Next Level Ops Report: Ponder, Plan, Prepare
Hi friends,
It's that time of year for Mtn Ops that feels like purgatory. Every year, no matter what the weather, we are stuck in limbo. Either you are fighting to keep your trails in shape as warm, wet weather and baking sun melt your hard winter's labor OR you are wishing the sun would shine and the snow would stop falling long after the Spring Equinox has come and gone. This year is definitely the latter: Spring doesn't want us and winter ain't done with us yet.
This time of limbo is a time to ponder, to plan and prepare. It is the calm before the chaos - the transition to project season. We are listing our deficiencies and counting our wins. What did we do well? What could we do better? It's getting our proverbial ducks in order before the ducks start to swim in the puddles that collect in the courtyard after closing day. And so, my friends, below you will find the musings and plans that are swirling in my brain - Blessings to those who choose to continue reading...
The Pondering… Mountain Ops: The Sherpas of the Skiing World
With operating season winding down and our massive capital projects wrapped up tidily in a bow, I've had some down time, some time to ponder and explore. Recently, SAM magazine interviewed me for an article on major lift incidents and the epic response we must make to these incidents in Mountain Operations. One of the questions, Shannon asked me was why does Mtn Ops do what we do? Essentially, why do we go through incredible lengths to make skiing happen? I felt so honored to be asked this question! For those of us who dwell in the shadows of the mountain, I felt like we had been SEEN.
In essence, we do this because we are servants - to the people who ski here, but most importantly, to the mountain. When I think of Mountain Ops, I am reminded of the Sherpas of Mt. Everest. The Sherpas are an incredible ethnic group tied to the region by their shared heritage and spirituality. Their vast knowledge of the mountain, physical ability to withstand the rugged environment of the Himalayas and their dedication to the tourist industry have made them a key group within the mountaineering world. Without the Sherpas, it would not be possible for mountaineers to explore and summit Mt. Everest. While our mountain may be 7,000 meters lower in altitude, she still needs servants to be explored - she needs Mountain Ops.
While we come from all ethnic backgrounds, the feeling I get amongst our people is that we are all spiritually tied to this mountain. We have all seen the days when the mountain will not allow us to open - whether it is the wind that gusts along its ridges or precipitation falling as an icy mix that wreaks havoc on the slopes and lifts. There are days deep into the negatives that take the lifts prisoner - solidifying fluids, and freezing motors. Even these massive machines cannot ignore the power of the mountain. If the mountain does not want us on it, we all must obey. It is these days that make us realize we are the servants here. And it is when we can overcome these challenges and we have permission to open the mountain to our guests, my team feels strong and worthy of the mountain's blessing. The next time you are here, and we have a delayed opening - stand outside with me. Listen to the wind rip down the lift line, watch the snow blowing off the ridges, and feel the ice freeze to every metal surface from the base to the summit. Take all of that in with me, feel the power of the mountain deep in your soul - and you will know what it means to be a servant to the mountain - a Sherpa through and through.
Plan & Prepare: Valley Adventures
While happy spring skiers are enjoying the soft snow and drinking beers on the freestyle deck, I am staring out my office window - waiting. Waiting for the snow to melt, waiting for the skiers to say their last goodbyes to the trails and their friends, waiting for project season. I feel it in my people too - that edge we all get when we have opened the lifts every day for 126 days, groomed the same trails, and built and re-built the parks ten times over. We are waiting for the Next Great Adventure. I'd like to say we are patiently waiting, but this year it feels different. Our team that built the T-bar is still intact, jonesing for the challenge only BIG projects can give you.
As the spring takes its sweet time to come out of hibernation, Mountain Ops is preparing for the scariest thing we have done in a long time: We are coming out of the shadows of the mountain. Do you see us out here, peeking our heads out of the forest, daintily testing the ground as we step off the mountain and try our footing on flat ground? Yes, that's right - Mountain Ops is headed to the Valley floor. We are preparing to start the site preparations for the much-debated Adventure Zone in Town Square - Our Next Great Adventure.
So come hell or high water (or drifting snow, as it may be), we will be starting on the Adventure Zone this week. We will start off slow and steady - doing some needed maintenance on the brush and overgrowth in the area, surveying the site with our equipment, marking trees that need to be cleared and roping off trees that will be kept. We will be moving machinery and materials into the work area and pushing snow out of the way. And once we have our bearings on flat ground, we will be full-tilt through the summer - removing trees, hauling away the stumps, grading the site with machines. While I feel the spring doldrums right now, I can feel the excitement building in my chest for the thing I love most of all (well, besides lifts) - CONCRETE. While it might not be T-bar foundations, challenging our team and equipment on the side slope of Lower White Caps - it's still concrete - the rush to build the forms, set them perfectly and pour the concrete before it times out. I'll keep y'all posted during the project - step by step - so you can live the highs and lows with us. But please, friends, be kind to my people while we inhabit the Valley Floor. We can be a bit rough, a little more suited to the isolation of the mountain, but we are efficient and effective. We are happy to bring our mountain energy to this project and to the Town.
In fact, this feels very much to me like the start of the T-bar project. I clearly remember in November of 2024, when we had the go-ahead to start the project, it was snowing lightly - an early Fall snow. I made a solo trek up Lower White Caps to walk the line - check for interferences, see how much vegetation would need to be removed, investigate the terrain, pick the alignment. There is something I love very much about the start of a project when it goes from conceptual to the construction phase. It's like standing at the precipice of a black hole - looking at the bare terrain, pondering the work that must be done, imagining the finished project and realizing how far you have to go. It's at moments like these that I feel both the confidence of past construction successes, but the worry about the path that will lead there. There was no greater feeling than loading public on the T-bar for the very first time - a project that started with a walk up the trail in the quiet of the falling snow, worrying and wondering about the path forward. As I watch the snow fall around me this spring, as I explore the future site of the Adventure Zone, I feel confident in our team, in the work that we must do to bring this project to fruition.
Maybe this snow isn't so bad at all...
M
- Marissa P., Operations Manager