Mountain Works
PNSAA
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Insider intel on how ski areas happen. By and for ski area employees in the Northwest.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
Dec 9, 2022
Career Choices Choices Choices
A ski area general manager, a mid-level manager, a ski patroller, and an industry rookie walk into...... a room full of 450 people. Origin stories unfold. Greg Pack, Cody Howe, Hannah Besso, and Megan Keating talk about their career paths in the US ski industry.
Collaboration episode with Ski Area Management's podcast, PodSAM. SAM editor, Dave Meeker, leads this panel discussion at the 2022 Mountain Works Conference.
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Oct 3, 2022
Protect Our Plankton
Climate scientists Dr. Sarah Myhre and Dr. Nick Siler are joined by Gwyn Howat, CEO of Mt. Baker Ski Area, and Adrienne Saia Isaac from the National Ski Areas Association to talk about ocean health and the ski industry's risk management efforts in regard to climate change. Accompanied by PNSAA president, Jordan Elliott, and emcee extraordinaire, SHANAN KELLEY. Recorded LIVE at the 2022 Mountain Works Conference.
Supplemental Graph: Earth Temperature Timeline.
NSAA's Sustainable Slopes program info > HERE
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Sep 1, 2022
Shared Stewardship = Public Lands + Ski Areas
Chris Hagar (Backcountry Hunters & Anglers) presents the history of public lands in the US. Shawnee Hinman (USFS Region 6) presents a history of how ski areas came to be part of the public land system. Finally, Kent Sharpe (SE Group) joins Shawnee and PNSAA President Jordan Elliott on the couch to talk about how ski area special use permits are administered within the national forest system. Recorded Live at the 2022 Mountain Works Conference.
Chris Hagar's Slide Deck HERE
Shawnee Hinman's Slide Deck HERE
Skijoring Storyboard HERE
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Aug 1, 2022
The Water Workforce: Frozen and Flowing
The Oregon employment department's Damon Runberg details the vocational makeup of the region's ski industry workforce. He provides data on what COVID-19 did to the macro hospitality workforce and then follows us through industry type, time, and space while highlighting the "other season" jobs that also rely on water. Recorded live in front of nearly 500 PNW ski area staff members at the 2022 Mountain Works Conference. Special emcee shoutout to Shanan Kelley.
Damon's slide deck is here
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Jul 5, 2022
Reclaiming Palmer Pt. 2
Part 2 of the rebuild story from Timberline's 2020 icing event. Mt. Hood and industry veteran Tom Scully talks about extreme weather impacts on ski area operations and provides key tips on how to perform line work safely, whether you are de-icing or performing regular maintenance. Special guest Augie Eischen of the Sandia Peak Tramway. Slide Deck Here -Scroll down for Tom's slides. New Zealand De-icing Incident Learning Video Here
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Jun 21, 2022
Reclaiming Palmer Pt. 1
In 2020 Timberline Oregon's Palmer ski lift stood up to a planetary weather event and lost. In 2022, Timberline's Mt. Ops crew told this story to a room full of ski area operators and maintenance experts and detailed what the rebuild process was like. This is their story. A black diamond episode to be sure.
Timberline GM, Rose Phillips. Timberline Ops team- Mike Fair, Sean Keeran, Logan Stewart. As well as industry veterans Augie Eischen and Tom Scully. Slide Deck Here Video from Timberline Here
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Apr 1, 2022
Tiny Crystals, Global Impact
Tiny Crystals, Global Impact is a touring museum exhibit about snow and the vital role it plays in the global climate system. Dr. Matthew Sturm presents at OMSI's Science Pub, and speaks with PNSAA President, Jordan Elliott.
Follow along with this slide deck.
A virtual tour of the exhibit is here: Ourwinterworld.org
How Much Water Comes From Snow and What is it Worth?
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Mar 14, 2022
Lost Oregon Ski Areas
Steven Stenkamp talks about his research into Lost Oregon Ski Areas.
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Mar 3, 2022
That Whole Situation
Jeff Kohnstamm, of Timberline, OR, takes the PNSAA board of directors on a tour of the ski area and goes over the expansion plan to connect Government Camp with a gondola. Palmer Storm Recovery. Show and tell of several historical buildings on Mt. Hood. Wind affected audio edit, best listened to with earphones. "A" for effort?
