Middlebury college is upgrading its 40 year old double chair to a new triple chair. See
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Middlebury College is building a new lift.
Video of Flying Concrete up for Lift Tower Basis
Middlebury college is upgrading its 40 year old double chair to a new triple chair. See
Middlebury college is upgrading its 40 year old double chair to a new triple chair. See
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Both You and I Can Control Risk
By BeckyAurora Thompson
For the past 10 weeks, I have been taught how, as a ski area employee, I can eliminate, avoid, decrease the severity or frequency, manage, insure, transfer, or ignore the risk of an accident occurring.
While I can do my part as a ski area employee to control risk, it should not be entirely my responsibility. As a guest, you have control over risk also.
Ski areas try to decrease the severity of accidents by telling guests to slow down. They do this through the use of signs and the Slow Patrol. However, you can do your part by listening to the Slow Patrol, which will make everyone's day better. If you are an experienced skier/rider that does not want to slow down in the slow zones, go down a different trail.
You can avoid the risk or decrease the severity of getting frost bite by dressing appropriately. Believe it or not, there is a reason why ski areas advise you to not wear things like cotton, blue jeans, and 3 pairs of socks. There is a reason why they suggest sunscreen, lip balm with SPF, goggles and warm, waterproof outerwear. There are also wonderful base and on-hill lodges that serve more of a purpose than just selling merchandise with the ski area's logo on it and over-priced slices of pizza.
You can manage your risk by taking a lesson. By taking a lesson, your skills improve. As your skills improve, you will be better able to avoid those less skilled than yourself. If you don't understand the instructions that a ski area employee provided you with, ask for clarification.
A great way of avoiding the risk is to pick up a trail map. Not only do they make a great souvenir, but they also tell you that by riding up XYZ chairlift, you will only be able to access "most difficult" and "expert terrain". Reading signs also informs you of things such as "You are entering the terrain park" and "This lift serves only expert terrain".
Following the Skier Responsibility Code helps decrease the frequency of accidents. The Skier Responsibility Code contains such things as: stay in control, be able to stop or avoid objects, it is your responsibility to avoid people ahead of you, do not stop where you cannot be seen from above, yield to others when starting downhill or merging with a trail, observe signs, stay out of closed areas, and know how to use the lift.
By working together to control risk, both you (the guest) and I (the ski area employee) can have a wonderful season.
For the past 10 weeks, I have been taught how, as a ski area employee, I can eliminate, avoid, decrease the severity or frequency, manage, insure, transfer, or ignore the risk of an accident occurring.
While I can do my part as a ski area employee to control risk, it should not be entirely my responsibility. As a guest, you have control over risk also.
Ski areas try to decrease the severity of accidents by telling guests to slow down. They do this through the use of signs and the Slow Patrol. However, you can do your part by listening to the Slow Patrol, which will make everyone's day better. If you are an experienced skier/rider that does not want to slow down in the slow zones, go down a different trail.
You can avoid the risk or decrease the severity of getting frost bite by dressing appropriately. Believe it or not, there is a reason why ski areas advise you to not wear things like cotton, blue jeans, and 3 pairs of socks. There is a reason why they suggest sunscreen, lip balm with SPF, goggles and warm, waterproof outerwear. There are also wonderful base and on-hill lodges that serve more of a purpose than just selling merchandise with the ski area's logo on it and over-priced slices of pizza.
You can manage your risk by taking a lesson. By taking a lesson, your skills improve. As your skills improve, you will be better able to avoid those less skilled than yourself. If you don't understand the instructions that a ski area employee provided you with, ask for clarification.
A great way of avoiding the risk is to pick up a trail map. Not only do they make a great souvenir, but they also tell you that by riding up XYZ chairlift, you will only be able to access "most difficult" and "expert terrain". Reading signs also informs you of things such as "You are entering the terrain park" and "This lift serves only expert terrain".
