SAM Magazine-Jiminy Peak, Mass., Apr. 13, 2011-As America's lift system ages, springtime lift maintenance seminars and attendance are growing. The training season kicks off with the 34th annual Lift Maintenance Seminar (LMS) next week at Jiminy Peak and continues through Doppelmayr's two new Hall-specific training sessions in late May and June.

LMS, Apr. 19-21, is expecting perhaps its largest attendance ever. This mostly-regional event is drawing attendance from as far away as North Carolina and Nebraska. The program includes 54 classes in all, covering several aspects of lift maintenance, as well as grooming and snowmaking. Details are at www.masslms.com.

Coordinator Dave Kenney says that networking is almost as important as the training in electronics and mechanics. "We have had as many as 68 areas attend. That's a good network. There are isolated issues with certain lifts, and it's important to know you can call guys in other states to discover solutions."

Other regional training sessions include the PNSAA Mountain Operations Conference Apr. 26-28 and RMLA Spring Conference May 9-12, as well as the five-year-old CSIA/Sierra College technical training program June 7-11. Details can be found at www.nsaa.org and, in the case of the CSIA program, at www.csia.biz.

New this year, the Hall maintenance workshops are aimed at the hundreds of older lifts built by this defunct manufacturer. Hall lifts are now supported by Doppelmayr, which has organized the two-day training sessions at Greek Peak, N.Y., May 25-26, and Afton Alps, Wisc., June 21-22. For details, visit www.doppelmayrusa.com.

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