On the last weekend in April, the 2nd annual SheGrooms event was hosted at Mount Hood Meadows ski resort in Oregon. This year, Palisades Tahoe had four representatives present for the conference.
Attendees
- Allison Brown, 4th year operator at Palisades. Allison also attended SheGrooms in 2023. (Keep reading for an interview with Allison!)
- Kaitlyn Raela, in her first year of operating at Palisades (but with prior experience at Okemo and Thredbo).
- Jenn McCoy, in her first year of operating at Alpine (but with prior experience at Mount Snow).
- Myself, Liz Worgan. I work in marketing and I write our Operations Blogs. I have been learning to operate cats for the last 2 years.
SheGrooms was started by Mount Hood Meadows Grooming Manager Allison Marriner with the goal of getting women in the ski industry, specifically in the mountain operations fields, together for networking, education, and bonding. One of the coolest parts of SheGrooms is that it is NOT just for snowcat operators. It is for anyone who might be interested in grooming or mountain operations. So, yes, while there were definitely a lot of snowcat operators, there were also lift mechanics, lift operators, guest services representatives, marketing personnel like myself, and more.
Photo: Allison, Kaitlyn, and Jenn in a snowcat together on Day 4.
Day One
We started SheGrooms off in the only TRUE way to start a ski industry conference: We went skiing together! It was dumping snow and we loved getting to explore a new mountain. We skied bell-to-bell and closed out the day with a welcome dinner, where we got to meet our fellow participants and instructors.
Photo: Me, Allison, & Kaitlyn
Day Two
We kicked off Monday bright and early. We spent the morning in five classes:
- Risk Management: This class focused on new types of safety measures that are being implemented in the ski industry, such as better lighting and sound equipment on snowmobiles. We also looked at several case studies from collisions or incidents at other resorts and discussed ways to mitigate these accidents.
- PistenBully Past, Present, & Future: Colin Hales from PistenBully, the snowcat manufacturer that supplies all of our state-of-the-art snowcats at Palisades Tahoe, took us through the history of grooming machines and then introduced us to some of the ways PistenBully is innovating in the market, such as producing electric snowcats.
- Snowmaking 101: Sabrina Straszewski from Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho (a new-ish addition to the Ikon Pass!) gave us a great rundown on snow science. It’s too much to type out here, so I recommend you read my Snowmaking 101 blog which gives you a good foundational understanding.
- Terrain Parks: Brian Demarest, who manages SNOWsat and ProAcademy for PistenBully, walked us through some best practices in Terrain Park building and maintenance. If you’re curious about what goes into this, you might enjoy my blog 24 Hour Follow Along With Terrain Parks.
- Snowcat Mechanics: From the classroom, we headed to the Vehicle Shop at Mount Hood Meadows where Cindy, one of the mechanics, answered any questions we might have. She took us through the basic components of an engine and then raised a snowcat on a lift so that we could stand under it to look at the various parts.
In the afternoon, we headed out on the hill in snowcats. Participants could choose between PistenBully or Prinoth snowcats. I chose a PistenBully 400 Park Pro Winch. Why? Because we exclusively run PistenBully machines at Palisades Tahoe, and the 400 Park Pro Winch is one of our newest snowcats. Each participant got one-on-one instruction time with more seasoned groomers. I was paired with Ricky Burgett from PistenBully, who has *nineteen years* of experience, including working on Olympic courses.
For the afternoon, I got to practice winching. Winching is when you operate a snowcat with a steel cable attached to support such as a tower or tree. This helps you groom steeper slopes or move larger wads of snow. For four hours, I made tons of mistakes without fear of being judged or having to worry about putting out a perfect product for the public. It was a wonderful learning environment.
Day Three
On Day Three, Tuesday, the run of show was very similar. We started the day in class:
- Winch Cat Best Practices: Ricky Burgett from PistenBully (my instructor from Day 2) took us through safety reminders and machine maintenance tips necessary for winching. The most important thing for YOU to know about winch cat safety is that winch cables are dangerous. If you see a winch cat in operation, obey signage and stay away.
