13:00 a.m.
Aspen Mountain snowmakers, a special breed of owl-eyed night worker, brave harsh conditions during the wee hours to lay down the product that will ensure a season-long base. As soon as nighttime temperatures dip below 28 degrees Fahrenheit in the fall, these miracle workers hedge against fickle Mother Nature by stockpiling snow to assure top-to-bottom skiing on both the east and west sides. Snowmaking usually continues night and day through December. Like chefs, the snowmakers sample dozens of blowing guns, examining snowflakes on their sleeves by headlamp while fine-tuning the water and air mixture relative to humidity and air temperature. With luck, natural snow cooperates, and the snowcats can render the mixture on the chunky dance floor into the two-stepping corduroy we all love.
23:00 a.m.
Aspen Mountain snowmakers, a special breed of owl-eyed night worker, brave harsh conditions during the wee hours to lay down the product that will ensure a season-long base. As soon as nighttime temperatures dip below 28 degrees Fahrenheit in the fall, these miracle workers hedge against fickle Mother Nature by stockpiling snow to assure top-to-bottom skiing on both the east and west sides. Snowmaking usually continues night and day through December. Like chefs, the snowmakers sample dozens of blowing guns, examining snowflakes on their sleeves by headlamp while fine-tuning the water and air mixture relative to humidity and air temperature. With luck, natural snow cooperates, and the snowcats can render the mixture on the chunky dance floor into the two-stepping corduroy we all love.
36:00 a.m.
The grooming teams rebuild the runs every night after the skiers and boarders tear them up.
46:00 a.m.
The grooming teams rebuild the runs every night after the skiers and boarders tear them up.
56:15 a.m.
Snowcat driver Matt Bradway keeps a sharp eye on his line as he lays down seamless corduroy by dawn’s early light.
66:15 a.m.
Snowcat driver Matt Bradway keeps a sharp eye on his line as he lays down seamless corduroy by dawn’s early light.
76:43 a.m.
With a keen eye on the time, lift lead-person Pete Brennan gets ready to fire up the gondola.
86:43 a.m.
With a keen eye on the time, lift lead-person Pete Brennan gets ready to fire up the gondola.
96:45 a.m.
While snowcat headlights serpentine the trails, the first gondola brings up a lift crew to roll the remaining cabins (out of 140 total) onto the line from the hangar-size garage under the top terminal. In fair weather, the cabins stay out, but on inclement nights, the line is emptied but for six cabins that remain in the bottom terminal for the early ride. At 8 a.m., lift operators, restaurant employees, and some ski patrollers board the “workers’ run” for the top. From there, some 27 “lifties”—the backbone of the mountain—head to their stations to check brakes and grips, build lift-line mazes, and shovel more snow than do all the type-A personalities in Aspen.
106:45 a.m.
Pete Brennan checks the gondola line upstairs in the base station.
116:45 a.m.
Pete Brennan checks the gondola line upstairs in the base station.
126:45 a.m.
While snowcat headlights serpentine the trails, the first gondola brings up a lift crew to roll the remaining cabins (out of 140 total) onto the line from the hangar-size garage under the top terminal. In fair weather, the cabins stay out, but on inclement nights, the line is emptied but for six cabins that remain in the bottom terminal for the early ride. At 8 a.m., lift operators, restaurant employees, and some ski patrollers board the “workers’ run” for the top. From there, some 27 “lifties”—the backbone of the mountain—head to their stations to check brakes and grips, build lift-line mazes, and shovel more snow than do all the type-A personalities in Aspen.
136:45 a.m.
Mechanics Michael Blakeslee and James Regan inspect grips.
146:45 a.m.
Mechanics Michael Blakeslee and James Regan inspect grips.
157:00 a.m.
Behind the scenes are the lift mechanics. They are the unsung heroes who climb the gondola towers with buckets of cold steel tools in below-zero temps, 24–7 if necessary, to fine-tune the great machine so that we can enjoy our Aspen Mountain skiing adventure every day. Equally stealth and just as important are the vehicle maintenance mechanics, who keep the snowcats operating 16 or more hours every night. Without all of these essential specialists—who immediately respond to complications, perform regular upkeep, and often diagnose problems before they even occur—the mountain’s daily product could not be offered.
168:00 a.m.
Chary of a photographer among her ski patrollers, avalanche dog June (a.k.a. Junebug) arrives early at patrol headquarters.
177:00 a.m.
Snowcat driver John Cody bolts a trailer hitch onto his machine in the vehicle maintenance shop before heading back out.
188:00 a.m.
Patrol dispatcher Steve Rausch fields overlapping phone and radio calls, and handles opening glitches from patrol headquarters—the nerve center of the mountain.
198:00 a.m.
Chary of a photographer among her ski patrollers, avalanche dog June (a.k.a. Junebug) arrives early at patrol headquarters.
208:00 a.m.
Patroller Rob Klimek sets up slow signs in Tortilla Flats above the base of Lift 3. All early-bird patrollers are spread out across the mountain to check the main thoroughfares and put out signs.
218:00 a.m.
Patrol dispatcher Steve Rausch fields overlapping phone and radio calls, and handles opening glitches from patrol headquarters—the nerve center of the mountain.
228:15 a.m.
The ski school—the high-visibility department that brings in a large portion of the ski area’s revenue—escorts a posse of skiers and snowboarders for one run down the mountain before the lifts open. These lucky early risers have signed up for the free First Tracks program, offered daily except on powder days. Other instructors may go up for early-morning training. On busy days, some 90 to 115 ski pros (out of 130 total) are on duty; on any given day, about 90 percent of them are teaching private lessons. Group lessons also meet daily, just west of the gondola at the top of the mountain.
