Next Level Ops Report: Where There’s a T-Bar, There’s a Way
Ops Report 7/19/25: All About the T-Bar, Things That Go Boom, Christmas in July, and The Hubba Hutte on the Move!
I've done project management for many years - I've managed every imaginable type of project under the sun: small bathroom remodels, whole condo remodels, base lodge additions, new lifts, and new buildings. And while none of these things is quite like the other, at the base of it all, the project planning and scheduling is fundamentally the same. You must do X before you do Y, so that you can then do Z. It seems simple! But as the variables become dependent on their OWN set of variables, which then affects the other variables, you can end up in a whole mess at the end if you don't pay attention to each and every detail. And building a lift is no different - so many situational puzzle pieces that must fit together in the right order, at the right time, to complete the finished project. It's my favorite kind of chaos! This week started the cascade of things that need to be done in the right order and at the right time AKA it's GO time!
THINGS THAT GO BOOM
We are counting down the days until our blaster gets here. When we dug test pits, we encountered ledge at 6 different tower locations, including the return bullwheel. To install the foundations, we need to blast this granite to the depth and width required for each footing.
Jeff is our resident engineer and has been diligently working with the total station to set the exact lift alignment on the hill. If you are out hiking the mountain, you will see the markings on the ground for each footing. Although Jeff has had these locations marked for weeks, he had to go back this week and mark exact width, length and depth for each tower, so that the blaster knows how far to go. We don't want to take out too much earth - we would just have to fill it back in and we don't want to take out too little - we'd have to finish it off with the rock hammer or call the blaster back. This is where the science meets the field work.
Additionally, our Ops team spent a considerable amount of time this week bringing fill up to the top of the t-bar line. This fill is being piled strategically around blast areas to protect the Tecumseh lift from any rocks that may escape the blasting mats. (Stuff of nightmares honestly... to think of giant boulders hitting my lift.... I don't think I'll sleep next week.) And while it may seem like an easy task to truck dirt around, it is a whole different beast on the mountain. We primarily used our track truck to run piles from the bottom of Lower White Caps up the new work road, with the Volvo and the 330 to load it and spread it. It's at times like these that every piece of machinery we own is an irreplaceable asset. If a machine goes down, it can halt production, it can push the timeline out. If we don't finish piling the dirt on time (that's the variable X), then we can't blast on our allotted day, we have to reschedule with the blaster. (Not always easy). And then it pushes out the foundations... The project manager's job is to help the crew strategize how to accomplish Variable X even if things have gone sideways - we shift to a different task that's equally important on the timeline until the machine is fixed, or find a different machine, or tack on hours to the workday - whatever it takes to get it done. And that's exactly what we did.
CHRISTMAS IN JULY
July 16th was officially Christmas in Waterville Valley! We got two containers of t-bar parts wrapped in shiny MND bows with some Bartholet parts to boot! The truck drivers didn't look much like Santa Clause but we didn't care - the crates of nuts and bolts and anchors and towers and allllll of the fun things were everything we wished for this Christmas. I brought our lift maintenance team a Christmas breakfast of donuts and cheer to kick off a fun filled day of unloading, unpacking and inventorying all our new toys. The first container was unloaded lickity split - New bubbles (more to come on that front...), New panels for the top terminal of TEX, and all of the anchorage for the new t-bar. The second container.... well, that was a little more interesting. Five weeks of travel did not do right by the towers shipped from Europe. Getting the towers out of a closed-top container was challenging to say the least - possibly the most high stakes game of Jenga I have ever played. It took us four hours to get all of them unloaded and blocked up in the parking lot. By the end, we were dirty, sweaty and tired, but happy to know that the first pieces of the t-bar puzzle had finally arrived in Waterville Valley.
WHICH COMES FIRST: THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG?
