last weekend at bretton woods!

This weekend I spent time in the repair shop on Friday and with lift operations on Saturday.
From a sustainability perspective, they don't really have anything to do with being green. However, both departments allow for financial sustainability. People buy their lift tickets to use the lifts so they don't have to walk up the mountain. The repair shop is also financially stable because people need to have their skis and boards tuned and waxed to be in proper working condition. They might not necessarily go to the shop on the mountain they are at, but having a repair shop at the mountain makes it super handy to get your stuff worked on.
Both departments are alllll about service. Courtney (supervisor of lift ops) told me that the people who work the bottom of the lifts are the ones who run into the most customers which is true because you get to see everyone who is going up to ski or ride. It is important for the lifties to have good customer service skills for obvious reasons. Also, the repair shop is all about providing a service to people...Again, the obvious.
Safety is very important. Sometimes, in the repair shop, skis have been grinded and tuned too much and if they are grinded any more, they will fall apart. There comes to be a point when you can't grind or tune skis anymore and they must be rejected and they customer must be informed. If equipment falls apart on the trail, it could cause a catastrophe which is why the repair shop is not willing to make themselves liable for anything like that. The lifts also put safety at the top of their priorities because there's a lot that could go wrong and if safety isn't first, people could get injured and maybe even die.
Lifts benefit the consumer so they don't have to walk up a hill. The repair shop benefits the consumer so they can conveniently get their skis or boards tuned at the mountain they are riding at.
Both departments benefit the employee because they give them a job... Employees use the lifts and they also have an opportunity to get a quick wax or tune because normally, mountain employees use their equipment more than the general public (depending on your department).
The owners benefit from the lifts because everyone pays for a lift ticket to use the lift, bringing in revenue. The repair shop also brings in some extra cash for the resort, benefiting the shareholder.