This past weekend was a challenge because of the r*in and late night temperature change. I teach snowboarding at Stratton (mentioned in the above post), and we have been briefed on grooming issues a few times over the past seasons. As I understand the issue, a warm and wet day creates slush that can’t be effectively groomed until it chills and sets. Because the cold weather came in so late this past weekend we were left with slush on the mountain that delayed access by the groomers.“…Telling weekend warriors the grooming fleet arrives Monday to laydown corduroy when Okemo's, Stratton's and Sugarbush's massive grooming fleet ran all weekend, every weekend , and every day, all season makes Killington's management look out of touch and non customer centric. Or worst yet, profit greedy and doesn't care about it's customers experience. Good luck trying to sell $1.5 million luxury slopeside houses when the word keeps getting out that POWDR has curtailed grooming to manage the bottom line at the customers expense…”
At most resorts the groomers are scheduled to hit the mountain right after closing, and continue until opening the next morning. When access to the mountain is delayed by slushy snow it reduces the number of trails they can groom in a night, and reduces the number of passes they can make on each trail. That makes for tough conditions no matter how you look at it.
Stratton tends to deal with that kind of issue by using selective overnight grooming to get key trails in shape for the morning, while skipping whole sections of the mountain. They tackle the really important trails just before the opening bell so they are super fresh, then move the groomers to the closed sections of the mountain to keep working through daylight hours. That allows for more trail openings as the day progresses, but sometimes guests don’t understand their favorite area of the mountain is on a delayed opening. So, management needs to keep the rest of the staff in the loop about planned operations so guests get solid information throughout the day.
This kind of effort requires lots of overtime and really pressures the grooming crew, but it gives our guests the best possible conditions. It also tires out the groomers, and really adds pressures the next night when the crew is working near exhaustion.
A weekend like the one we all just experienced places an enormous demand on the grooming crew. I know at my mountain our groom team killed it, and our guests noticed their amazing effort. Of course the mountain was still a bit icy and there were plenty of “death cookies,” but given the weather I think our guests were appreciative of the snow conditions, and I think seeing the groomers at work all day helped them to understand how much we value a quality snow surface.
I’m sorry to hear folks didn’t recognize that extra effort at Killington. There may have been other factors in play. Perhaps somebody from Killington will follow up with a discussion of their grooming operation this past weekend, and how they address the inevitable customer inquiries.
With all that said, if you notice a solid grooming job, especially following challenging weather, it’s well worth seeking out folks on the grooming crew and letting them know their efforts were noticed and appreciated. Or, find a few minutes to sing praise on the web!
