Next Level Ops Report: Showing the Lifts Some Love
This week in Opsland: Pipeline demo, a T-bar Timeout, and Valley Run-Northside Love
So I don't know about you, but I am not an easy-going, patient person. And I know myself really well - If I am not surrounded by chaos, I'll go find the nearest fire and throw myself right in the middle of it, not to fan the flames, but to try to control them. I'm a "do 27 things at once, forget to eat, sleep and breathe, slide into home base by milliseconds for the winning run in the seventh game of the World Series" kinda girl. Because of this small obsession with wanting to control chaos, I LOVE projects - whether it's renovating the lodge, building lifts or constructing the brand new PHQ at the top of a mountain - I love the challenge of getting all the parts and pieces to fall together under a tight deadline. So this week was a particular challenge for me: I had to have patience.
T-Bar Timeout
Last week, we finished the last of the test digging for all the towers and terminals of the new t-bar. We did this because we knew from the build of TEX that we would encounter ledge in at least a few of the tower locations. Well, it turned out to be 6 in total - 5 towers and the return bull wheel at the bottom of the Chute. Our blaster came out to look at the smooth, shiny, crack-free slabs of granite that we had exposed just under the surface of the trail. Granite like that might a lovely countertop, but sure as heck makes it hard to install footings. The blaster asked us to pause, leaving the holes exposed and wait. Wait for our turn in line, wait for the dynamite and the blasting mats and the equipment to get here. As I stood on the proposed T-bar line, examining the alignment again, for the 157th time to make sure that's EXACTLY where we want it to live, I reminded myself that at this exact same stage in the build of TEX, the project was a hurry up and wait type of game too. So we took a breath and redirected our energy into all of the other things we could accomplish.
Pipeline Demo
Part of the dance of installing the new T-bar is replacing the snowmaking pipeline from the Booster Pumphouse down the Chute, White Caps and Exhibition. I think from a layman's perspective it might not seem obvious why this needs to happen right now. As you ski down our trails, do you look at all that pipeline covering 100% of trails and wonder how it got there? Before taking this job, I never did. In my mind, it just was always there. Came with the place, I guess? The pipeline on this section of trail next to the t-bar, tight to the trees, is some of the oldest pipe on the mountain. It was put together decades ago when victaulic couplings were commonly used to hold pipe together instead of welds. Over the years, this pipeline has been patched and repaired multiple times. Because we will have a shiny new lift with a shiny new haul rope blocking easy access to this side of the trail, now is the time to replace this pipe.
In truth, setting snowmaking pipeline is one of the most time-consuming projects I have encountered on the mountain. Our amazing welders on the snowmaking team have been welding sticks together since March! Snowmaking pipe comes in 40 foot sections. We weld these into 280 - 320 foot sections (called sticks) in the shop, before pulling them up the mountain and setting them in place. These guys have welded thousands upon thousands of feet since March. We've pulled up a large portion of these sticks up the mountain already: with cats, with excavators, with teams of people to get them placed. Within two weeks we will have all of the pipeline up the mountain and in place. And then we will have to have patience again... As the sticks wait their turn for the blaster to finish his business. Cuz lord knows, nothing ruins a connected pipeline like blasting 20 feet from it. While we wait for the blaster and the pipeline welding on mountain, our trail crew has been very busy cutting up and bringing down the 1000s of feet of old pipeline to the base area. Always something to fill the downtime around here!
Valley Run - Northside Love
This week in lift maintenance was a continuation of the terminal work from last week on Valley. Bearings were replaced, the top bull wheel was greased, and the tire assemblies were reinstalled. All lift manufacturers tell you what you should do for annual maintenance and getting that done is part of our summer protocol. Additionally, one of the ways we determine what maintenance will get done each summer is by reviewing our lift issues from the past winter. Usually these are the items that drive our maintenance projects. Anti-collision sensor issues at Valley Run and Tex over the winter led us to believe we should delve a little deeper into the terminal work than what is specified on an annual basis. All detachable lifts will stop if the lift detects that a chair is too close to another chair in the terminal. The manufacturers always program this in as a wide range so the risk of a chair colliding is very minimal with this safety feature. However, every time the lift stops, it affects the customer experience. No one likes it when a lift stops ten times on your 5-minute ride up. Working on reducing the number of sensor-related stops on the detachable machines is a big focus for us this summer. Hopefully, with all this terminal work, your next ride up Valley or Tex will be nothing but smooth sailing.
Additionally, the lift maintenance team focused their efforts on Northside's annual maintenance check list. While the fix grips don't have as much complexity, they certainly need just as much love. Greasing, chair migration, NDT, cleaning and tidying of the electrical systems - all necessary parts of annual maintenance. I don't know about you, but Northside is one of my favorite lifts. I grew up skiing at 49 Degrees North in Washington State. Although they are different manufacturers, the feel of riding Northside reminds me of Chair 4 at 49 Degrees North. Pretty fast for a double fixed grip chair, fairly low to the ground below it, surrounded by trees, a peaceful ride - that's what I love about that lift. When we fire her up next winter, take a break from the rat race of the high-speed lift corrals and enjoy a nice quiet ride up Northside.
This week will come to a close very soon for us. While you play in the Valley on the weekend, we are resting up and getting our strength back for whatever the Mountain is going to throw at us next - just hopefully, whatever it is, it won't require us to be patient and wait. Anything but that...
- Marissa P., Operations Manager