- Alpine Racing Events: Allison Marriner and Geoff Marriner are seasoned groomers who have worked major events like Birds of Prey and the Olympics. They walked us through course construction best practices and we got to enjoy their stories of building the venue for the South Korean Olympics in 2018, which was no small feat! If you’re curious about how we prepare racecourses for Palisades Tahoe, check out my blog on Building Event Venues for Team Palisades Tahoe.
- Nordic: Mount Hood Meadows has really improved their Nordic product over the past few years and Rob Gayman, who manages this program, shared some of the challenges they’ve faced and ways they’ve overcome. I personally loved learning about this since Palisades does not own a Nordic course (but Everline Resort, which is right in Olympic Valley, does have a course and it is free for Ikon Pass holders AND Palisades Tahoe employees!)
- Working Big Events: This session, presented by Cory Hathaway of Snow Park Technologies, focused largely on X-Games. For many mountain operations personnel, getting to work an event like this is the highlight of a career. Cory had great advice for how to get your foot in the door and prove yourself worthy enough to be invited to work on an event like X-Games.
- On-Hill Mechanical Diagnosis: Out into the snow we went once again, this time to talk about what to do when a machine goes down on-hill. We also reviewed some basic maintenance expectations for operators. If you don’t want your machine to have an issue, you better be taking good care of it! (I’ll also add here that PistenBully is located close to Palisades Tahoe in Reno, Nevada, so if we ever do have a weird mechanical issue with a snowcat, they provide us incredible same-day support and service. We are so lucky to have them right in our backyard!)
For the second half of Day 3, it was back into snowcats once again. The focus for the afternoon was Terrain Park skills. I spent four hours tearing down a large jump and trying to re-grade the run to be a smooth, even surface. This was great practice for someone like me who is only in their second season of learning to operate!
Day Four
For Day 4, we started the morning with a Women’s Leadership Panel. This was one of my favorite parts of the entire event. I’ve been in the ski industry for almost 9 years and I’ve never been in a room with so many women in the industry in one place. A huge takeaway for me from this panel is that we have to be advocates — for ourselves and for each other.
After the leadership panel, we got to participate in the coolest experience of the week: A snowcat caravan up to the top of the resort, where we took group photos and watched the fog burn off to reveal stunning Mount Hood itself. Everyone was super stoked on this outing!
To close the week, Mount Hood Meadows staff generously opened two chairlifts for us (they are currently closed midweek). It had snowed several feet throughout our time at the resort, so on Wednesday, we got sunny turns in powder and on fresh corduroy with the mountain all to ourselves. It was nothing short of amazing, and it was VERY hard to say goodbye to everyone after spending so much time together in the preceding few days!
Photo: Allison and I on our first lap of Wednesday.
Spotlight: Q&A with Allison Brown
Allison Brown has been at Palisades Tahoe for four seasons. She has become a tremendous operator and is a crucial part of our Grooming team. Allison also attended SheGrooms in 2023, its inaugural year.
What was your favorite part of SheGrooms?
I loved meeting people from other resorts and learning how they do things. It is fun to swap stories about our different experiences.
Did you have a class you liked the most?
It is hard to choose just one, but I thought the Terrain Parks best practices course was great. I found the Nordic class and Snowmaking classes to be interesting since those are two mediums that I don’t currently participate in. The Winch Cat class was also very applicable to the work that I do daily at Palisades, and I know I’ll use some of the knowledge from that class moving forward.
How did you get into Grooming?
I wanted to work at night so that I could ski during the day, and I like heavy machinery, so it was kind of a no-brainer.
What is your favorite part of being a snowcat operator at Palisades?
I like seeing the mountain quiet and still after the sun goes down. After a busy day, we have to do a ton of work to put the mountain back together (Skiers push snow downhill all day, and it’s our job to push it back uphill and even out the runs). Plus, Palisades is a big mountain with cool terrain.
Do you think you’ll attend SheGrooms next year, for a third year?
Yes, probably! It is a unique experience and I want to keep meeting other female operators. I have found that I learn from both new and experienced operators alike, and SheGrooms brings us all together.
Are you interested in working in Mountain Operations?
We’d love to have you! We usually post our winter jobs in August and September. Save our Employment page and check back later this summer. If you have specific questions, you can also reach out to hr@palisadestahoe.com.
Photos provided by participants of SheGrooms.