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Feb 1, 2022
Sweeeeeep
This is the last run of The Mountain Podcast. It will be rebranded as, Mountain Works. We are not going back into previous episodes to change titles/edits. Consider them the archive. More episodes will be coming in 2022 on the same feed. Just with a new name now, and a little more integration into the ski area staff scene in the Upper Left. www.pnsaa.org
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Aug 19, 2021
Slope Maintenance Round Table
Parker Bohon (The Blade Dive Podcast), and Connor Lyons (Crystal Mountain Resort, WA) - Moderate this roundtable discussion with Alpine and Terrain Park Grooming Leaders throughout the US. It's long. It's worth it.
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Jun 2, 2021
Instructional Design - The Future of Workforce Technical Training
Instructional Designer, Daniel Powers, goes deep on how he built the next generation of Ski Lift Technician Technical Trainings. Partner Episode with The Center for the Outdoor Recreation Economy at Oregon State University - Cascades.
Promo Video of the training program here: https://vimeo.com/557877984
Training Brochure here: https://pace.oregonstate.edu/content/orei_main/skilift_21b/story.html
FREE demo of course a module here: https://outdooreconomy.oregonstate.edu/ski-lift-technician-training-landing-page
Register to take the course here: https://outdooreconomy.oregonstate.edu/level-1-lift-maintenance-training-course-outdoor-recreation-economy-oregon-state-university
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May 25, 2021
The Future Of Lift Maintenance Technical Training
The Next Generation of Lift Technician Training. Partner episode with Oregon State University.
Course brochure HERE
Follow along with THIS SLIDE DECK
Sign up for the course HERE
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Mar 7, 2021
Business Card Roulette Pt. 2
Hundreds of business cards put to use. Random surprise guests show up in the zoom room for a quick chat. - Dr. Anders Carlson, Carlson Climate Consulting
- Roz Reynolds, Wyssen Avalance Control
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Feb 13, 2021
Business Card Roulette - pt. 1
Hundreds of business cards put to use. Random surprise guests show up in The Mountain's zoom room for a quick chat. - Land Tawney, President & CEO, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. - Bill Barron, Citizens' Climate Lobby.
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Dec 23, 2020
49.2 Inches of Sad - Mental Health at Ski Areas
The Mountain talks staff mental health with Matt Troskey, VP of People and Learning @Mt. Hood Meadows.
Why Deaths by Suicide Are So High in Ski and Snowboard Towns (nationalgeographic.com)
Seattle was the saddest metro area in the nation last month, survey shows | The Seattle Times
For Some, Suicide May Be The Price Of Living In A Ski Town Paradise | Colorado Public Radio (cpr.org)
Episode Sponsor: Betterhelp.com/themountain
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Dec 6, 2020
Covid Pod Survival
PNW ski industry adjusts to covid-19. Mt. Baker CEO, Gwyn Howat. Wear your mask.
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Mar 6, 2020
Ground Up: WA State Ski and Snowboard Museum
The Ground Up Series tells the stories of how each ski area in the northwest came to be. This episode walks through The Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum with John Sutherland. The WSSSM will serve as a knowledge resource for the Ground Up Series of the pod. Also, what day of the week is it?
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Feb 17, 2020
Divisions of Labor
Mountain Operations. Company Structures. Career path conversations with Mountain Ops Leaders; Scott Bowen, Crystal Mountain Resort and Jake Smith, Hoodoo. Chair lift talks at Mt. Baker.
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Jan 20, 2020
Pre-Season Time Travel
A peek at how pre-season happens, requires traveling back in time. Job Fairs. Snowvana 2019. Ramping up for 2020. Chats with Timberline Lodge. Mt. Hood Meadows, Mt. Bachelor, Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Silver Mountain Resort, Hoodoo.
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Jan 6, 2020
Introducing The Mountain Podcast
Insider intel on how ski areas happen. By and for ski area employees in the Northwest. Interview with Annie Fast of Ski Oregon, former editor of Transworld Snowboarding Magazine. Chair Lift thoughts inspired by Goggy Foggles. Lift Ops. Ski Patrol. Lift Maintenance. Grooming. Rentals. Retail. Ski and Ride School. Food and Beverage. Hospitality. Parking lots. Accounting. Human Resources. Marketing. The list goes on.
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