Following the Skier Responsibility Code helps decrease the frequency of accidents. The Skier Responsibility Code contains such things as: stay in control, be able to stop or avoid objects, it is your responsibility to avoid people ahead of you, do not stop where you cannot be seen from above, yield to others when starting downhill or merging with a trail, observe signs, stay out of closed areas, and know how to use the lift.
By working together to control risk, both you (the guest) and I (the ski area employee) can have a wonderful season.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Korean Ski Resorts
By Taeho Park
Colorado has been famous for long time because of its great environment for winter sports. The land is located in the Rocky Mountain area where it is covered by fresh powder snow every winter, and since it snows a lot, Colorado's mountains and fields have become a skier's paradise. Basically, every winter sport, imaginable, can be enjoyable in this blessed land. However, there are also plenty of ski areas in the world, and they operate in quite a different style in contrast to Colorado. Ergo, much can be compared between Asian ski areas, specifically Korean ski areas, and Colorado ski areas.
Korea is known as second largest and most popular ski area in the Asia. The biggest reason for this is most Asian countries are affected by South Eastern Asia's exclusive warm climate. Consequently, the people who live in those areas visit Korea to experience real snow and winter sports. The climate of Korea is quite different compared to Colorado. Korea is in a monsoon climate and has four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. Korea has nearly twenty ski resorts, and interestingly, most major ski areas are located in Gangwon-do, one of the eight states of South Korea, because of its suitable skiing environment. The area of Gangwon-do is 16,894 km², of which four-fifths are mountain area and woodlands. There are a variety of well developed leisure sports which gives a tremendous experience every season. Winter officially begins in December, and it goes to end of March; skiing season lasts approximately four months. However, since the area gets massive snows in winter, Gangwon-do becomes the most popular place to enjoy winter sports in Korea. Korea has several indoor ski areas, but they cannot replace outdoor mountain skiing because of their lack of reality. Alpine skiing and snowboarding are the two dominating major winter sports, but Telemark skiing, Nordic and new-school skiing, and other minor winter sports are increasing at the moment.
In winter, Korean ski areas do not expect the same amount of natural snow that Colorado ski areas expect. Of course, Colorado ski areas have started to worry about less snow since new millennium, but Korean ski areas have a more severe problem: running ski resorts without natural snows. Additionally, most ski areas are not big and wide enough, except couple of major ski resorts, to hold large amounts of people and major winter events, such as X-Game or Winter Olympics. Therefore, Korean ski areas focus more on facilities than Colorado ski areas. For example, most Korean ski areas are equipped with newer snow making machines, which make quality snow above the freezing point. They also perform thorough grooming on every ski runs which is unusual, compared to Colorado. This various elements show noticeable differences between Korean ski areas and Colorado ski areas. Naturally, Korean skiers are trained to ski on well-groomed artificial snows, so they tend to possess carving skiing skills and are not fond of natural powder snows. Not having snow and a natural environment are seemingly impossible to overcome, but Korean ski areas are finding their own way to survive.;
Korean ski areas are tending to obtain newer facilities. The Korean ski resorts' chair-lift could be the most significant difference when compared to ski areas in Colorado. Almost all Korean ski areas are running at least quadruple detachable lift as an average model, even in some minor ski areas on the small mountains. Furthermore, nearly all major ski resorts have very new gondolas or 8 seats detachable lift systems, even though their mountains are not significantly bigger than Colorado Mountains. Ironically, these are hardly seen in Colorado ski areas, even with gigantic mountain size. Unbelievably, fixed-grip lift system and most old school surface lifts, such as t-bar and j-bar, eventually vanish. As a result, most young Korean generations have not even seen Bull-wheel or any type of bar or tow lifts. The reason for this surprising passion towards a new machine occurred because of their capacity. They have limited space for ski areas, but extremely huge numbers of skiers are visiting in their peak season. The ski areas do not want to hold the impatient Korean skiers in the long line to the lift. Consequently, Korean ski areas try to carry the skiers quickly and safely to the top of the mountain. However, large numbers of skiers wait in long lines, and this problem happens every weekend in Korean ski areas, despite the ski areas' enormous efforts. This could be the problem the Korean ski areas need to solve.
