
Safety is important all around the mountain, but we didn't really have to think too much about safety while working special events. We just had to keep peoples' bags safe and not throw them around. In rentals, safety is very important. All skis are set to a certain DIN setting that is safest for the person using them. Also, if there is equipment involved in a case that ski patrol deals with, that equipment must get a torque test in order to be allowed to be used again. This prevents equipment damaged in collisions or accidents to cause any more problems for others. Unsafe equipment will never be rented out.
Rentals are very beneficial to the guest because it makes it so people who don't use equipment a lot are able to rent it at a low price. It is especially important for beginners to rent because they are not always sure that they want to continue to ski or ride after a first lesson. The special event was beneficial to the Canadians because they got to take buses to the mountain and not drive their cars. They were able to come as a large group so there were probably a lot of groups of friends who wanted to hang out together.
Having a special event planned is beneficial to the employees because it brings in more people and generates revenue. It is also good to plan a mass amount of people to show up so that there is plenty of staff scheduled to take the extra volume. Rentals is beneficial to the employees because it gives them a job! Employees who normally ride could rent some ski to try something new for free.
For the shareholders and investors, special events and rentals are important because they make a lot of money. Having 700 people show up to the mountain as well as all the people who were going to show up anyway brings in a lot of revenue. They are all taking money out of the Canadian economy and putting it into the American economy. They spend money on lift tickets, rentals, water park tickets, food and beverage, hotel rooms, and retail. All departments benefit from having a higher volume of people on the mountain. Rentals can also make the mountain a lot of money because the same equipment is being used over and over again until it is time to replace them.