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September 2023

September 2023

FEATURED STORY

  • The Training Conundrum

    To develop the next generation of mountain ops employees, we must find new ways to provide crucial training and pass along expertise. Raise your hand if you’ve heard the term “YouTube University” thrown around in your shop. Now, keep it raised if you yourself have said it. (Insert raised hand here.) It’s time to retire this dad joke.  Yes, the internet is a modern-day guru, providing answers whenever we ask for them, day, night, or mid-panic attack on a holiday weekend after a surface lift breaks down. As handy as they are, though, YouTube videos and the MacGyver quick fixes they provide are not realistic or lasting replacements for in-person, hands-on, continuing education.  ...

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At Your Own Risk

How does personal accident insurance work, and is it changing the risk and liability game at resorts?

State of the Unions

Ski areas focus on improving relations and benefits as more employees seek to leverage collective bargaining. 

The Meadow Haus at Idaho’s Brundage  Mountain Resort houses 18 employees.

The Age of the Employee

Resorts look to housing, increased wages, and even wellness benefits to bridge lingering post-Covid staffing gaps.

News and Views :: September 2023

Workforce housing solutions, snowmaking statistics, and people moves.

Idea Files :: September 2023

A creative counterweight, conveyor location labels, and inexpensive ski racks.

Construction Site :: September 2023

Lift and facility upgrades for the 2023-24 season aim to enhance the guest experience.

Mt. Bachelor’s automatic “walking floor” system will feed its boiler with biomass.

Clean Heat, Boiled Down

Two ski areas look to reduce financial and environmental costs with new state-of-the-art, clean heating systems.

The historic Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, with its iconic red roof, reflected in Lake Gloriette.

More Balsams, Les Otten

Les Otten nears the starting line on his ambitious plan to revive a historic ski area and resort deep in New Hampshire's Great North Woods.

The End of Cash is Nigh

More resorts are moving toward cashless transactions thanks to a slew of benefits.

AI: Opening Pandora's Chatbot

How to identify the risks and capitalize on the opportunities of Artificial Intelligence.

A new four-week lift maintenance course at Steamboat, Colo., this May, providing hands-on, on-site experience for 14 participants from across Alterra’s resorts.

The Training Conundrum

To develop the next generation of mountain ops employees, we must find new ways to provide crucial training and pass along expertise.