In addition to building the new t-bar, we are also installing new snowmaking pipe from the Booster pump house all the way down to the bottom of Lower White Caps. We had already removed the old pipe, but we needed to get all of the new pipe in place before we started digging foundations for the t-bar. In the same logic that if we were ever going to replace this dated infrastructure the time is NOW, we also knew that the timeframe to pull that pipe into place was very short. Can't do it once foundations are in - not enough room for machines to get between the t-bar and the trees. Can't do it while doing foundations because the machines will all be tied up doing excavation work. So with blasting days away, the time to pull all the pipe into place was NOW. The snowmakers hustled this week to get it all done. They had started last week, but we had several machines go down all at once and we had to hit the pause button while vehicle maintenance worked on them. This was another one of those X variables - the pipe pull got pushed off due to machine issues, but we couldn't wait any longer, so it was all hands-on deck. Now that the sticks are in place, they will get a moment to sit on the sidelines. Why you ask? Well, we learned during the build of TEX that blasting makes real quick work of blowing apart granite, but it makes even quicker work of blowing apart welds in snowmaking pipe. So the sticks will set in place, disconnected, while we blow up the earth about ten feet from their permanent home. Sleep tight, little snowmaking pipe - your day to shine will be soon.
NIGHTLIGHTING, MOWING, AND THE HUBBA HUTTE ON THE MOVE
As we change the layout of Exhibition for night skiing, certain elements of that run will have to be moved or changed. The Exhibition Poma lift will come down, the Nastar shack will move uphill and the Hubba Hutte will have to find a new home.
Many of the lights will be installed on the towers of TEX and the t-bar, but the lights on Exhibition will be on tall light poles. Over the last two weeks, Aaron and his team have focused on completing the cable runs for these lights. The lift maintenance team completed the forms for the foundations of the lights last week and are starting on the welding of the first light post.
Aaron also completed our first mow of the season! The USFS requires us to do a mowing of the construction area prior to the arrival of our blasters to reduce the likelihood of invasive species taking root. If you think mowing your lawn is a challenge, try mowing a mountain - it's not easy on the machinery or the operator, but it is a must before snow starts to fall. The rest of the annual mowing will take place after August 1, but it was a good test of the flail mower to cut the vegetation on Exhibition before sending it up to the top.
Today, the Hubba Hutte went on an adventure - the Ops team was able to get it disconnected and freed from its framing at the base of Exhibition. As I was coming back from the shop, I saw the Hubba slowly rolling on down the access road on the forks of the lull, going backwards to balance the weight - I'm sure a slightly hairy operation for the team. But I hear the Hubba made the trip safe and sound - with not a window or door broken - to her temporary home in the Boneyard, while we figure out where she might be needed.
BUILDING A LIFT, BUILDING A TEAM
I don't know the stats on this, but the majority of new lifts are installed by the lift manufacturer and their subcontractors. Most new lift contracts are considered turnkey contracts: Other than providing the utilities and auxiliary buildings, the lift manufacturer will take care of the rest - from the excavation to the installation and the commissioning. At the end, the purchasing resort is handed the key to their new toy and it opens to the public. That is a grand oversimplification of the process, but you get the idea. After being heavily involved in the build of TEX, Tim and I both felt confident that we could build this new lift in-house. Our Ops team is an extremely diverse group of individuals with skill sets that run the gambit of all construction trades. Do you need a foundation? We have the machines and operators to dig that. Do you need some fiber spliced? We can do that. Want a motor installed? We do that too. Want a tiny home? We can build it. Need a sheave replaced? Sure, we do it every day.
When I told the team, we would be building this lift in-house, no one called me crazy or told me we couldn't do it. Were their questions? Sure. Would it be easier on everyone if we just had a turnkey contract? Probably. But building a lift isn't just about doing the work. Building a lift is getting to know your mountain and your people - learning every nook and cranny of that new lift. If you build the whole damn thing, it is easier to fix and maintain. You know every nut, bolt, wire and sheave - it becomes your baby. And the people who built it with you become your family.
I am so proud of my Ops team - for taking on this project with me. I am delighted to share the stories of their hard work on this blog. When you ride the new t-bar this winter, I hope you think of them and what it took to build this ourselves. We are doing this for you, Watervillians - A lift designed for you and built by the people who love your mountain.
See you when the snow flies!
M
- Marissa P., Operations Manager