Korean ski areas have also developed a very remarkable marketing system for their sophisticated local skiers. Mostly, the ski areas are located in the north part of Korea; this area is not easy to access, especially in the winter. This handicap made the ski areas desperate; subsequently, they created a very localized transportation system. They run shuttle buses to almost every major city in Korea and this bus system especially spotlights Seoul, the capital city of Korea, where virtually 10 million people live. In addition, the ski areas cooperate with the train service. As a result, they made specialized trip packages to the ski resorts. Ergo, almost all Korean people who want to enjoy winter sports can easily visit the ski resorts, and the ski areas have overcome their biggest handicap.
The ski areas also provide vouchers or coupons through the internet and wireless network, so people with a cell phone, roughly 90% of Koreans, can simply take advantage. Many ski resorts have their own customers' community clubs on the internet, which are usually created by the loyal customers, and offer them free space to relax and keep their gear for free. Night skiing is not so strange anymore in Colorado too, but every ski resort in Korea is offering nights skiing; moreover, some of them are running their ski areas until 5 am. Every major ski area offers modernized facilities and array of reliable and comfortable accommodations.
Another considerable difference with Korea ski areas is multi-faceted business system. They are trying to become multi-business resorts that have a ski area as a part of their system. They do not want to have only ski areas in their resorts, but also require huge water parks or a compact amusement park or casino. These facilities could be very unique features that Colorado ski areas do not have yet. Also, these non-skiing resort facilities are certainly appealing to all generations, especially those who do not enjoy skiing or snowboarding. Moreover, these multi-business ski resorts require a big supermarket, fast-food chains, fitness center, sauna, bowling alley, game room, conference room, daycare center, night club, bar, singing room, Korean/Western restaurants, sports shop, photo studio, souvenir shop, PC room, art shop, and kid's playground mixed in with the ski resorts. These features automatically imply that Korean ski areas are trying to transform to total family vacation resorts.
At this time, most ski areas in the world are struggling really hard to create new revenue models. Unfortunately, Colorado ski areas cannot be exempt from this harsh truth, despite the perfect natural environment for winter sports. Korean ski resorts are also dealing with many critical dilemmas. An economic disaster drives people to be more careful with money, and numbers of new recreational activities, such as traveling, are becoming a real thorn in the ski industry's side. Nevertheless, Korean ski areas are not giving up and are trying to fight against with those threats. Colorado ski areas also need to discover a better and innovative way to recapture the golden age of skiing.
Sources:
Wikipedia: article about the ski resorts < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_resorts>
Visit Korea: Korea tour guide < http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto>
Gangwon-do Tourism Information brochure
Pictures:
Daemyung Vivaldi Park
High one ski resorts
Colorado has been famous for long time because of its great environment for winter sports. The land is located in the Rocky Mountain area where it is covered by fresh powder snow every winter, and since it snows a lot, Colorado's mountains and fields have become a skier's paradise. Basically, every winter sport, imaginable, can be enjoyable in this blessed land. However, there are also plenty of ski areas in the world, and they operate in quite a different style in contrast to Colorado. Ergo, much can be compared between Asian ski areas, specifically Korean ski areas, and Colorado ski areas.
Korean ski areas are tending to obtain newer facilities. The Korean ski resorts' chair-lift could be the most significant difference when compared to ski areas in Colorado. Almost all Korean ski areas are running at least quadruple detachable lift as an average model, even in some minor ski areas on the small mountains. Furthermore, nearly all major ski resorts have very new gondolas or 8 seats detachable lift systems, even though their mountains are not significantly bigger than Colorado Mountains. Ironically, these are hardly seen in Colorado ski areas, even with gigantic mountain size. Unbelievably, fixed-grip lift system and most old school surface lifts, such as t-bar and j-bar, eventually vanish. As a result, most young Korean generations have not even seen Bull-wheel or any type of bar or tow lifts. The reason for this surprising passion towards a new machine occurred because of their capacity. They have limited space for ski areas, but extremely huge numbers of skiers are visiting in their peak season. The ski areas do not want to hold the impatient Korean skiers in the long line to the lift. Consequently, Korean ski areas try to carry the skiers quickly and safely to the top of the mountain. However, large numbers of skiers wait in long lines, and this problem happens every weekend in Korean ski areas, despite the ski areas' enormous efforts. This could be the problem the Korean ski areas need to solve.
