New HQs for Mountain Ops

Maintenance shops are one of those capital expense items that are often difficult to fund. The guest doesn’t see them, and they can put a large dent in an area’s budget, knocking them down the priority list for management. Yet these facilities have a direct impact on the guest experience. If grooming and lift operations go smoothly or not, guests feel the impact. And that makes maintenance shops, and the work they do, important for the bottom line.

In “Building for Efficiency” (SAM July 2023), we described how Grand Targhee, Wyo., fashioned a $6 million shop. While that might be beyond the reach of many small and medium-size areas, it’s possible to craft scaled-down, less expensive yet fully-equipped facilities.