SAM Coverage
Human Resources
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Fun and Games for Lifties
The Wasatch Backside Lifty Invitational shows the love to some key employees. A lift operator doesn’t need to clock a co-worker with a chair…
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Cleaning Up
Sugar Bowl’s maintenance building is a model of cleanliness and efficiency thanks to an in-house competition. It’s always a struggle to keep our maintenance…
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Don’t Hire, Audition!
No joke: the ski industry can learn a thing or two about hiring from the amusement park business. It’s a common problem at resorts…
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You Are What You Eat (And Do)
A combination of fitness training and proper nutrition can drastically reduce employee injuries and illness. The rising costs of employee illness and injury at…
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Get Fit For Work
Fitness and nutrition play a big role in how your employees perform. Snow is accumulating in the mountains, and the young men and women…
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Mountain Spy :: November 2011
Mountain Spy Liz Eren plays an eager young adult yearning to work and play in the mountains—remember those? We called them “ski bums.” Unfortunately,…
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What We’ve Got Here is a Failure to Communicate
With a little face time and dialogue (and a lot of beer) the vehicle maintenance guys can get along with the operators…really. “I don’t…
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The Wake-Up Call
The 2011/12 season may go down in history as one of the worst for ski resorts. But there were some lessons to be learned…
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Seasonal Hiring: Full Speed Ahead
It’s business as usual when it comes to staffing for the upcoming winter. Despite having to lay off staff and reduce workers’ hours last…
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Get Me Down!
While newer technologies have led to reduced downtime for lifts, it still pays to be prepared with a lift evacuation plan. On Tuesday, December…
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Fit For the Job
A new program shows that simple steps to keep your staff hydrated, well fed and physically in shape can greatly reduce injuries. A year-long…
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What’s Your Cell Plan?
Smartphones, handheld devices, you name it—they are as common on the slopes as skis. But what about when it comes to employees? Go ahead:…
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Maintaining a Patrol
Is the future of the National Ski Patrol in jeopardy? The ski patrollers who help keep resorts visitors safe, provide aid when they aren’t,…
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Speak Out :: Correction
Correction to “The H-2B Dilemma” (March 2009). In “The H-2B Dilemma” (March 2009), we misquoted Phil Simon of CIEE, a company that helps place…
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Who’s in Charge?
Forest Service personnel and budgets are drying up. Is there a solution? Some milestones are worth celebrating. But for Mountain High, Calif., the arrival…
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Cat Women
When it comes to grooming operations, it’s no longer a man’s world. Female drivers are becoming increasingly visible at the controls of big groomers.…
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Efficiency is King
Here’s how three very different ski areas are meeting staffing goals. Being a resort operator is like being a baseball player. You may have…
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Managing for Peak Days in Lean Times
As businesses across the country tighten their belts, creative staffing has become a top priority. Surviving and even thriving in this economy? All it…