Korean ski areas have also developed a very remarkable marketing system for their sophisticated local skiers. Mostly, the ski areas are located in the north part of Korea; this area is not easy to access, especially in the winter. This handicap made the ski areas desperate; subsequently, they created a very localized transportation system. They run shuttle buses to almost every major city in Korea and this bus system especially spotlights Seoul, the capital city of Korea, where virtually 10 million people live. In addition, the ski areas cooperate with the train service. As a result, they made specialized trip packages to the ski resorts. Ergo, almost all Korean people who want to enjoy winter sports can easily visit the ski resorts, and the ski areas have overcome their biggest handicap.
The ski areas also provide vouchers or coupons through the internet and wireless network, so people with a cell phone, roughly 90% of Koreans, can simply take advantage. Many ski resorts have their own customers' community clubs on the internet, which are usually created by the loyal customers, and offer them free space to relax and keep their gear for free. Night skiing is not so strange anymore in Colorado too, but every ski resort in Korea is offering nights skiing; moreover, some of them are running their ski areas until 5 am. Every major ski area offers modernized facilities and array of reliable and comfortable accommodations.
Another considerable difference with Korea ski areas is multi-faceted business system. They are trying to become multi-business resorts that have a ski area as a part of their system. They do not want to have only ski areas in their resorts, but also require huge water parks or a compact amusement park or casino. These facilities could be very unique features that Colorado ski areas do not have yet. Also, these non-skiing resort facilities are certainly appealing to all generations, especially those who do not enjoy skiing or snowboarding. Moreover, these multi-business ski resorts require a big supermarket, fast-food chains, fitness center, sauna, bowling alley, game room, conference room, daycare center, night club, bar, singing room, Korean/Western restaurants, sports shop, photo studio, souvenir shop, PC room, art shop, and kid's playground mixed in with the ski resorts. These features automatically imply that Korean ski areas are trying to transform to total family vacation resorts.
At this time, most ski areas in the world are struggling really hard to create new revenue models. Unfortunately, Colorado ski areas cannot be exempt from this harsh truth, despite the perfect natural environment for winter sports. Korean ski resorts are also dealing with many critical dilemmas. An economic disaster drives people to be more careful with money, and numbers of new recreational activities, such as traveling, are becoming a real thorn in the ski industry's side. Nevertheless, Korean ski areas are not giving up and are trying to fight against with those threats. Colorado ski areas also need to discover a better and innovative way to recapture the golden age of skiing.
Sources:
Wikipedia: article about the ski resorts < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_resorts>
Visit Korea: Korea tour guide < http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto>
Gangwon-do Tourism Information brochure
Pictures:
Daemyung Vivaldi Park
High one ski resorts
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Ski Area Operations Risk Management
By Cory Gard
One of the most important classes you can take while participating in the Ski Area Operations program at CMC is Risk Management. The majority of classes offered are intended to introduce you to the various aspects of ski area operations and are followed with labs and On the Job Training (OJT) hours. Risk management is not something that you want to learn OJT, being proactive is always the best practice. Most upper level management routinely preaches safety and then pushes productivity and cost reduction.
Risk management involves both the guests and employees. As a manager it may become easy to get caught up in day to day operations and forget that prevention may take a few extra minutes now, but will save a lot of headaches in the long run. Another reason that it is important for management to be proactive in risk management is workers compensation is very expensive for companies. Employees often don't know what benefits they are entitled so the easier management makes it for them to get taken care of, the quicker the employee can return (and want to return) to work.
