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INDUSTRY EVENTS RMLA SEES RECORD ATTENDANCE With 390 attendees, the Rocky Mountain Lift Association (RMLA) spring conference drew record attendance, up about 75 from a year ago. Among them were 100 suppliers. Eighty ski areas were represented, primarily from Colorado and the Intermountain west, but including several dozen from outside the region.As always, safety was a big focus. The two-hour general session that reviewed lift incidents from the past season was standing room only. Plus, safety is a major consideration of work sessions ranging from welding and slings to work chairs (which received their own separate session). Several sessions addressed technology advances, from fiber optics to new AC and DC drives. Energy management, biodiesel, and adoption of the ANSI B-77.1-2006 standards were also among the many new issues on the schedule. However, the core of the program remains the electrical and mechanical sessions for operations personnel, and management seminars for their bosses. In a reflection of resort trends generally, there were specific sessions on H2B and J1 visas and how they can help areas fill key staff positions, and a summer operations roundtable. The visa session was packed, an indication of how difficult it is for areas to find employees locally. The question-and-answer portion of the class was lively and detailed; it sounds like more areas will be heading to the Southern Hemisphere to take part in job fairs there this summer. The highlight of the annual awards luncheon was the Robert Lesage lifetime achievement award, which went to Fritz Schmutz of Kissling. Fritz is the latest in a series of indispensable technicians who have retired in recent years, and who nonetheless remain in demand due to their vast knowledge of systems, especially older ones. RMLA also honored Shawn Shrader, lift operations foreman at Beaver Creek, with its Lift Operations Employee of the Year award, and Ken Barbour, assistant manager of lift maintenance at Crested Butte, with the Lift Maintenance Employee of the Year award.
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EVENTS WRAPUP 
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