238:00 a.m.
Patroller Rob Klimek sets up slow signs in Tortilla Flats above the base of Lift 3. All early-bird patrollers are spread out across the mountain to check the main thoroughfares and put out signs.
249:00 a.m.
In the administrative headquarters below the gondola base, Aspen Mountain office coordinator Joyce Hardy assembles the grooming and weather reports for all departments, so that when the morning’s first skiers and boarders skid past the guest service center on top they can check the trail-status board to see what’s been groomed and what’s open or closed. At 8:45 a.m., as members of the Dogs, one of Aspen’s legendary ski gangs, “bark” in anticipation, lift lead-person Janine Bienkowski or Pete Brennan radios the patrol from the bottom of the gondola: “Do we have a clearance to load?” The goal is to exceed expectations and open even before 9 a.m. so, absent a problem, patrol dispatch nearly always answers, “Clear to load.”
258:15 a.m.
The ski school—the high-visibility department that brings in a large portion of the ski area’s revenue—escorts a posse of skiers and snowboarders for one run down the mountain before the lifts open. These lucky early risers have signed up for the free First Tracks program, offered daily except on powder days. Other instructors may go up for early-morning training. On busy days, some 90 to 115 ski pros (out of 130 total) are on duty; on any given day, about 90 percent of them are teaching private lessons. Group lessons also meet daily, just west of the gondola at the top of the mountain.
269:00 a.m.
Joyce Hardy compiles reports.
278:20 a.m.
The other patrollers board the westside chairlifts by 8:30 a.m., hauling up medical equipment and toboggans used the day before. They then check other runs, open terrain, repair fences, and ski slip divots while chattering cryptic lingo into their radios, such as “cat blood on Cluckers’ Corner” (i.e., reddish hydraulic fluid on the corner above Silver Dip). On powder days, however, the whole patrol loads the gondola at either 6:30 or 7:30 a.m. to conduct snow safety routes. These measures may continue even as other trails open and when everything else seems to happen at once—an on-hill medical emergency, an off-area avalanche, even a fist fight between lift-line antagonists. But unscheduled complications are the right stuff of the ski patrol.
289:00 a.m.
Mountain manager Peter King (reflected) says of his departments, “They’re all so good, I don’t need to check on them. If there are problems, they’ll let me know.”
299:00 a.m.
In the administrative headquarters below the gondola base, Aspen Mountain office coordinator Joyce Hardy assembles the grooming and weather reports for all departments, so that when the morning’s first skiers and boarders skid past the guest service center on top they can check the trail-status board to see what’s been groomed and what’s open or closed. At 8:45 a.m., as members of the Dogs, one of Aspen’s legendary ski gangs, “bark” in anticipation, lift lead-person Janine Bienkowski or Pete Brennan radios the patrol from the bottom of the gondola: “Do we have a clearance to load?” The goal is to exceed expectations and open even before 9 a.m. so, absent a problem, patrol dispatch nearly always answers, “Clear to load.”
308:20 a.m.
The other patrollers board the westside chairlifts by 8:30 a.m., hauling up medical equipment and toboggans used the day before. They then check other runs, open terrain, repair fences, and ski slip divots while chattering cryptic lingo into their radios, such as “cat blood on Cluckers’ Corner” (i.e., reddish hydraulic fluid on the corner above Silver Dip). On powder days, however, the whole patrol loads the gondola at either 6:30 or 7:30 a.m. to conduct snow safety routes. These measures may continue even as other trails open and when everything else seems to happen at once—an on-hill medical emergency, an off-area avalanche, even a fist fight between lift-line antagonists. But unscheduled complications are the right stuff of the ski patrol.
319:00 a.m.
Joyce Hardy compiles reports.
327:00 a.m.
Behind the scenes are the lift mechanics. They are the unsung heroes who climb the gondola towers with buckets of cold steel tools in below-zero temps, 24–7 if necessary, to fine-tune the great machine so that we can enjoy our Aspen Mountain skiing adventure every day. Equally stealth and just as important are the vehicle maintenance mechanics, who keep the snowcats operating 16 or more hours every night. Without all of these essential specialists—who immediately respond to complications, perform regular upkeep, and often diagnose problems before they even occur—the mountain’s daily product could not be offered.
339:00 a.m.
Mountain manager Peter King (reflected) says of his departments, “They’re all so good, I don’t need to check on them. If there are problems, they’ll let me know.”
347:00 a.m.
Snowcat driver John Cody bolts a trailer hitch onto his machine in the vehicle maintenance shop before heading back out.
With its disappearing escarpments ascending over town, the once-coveted veins of silver ore honeycombed underneath, and a northern exposure ideal for skiing conditions, Aspen Mountain is undeniably the hood ornament of town. Many visitors view the mountain as a bucket-list ski challenge, while others return for a repeat as if with a lover. Locals, meanwhile, pinch themselves not to take skiing there for granted. What they all have in common is an expectation that the slopes will deliver one of the greatest skiing experiences in the business at 9 a.m. sharp each day.To meet this demand, from mid-afternoon until the lifts reopen to the public the next morning, as many as 60 dedicated employees, working across various shifts, prep the mountain for skiing and riding. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what that entails.
Published in the While You Were Sleeping issue of Aspensojo.
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