Remember, taking a few extra minutes now will save you several hours (and lots of paperwork) later.
One of the most important classes you can take while participating in the Ski Area Operations program at CMC is Risk Management. The majority of classes offered are intended to introduce you to the various aspects of ski area operations and are followed with labs and On the Job Training (OJT) hours. Risk management is not something that you want to learn OJT, being proactive is always the best practice. Most upper level management routinely preaches safety and then pushes productivity and cost reduction.
Risk management involves both the guests and employees. As a manager it may become easy to get caught up in day to day operations and forget that prevention may take a few extra minutes now, but will save a lot of headaches in the long run. Another reason that it is important for management to be proactive in risk management is workers compensation is very expensive for companies. Employees often don't know what benefits they are entitled so the easier management makes it for them to get taken care of, the quicker the employee can return (and want to return) to work.
Remember, taking a few extra minutes now will save you several hours (and lots of paperwork) later.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Ski Area Operations at Colorado Mountain College
By Zac Schrieber
When you say you are going to be going to college for Ski Area Operations degree who are not involved in the ski industry just laugh and say I didn't know there was college for ski bums. It's true though, everyone in the program loves the skiing or riding so much we all want it to be a part of our lives forever. Even when you explain to other "normal" college students they just laugh when you tell them you are driving a snow cat or making snow for class but they do not realize the experience SAO students get and how well respected the program is in the industry. Anyone graduating from the program has more experience than somebody trying to join the industry off the streets, but most managers at resorts want employees to learn their job on the job. What I realized this year when I went to an interview this year was that it was not only the experiences that I have gained but the commitment the program shows a person has to the ski industry. If you have studied and paid for two years of schooling you are pretty committed to our industry and are probably not just a ski bum who is here for the season. A Ski Area Operations student could explain to someone who doesn't realize why someone would pay for school to be a ski bum that the average American works 86,000 hours in their life why wouldn't you want to work in the ski industry and have fun at work every day.
When you say you are going to be going to college for Ski Area Operations degree who are not involved in the ski industry just laugh and say I didn't know there was college for ski bums. It's true though, everyone in the program loves the skiing or riding so much we all want it to be a part of our lives forever. Even when you explain to other "normal" college students they just laugh when you tell them you are driving a snow cat or making snow for class but they do not realize the experience SAO students get and how well respected the program is in the industry. Anyone graduating from the program has more experience than somebody trying to join the industry off the streets, but most managers at resorts want employees to learn their job on the job. What I realized this year when I went to an interview this year was that it was not only the experiences that I have gained but the commitment the program shows a person has to the ski industry. If you have studied and paid for two years of schooling you are pretty committed to our industry and are probably not just a ski bum who is here for the season. A Ski Area Operations student could explain to someone who doesn't realize why someone would pay for school to be a ski bum that the average American works 86,000 hours in their life why wouldn't you want to work in the ski industry and have fun at work every day.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Congratulations to Steven Gravatt
Steven Gravatt is the 2009 winner of the Bud Mayhew Scholarship. The scholarship of $750.00 is awarded annual to students pursuing a career in ski area operations.
Steven is planning on graduating this year. In addition to going to school full time at CMC Steven is a Lift Operator Lead for Breckenridge Resort. Steven got a write up in the NSAA Journal and this blog!
Congrats Steven!
Steven is planning on graduating this year. In addition to going to school full time at CMC Steven is a Lift Operator Lead for Breckenridge Resort. Steven got a write up in the NSAA Journal and this blog!
Congrats Steven!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Cross Country Snowboarding
For all of you snowboarders out there a new sport. Nordic Snowboarding
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w7sVSMbjyM
For all of you skiers out there, you all ready know this, but it will make you smile!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w7sVSMbjyM
For all of you skiers out there, you all ready know this, but it will make you smile!
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