MOOVING THROUGH

“After many seasons of continuous shoveling for our lifties at the cattle gates, coworker Dutch and I came up with a game plan to move them on hinges. We searched for the things we would need, a winch being first on the list, as the rest of the project ‘hinged’ on it being able to do the job of pulling the gates up safely with one person. We found just what we needed in our bone yard, which was two good anchor winches from our old rope tow lifts. Then with the help of our welder, Wayne Jones, and Dave Bales, we worked together to fabricate the hinge and winch articulation so the gate would clear the chairs when up, in case the lift was used for snowmakers at night. The project required a minimal investment of $200 to $300 in making the hinges and retainer pins, and one good day of labor.”

—Bryon McCoy, lift maintenance manager, Whitetail, PA

WINTER PROJECT

“Getting ready for winter! This photo is of Tim McCoy, our grooming manager, mowing Sundance Ski Run at Silver Star, B.C. He is operating our new mower. It was built by our vehicle maintenance manager, Al Norlin, from a rebuilt 1996 Bombardier ME 275 groomer (tracks are narrowed and coolers are moved up onto the rear deck with electric fans) pulling a Schulte 3-deck agricultural mower—PTO converted with a hydrostatic motor now driven by the cat hydraulics. It is one mean lawn mower!”

—Brad Baker, operations manager

IN ITS PLACE

There was a time at Winterplace, W.V., when you could never find the bamboo. Used to mark mazes, re-set the CTEC roll back brakes, mark thin ice, bear spots, rocks, and sometimes even to poke an out-of-place skier, the stuff is invaluable…so long as you can find it. And this was a problem until the crew at Winterplace created a ‘boo holder at the side of each lift operator’s building. The holders are made of discarded sheave liners, which are held in place by decking screws. Time to construct, 5 minutes, and the cost, 7 cents for a few screws. Having the ‘boo right where you need it? Priceless.