Some of the latest and greatest ideas…
#1 LISTEN UP
“When performing a runoff for an evacuation, the diesel is quite noisy, even with a speaker mic up next to your ear. Headsets that are designed for two-way communications are expensive, but you have the capability to talk. Most of the time we just need to be able to listen to make sure everything is going OK. So, I?decided to try these hearing protection devices (which are typically used to listen to music) by plugging them into our two-way radios. It plugs into the speaker mic or directly into the radio. They worked out perfectly for listening and I ordered six sets for the price of one two-way radio headset. They can also be used during summer maintenance.”
—Mike Basara, Camelback Mountain Resort, Pa.
(Pictured here is Tim Bayer, mechanic.)
#2 GIMME SHELTER
“We rescued this Quonset hut in 2000, before it was shipped to a junkyard. At first we used the building as a hangout spot at the top of PCMR’s original halfpipe, but when we moved the halfpipe, the hut needed a new home. So we moved it to the mid-unload station on our Payday lift, where it serves as a shelter from summer thunderstorms for summer guests and is used to store our Alpine Slide sled fleet during the winter. It was a great way to recycle something that was headed to the scrap pile.”
— Tom Pettigrew, Park City Mountain Resort, Utah
#3 SAFE ZONE
The tickets and rentals department at Crystal Mountain, Mich., used to man an outside ski check, charging guests to check their equipment. Problem was, few people used the service and the income did not pay the wages of an employee working the ski check. When Crystal started installing security video cameras, tickets and rentals came up with the idea of making the ski check a free, self-service option with video monitoring. Constructed with wood and hay bales, and outfitted with a video camera and a bright red warning sign, the free ski check is now heavily used. If someone is missing a board or skis, the video is pulled and the thief chased down.
