if you love winter you'll love my winter job :D

[SNOWPUSHER]

I work at the local ski hill, we're situated on the north SK riverbank, nice steeps slopes,
and we have unlimited water from the river for making snow.

so here we go, I've got very good pics from this year yet, but were just getting back into the swing of things, so hopefully better pics to come soon.

I am one of three operators that drive the snow groomers, leveling out snow made from the snow making guns or grooming the hill for skiiers the next morning.

we have two machines, a '95 270hp one and a '06 350hp one, the 350hp one we just got delivered a couple weeks ago.

alright i love these machines they go anywhere when ever :d
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mdx42s7jYc&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEzimXDmJY0&feature=related[/media]

so i'll start off with a bit of snowmaking
We have 18+ 30ft tall snow guns ( straight pipe with small nozzels on the end)

At the base of the hill, water and compressed air are piped up and all over the hill in underground lines. Were each snow gun is, there are two valves, one for air one, for water, we run hoses from the vavles to the base of the gun, then the air and water both go into the gun(pipe) and mix and spray out at the top through the nozzels as a mist, and while its falling to the ground it freezes and voila we have snow, all that remains is for the groomers (we refer to them as Cats) to do is level out the piles made by the guns suitable or skiing on

 

[SNOWPUSHER]

well that was about it for snowmaking, now this is where i come in










ahh yea this is what happens when the driver's not careful when pushing snow, he ends up with a broken window lol, and yes they SUCK

 

[SNOWPUSHER]

....couple more

 

[Popsiclestand]

Cool, Recognize Rabbit hill from the pics. Spend all my winter out there skiing! Do you do the park?

 

[SNOWPUSHER]

nope, i dont touch the park, we have other guys that build it, the park is honestly a nightmare for me, only because of all the backing up thats involved. so i avoid it as much as i can lol

 

[JaySimon]

I want your job. At a different resort, but you definatly live the dream. Work all night and have all day to ski or sled.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you get into running cats?

 

[MuskokaGirl]

Now that would be a fun job...I am inside all the time

 

[ferniesnow]

Nice and thanks! I wished we had a couple of those SnowCats out here....but being in the infancy of trail grooming in the mountains is always a balancing act (operating costs, maintenance, grants, etc.....). It is always a chore climbing the hills, levelling avalanche debris, grooming a 2' dump and keeping things in tip-top shape.

A picture of our old girl (an 1982 Pisten Bulley 200D) that just keeps purring along; always cool to smell the diesel and listen to the constant purr.....

 

[SNOWPUSHER]

it is a fun job :d

the chance of getting the job is very slim, the way i got in was because my old man has worked their for 30 years now, he is the grooming and snowmaking supervisor, so it was quite easy for me to get my foot in the door :d

.... what area were you thinking of going to? these pics were from when i was at lake louise

 

[SNOWPUSHER]

Nice and thanks! I wished we had a couple of those SnowCats out here....but being in the infancy of trail grooming in the mountains is always a balancing act (operating costs, maintenance, grants, etc.....). It is always a chore climbing the hills, levelling avalanche debris, grooming a 2' dump and keeping things in tip-top shape.

A picture of our old girl (an 1982 Pisten Bulley 200D) that just keeps purring along; always cool to smell the diesel and listen to the constant purr.....

its just a little 200? lol, yea i'm a big fan of the pb's they cost lots to fix, plus i couldnt handle having a steering wheel in front at me for 12 hours, what did they have for engines at that time? my BR350 has a CAT C9

 

[JaySimon]

it is a fun job :d

the chance of getting the job is very slim, the way i got in was because my old man has worked their for 30 years now, he is the grooming and snowmaking supervisor, so it was quite easy for me to get my foot in the door :d

.... what area were you thinking of going to? these pics were from when i was at lake louise

That seems to be the way things operate for those gigs. I would really like to do it in Kimberley but that line up is huge. Frankly, if I could get a gig doing that anywhere, I would jump at the chance, provided it was in BC or the Alberta rockies.

 

[SNOWPUSHER]

do they have any yellow cats or all red PB's?

 

[Popsiclestand]

nope, i dont touch the park, we have other guys that build it, the park is honestly a nightmare for me, only because of all the backing up thats involved. so i avoid it as much as i can lol

Ahh, I can rip the mountain. But around here the Park is always fun!