Bretton Woods Guest services/Winterbike race

For the final week at BW I worked in guest services on friday, and Saturday morning the participated in the Winterbike race in the afternoon, then was one of the judges for the big air competition. On Friday I helped Lance go through all the lost and found items from the season. ones that we could find the owner of we contacted them and set up shipping of the items. This to me seems like something that will add to the guest satisfaction. Stuff that we could not find the owner of we packed up to be taken to the local thrift store, which will provide people who may not be able to afford new equipment a chance at getting some nice gear at a good price. This can be seen as sustainable since they are not just throwing out the "lost" items, but making sure that they find a good home. On Saturday I helped lance sell a few tickets in the morning, then went and helped Sylvia from winterbike with the registration. Since there was not much going on at the resort I was able to enter the race as well, which was alot of fun even thought the race course was quite challenging with all the soft snow. After the race I helped out by judging the big air competition, this was a fun spectator event with some good crashes. I had alot of fun with this event and it seemed that everyone involved was enjoying them selves. Also I think it is good for the resort since having an event like this brings in people who may not have ever come to the resort other wise.

Bretton Woods Hobbits/Pass holder's day

On this Friday I was to work with the Hobbits ski school for the day. The day did not start off to well when it had been pouring rain overnight, so most of the kids did not show up. Epically for me, a snowboarder the day was really slow. In the morning I helped Tucker the one snowboard instructor clean and put away the boars from yesterday. Finally in the PM session we had one kid who was a snowboarder show up so I was able to get an idea of how it all worked. I can see how this can be considered a major sustainability part of the industry since you are getting your next generation of skiers and riders hooked on snow. As for Saturday I helped James with the season pass holder's day. In the morning there was breakfast and in the afternoon a lunch buffet, along with a raffle. To me this seemed like a very good thing to offer to the pass holders, everyone that I spoke with seemed to be enjoying themselves. James told me that the is an older couple that had passes to Waterville in the past but has been coming to Bretton since the started to do this event. I would say that this event benefits both the customer and the resort since it give the customer the feeling of importance as well as bringing in more pass sales for the resort.

Bretton Woods Lift Opps.

For my first week at BW I worked with the lift department. While there I got a good introduction to what it takes to keep lifts up and running smoothly. When I first got there I was introduced to Courtney who is the head of lift operations, she first had me work with Kirk and Sue who work at the beginner area lift there I helped them shovel out and fix up the ramp to help people load smoothly. Next I helped Courtney dig out and clean up one of the magic carpets to prevent it from freezing up overnight with the change in teps. On the second day I spent some time at West Mountain Lift "quading" and directing traffic with the people loading. When I first got there it was kind of a mess as far as the lines went, during the process I was told by one of the guests that what I was doing was making a big difference to how the line was working, so you could say that having someone doing what I was doing goes a long way in guest satisfaction! At the end of the day I went around with Courtney to check up on all the lifts and attendants to make sure that everyone was doing well and had no issues, she said that she finds that doing that really helps keep up moral among the workers. Over all I found it interesting to see lift opps from the "other side".

Final week at Burke

For my last time at Burke I went for another groomer ride along, figured I'd do this twice since it is the area of winter opps that I am most interested in. This time I rode with Jeff who does more of the park grooming which I was interested to see. Jeff explained what he was doing well to the point of how he was reshaping some of the landings in the park to make them safer for people as well as more sustainable angles where snow wont be pushed away. He also went in to some of knowing your trails so you can have a plan to groom the most fuel efficiently you can. Hope to be able to get some more grooming time in the future.

Burke week 4

On Friday I was with ski patrol. While there in the morning we went out to post a sign and run some rope to close off a section of trail. Both of these actions were done for the purpose of guest safety, first to give people a heads up that there is a trail crossing ahead and second to keep them off the trails that might be dangerous to ski on. Not necessarily in this case but some times trails are close as part of sustainability since to may not want a trail to get skied off and preserve the snow that is on the trail. I also got to go an a injury call at the end of the day and got to see the process in witch a responses takes place to make sure that the guest is kept safe as well as the necessary steps that are taken to protect the resort from any repercussions. On Saturday I worked at the nordic center grooming and clearing blow downs on a few trails that had yet to be opened this year. This ties to guest satisfaction since now all of the nordic trails had been cleared and groomed for the season.

Burke week 3

This week on Friday I was in maintenance with Jack all day as he said it was a slow day with no groomers to work on and nothing on the hill broke down through out the day. So he did find some tasks for me to do many of them were not very glamorous. First I went through all the old filters that they had bought over the years for their old snowmaking equipment, which they were selling back to the company at half cost but at least they are getting something back for them. Next I went through the old storage trailer and cleared a shelf for spare parts for the new lift. The rest of the day I did what I could to help clean up the shop, and helped one of the other guys with an oil change on a bulldozer by using special pads to soak up any spilled oil or hydraulic fluid. On Saturday I helped out with the dashney mile style here I many trips up and down the hill bringing supplies up to the park for the set up, during the event I was an extra pair of hands helping out where needed. Once it was over I helped with the break down of the event.

Burke week 2

For this weather shortened week of practicum, I went for a groomer ride along. While there I first saw the per run check that happens (or should) before each night of pushing snow. The idea of sustainability can be viewed a few different way when it comes to grooming. First if you can make good use of the snow that you have especially in a year like this where there is a lack of natural snow you can save the resort money on snow making, second if you are efficient in how you push the snow you can cut back on fuel costs. As far as service to the guests you can argue that the groomed trails are the main product that you are putting out to the public. This also ties in to safety since a poorly groomed trail could prove dangerous to the guests.