Snow groomers the unsung heroes during winter of plenty [01/05/2008]

By Casey Conley

Weather patterns in recent years have rendered snowmaking prowess front and center at ski areas across the Northeast. The string of poor winters that helped to break up East Coast ski conglomerate American Skiing Company has led to smaller, more nimble companies taking ownership at local mountains. With new owners came multi-million dollar snowmaking advancements to keep snow on the slopes no matter what Mother Nature threw at them. Naturally, snow began to fall not long after the new snow-guns were installed and it hasn't stopped falling. December was the third snowiest month on record in North Conway, and the new year got off to a fast start with 10 inches of fresh snow on Jan 1. With so much of the natural stuff on the ground, quality grooming has taken the fore at local resorts hoping to prolong the great conditions. At first glance, laying a smooth surface looks easy enough. After all, these massive grooming machines with 350-horsepower turbo engines and tracks resembling the kind found on a Sherman tank make short-work of a day's worth of cuts into the hard-pack. As anyone who's spent any time with a groomer or experienced their handiwork firsthand can attest, it's an art form all its own, done by a special kind of person. "You either love it or you hate it out here," said Rick Greenwood, a groomer at Attitash Resort in Bartlett with more than 30 years experience. "Fortunately, I love it."Like so many facets of the ski industry, groomers are captive to weather, and most importantly temperature. Groomers normally work the graveyard shift, and often won't know their schedule until shortly before they are supposed to report to work."Temperature plays a big part" in dictating how he will groom and how to lay the best surface, Greenwood said.A common misconception is that snowfall alone makes for great conditions. But how it is compacted and massaged into the underlying base is equally important, he said. For example, a cold night, preceded by an unseasonably warm day, can damage a primary surface if grooming is not timed perfectly. Often, an earlier start allows the surface to harden up overnight, but a later start often ensures a softer top layer, Greenwood explained.Likewise, a snowstorm or a week-long freeze can affect when groomers begin a night's work, and how they go about attacking the trails. Some tricks of the grooming trade follow conventional wisdom. For instance, good technique calls for pushing snow uphill as opposed to down, grooming low-to-high along the fall line and mining the edges of the trails to salvage large deposits of snow. Today's machines can also churn rock-hard snow back into a skiable surface. Thanks to a series of blades underneath tiller a spiral metal blade that chews up ice a groomer eventually spits out reconstituted snow. "It may take a few days, but you can chop it back up and get it usable again," Greenwood said. Despite their size and appearance, the grooming machines are exceedingly nimble. They can turn on a dime, literally, and navigate some of the steepest terrain on the mountain. With the large plow-like blade in front, they can even move snow from one part of the mountain to the other as needed. Preparing the mountain, though, is a team effort. Thanks to a $2.3 million snowmaking improvement and cooperative weather, Attitash had top-to-bottom skiing by Thanksgiving for the first time ever in 2007. The resort boasts 88 guns in total, which can mean the difference between a decent base, and one that will last through the season, explained Attitash operations manager Kevin Kasten, who brings with him 30 seasons of snowmaking experience. He said the new guns can ready a trail in as little as 24 to 36 hours, and create a finished product that more closely resembles natural snow. Artificial snow also lays a much more resilient base."Natural snow doesn't stick around nearly as long," he said. After several days of intense snowmaking on Idiot's Option one of the mountain's steepest trails Greenwood was given the task of preparing the trail to open the next day. Intense snowmaking had created 10-foot-tall, 15-foot-wide mounds that were an obstacle course for hearty skiers earlier in the day and looked large enough to snap the blade in half. Undaunted, Greenwood took aim at a row of piles and hit the gas. With ease he plowed through two of the mounds and headed toward the third. The blue-hued artificial snow undulated ahead of the blade like load of laundry in the spin-cycle. Any excess was crushed under the tiller comb. "This is my favorite part of the job," he said. "To start with the big piles and leave with the finished product being something you created is a great feeling."Fifteen minutes and 10 or 12 passes later, the lower segment of the trail was flattened and ready for the finishing touches. The laws of temperature so closely tied to the job told Greenwood to wait a while to finish. The machines themselves may do the real work, but the operator is in charge of manipulating it properly. A discerning eye and a feel for the controls is crucial, Greenwood said. "How to work the snow and learning hand-eye coordination are all a big part," he said. "You try to find patterns (in the snow) to minimize the mess you have to clean up."Ambling up Ammonoosuc trail toward the summit, Greenwood lined up each pass to ensure there was no overlap. "I take pride in what I do, and the other guys do to. It's my job to have it looking like velvet," he said. Along the way, a few rogue snowballs dislodged and ruined several passes. Greenwood spent the next 15 minutes repairing the divots and clearing the way.A typical shift can range from eight to 12 hours depending on the conditions, and a night's assignment often includes more than a dozen trails. Such discipline can make a night's work slow going.A typical grooming crew is comprised of six drivers, and each gets his or her own assignment. Greenwood said some operators prefer to build the jumps in the park, or work on the pipe, and others, like him, prefer the top-to-bottom cruisers. "You have no idea how much time goes into getting the mountain ready," he said. "They are long hours, but when you leave, the trails need to be opened. You just stay until the job is done."He admits it's a lonely job. Armed only with a CD deck and a wave radio to communicate with fellow groomers, Greenwood is otherwise all alone in the cab for eight to 12 hours.And when they wrap up a day's work in the early morning hours and head home to relax and get some sleep, the rest of the world is just waking up. So why would anyone choose this profession? Greenwood said the solitude of spending the night on the mountain is a reward. High above the surrounding villages and lower summits, he has seen the northern lights, squads of military jets firing flares in training missions and witnessed power outages as they spread across the valley. "One minute you see all of the buildings, and in a blink of an eye, they are gone," he said of the outages. Creeping up toward the summit, Greenwood angled the grooming machine into a clearing that showed the valley open up below. More than 1,700 feet below lay Bartlett Village. Ten miles off in the distance, the lights of North Conway cast an ominous orange glow. Peering off into the distance, lost in the endless landscape, the perks of the job seemed to be coming into focus.