Kat O’Neil – Women’s History Month Spotlight

In Kat O’Neil’s 17 seasons at Palisades Tahoe, she has seen a lot of things change. From technology upgrades to expanding terrain, she has many stories to share. And as the Palisades Mountain Operations Administration Manager, she sees and responds to changes on the mountain every day. The dynamism of her job and the people she works with keeps her here as her history with the mountain evolves. She always felt a pull to the mountains, and once in Tahoe, knew it was meant to be. Here is Kat O’Neil sharing her role as the Mountain Operations Administration and Dispatch Manager at Palisades Tahoe.

Where are you from, and how did you end up in Tahoe?

I grew up in Alabama and began skiing at 13. My family would take ski trips in Colorado, and that’s how I really started to fall in love with the mountains. By the time I was applying for college, I had thought a lot about the environment I wanted to live in. I applied to Appalachian State (in NC) for the mountains and Charleston, SC, for the beach. I ended up choosing the College of Charleston for the beach, but I kept going to the mountains to snowboard throughout school. After college, that pull to the mountains continued, so I moved to Jackson Hole to do a season there. I worked at Casper Lodge as a cashier and would snowboard right into work. In the summer, I worked at a white water rafting company. After my year in Jackson, I moved back down to the South for a little while. I was figuring out what I wanted to do, and finally, in 2007, decided to move west to San Francisco. A month into my move, I visited Tahoe. I met my husband here while he was working as the accounting manager for Palisades Tahoe, so I ended up coming here a lot. He told me I should ditch the snowboard and learn to ski. In 2009, I moved up here full-time and began working in administration, similar to the call center now, doing call transfer on a switchboard for the operations of the mountain. The system was archaic even then, but I was happy to have a job at the mountain.

How did you find the job in Dispatch?

Five months into the admin work, Jimmy King explained that there was an opportunity to work for him and be the dispatch supervisor. I didn’t even know what dispatch was, but I knew it was a step up and a good opportunity to try something new.

My first day on the job, Jimmy had me operate a crane for him. I started in the summer, so there were a lot of maintenance and lift operation tasks to be done. I was out there in a bear suit and helmet, driving the quad around with the mechanics all summer and fall. One of my many administrative tasks is helping with lift maintenance, including ordering parts, preparing work orders, and helping with state compliance documentation.

When winter arrived, I hired back all of the dispatchers from the season before, which helped give me a decent background into the responsibilities of the role. My first season was 2010-2011, and we had a big snow year. I received some training from my predecessor, but nothing could prepare me for a snow safety day right off the bat. My first day as the Dispatch manager, and we were drowning in snow. I had a great team of seasoned pros to help curb that challenge, though, and it was a great start to a very snowy season.

Can you share the role of dispatch on the mountain?

Every day is completely different, and I love the action of it all. Dispatch is the center of coordination for all operations. I work with every department, and it is so exciting to be the hub of communication for this mountain. Our start time depends on the weather, but on a dynamic day, we have a 6 am start. Safety is always the top priority. We hit the ground running and start by asking what’s going on on the mountain. What restrictions are in place? What do we need to tell people? We gather and disseminate information to put out to our guests and employees in real time through the app, Microsoft Teams, and our website. We make sure our lifts are safe and coordinate between ski patrol, the groomers, terrain parks, and lift operations to make sure everyone is moving safely in coordination with everyone else on the mountain. This coordination part is my favorite. And while Ski Patrol is doing their avalanche routes, we are putting a plan together with the mountain manager and patrol to share with the public. Things move fast through the radio calls on these dynamic days. We have to roll with those changes really quickly, but the chaotic days can be super fun and rewarding. We actually just had a contractor for a new program we are using come in and sit with us during our big storm in February. He watched the busy week unfold and later called me to praise the dispatchers and added, “You guys are badasses”, which really just encompasses how I feel about my team and the mountain ops team.

Outside of those dynamic snow days, we are constantly putting out fires and helping guests. This includes working with 911 and operations when needed. We work to be timely, efficient, and help everyone do their jobs safely. We help guests plan their day by sharing our mountain information with them, and continue to be the center of chatter for the mountain. In those tense situations, it is critical to keep everyone calm. This is really a skill that is developed over time and something our dispatchers are always improving on. There are just a few of us working in dispatch, but we are a small but mighty team.

Dispatchers

How has your job changed?

I started as the dispatch supervisor, was promoted to manager, then moved up to mountain operations administrative manager and dispatch manager. I have forged my own path here at Palisades. The technology has changed a lot over the years, and the longer I stayed, the more I saw the need for administration work and organization in this department. I created this position for myself through that work, and it has been a challenge to make this department what it is today. I mean, when I started, everything was on paper. We faxed our snow reports, and on our old radio system, we had to repeat ourselves on every channel. It took time to update those radio and computer systems and integrate that technology. But it really strengthened our communication over time.

Another big upgrade was my project to write standard operating procedures with Eva Graves, Dispatch Manager at Alpine. When the mountains combined, we realized it was necessary to revisit these documents and see how we could integrate them so it felt like one resort for guests, but acknowledged the differences between the two mountains. Together, we created the Dispatch Bible. It’s a great resource and helps me have confidence that if I am not there, anyone can fill in by using that as a guide.

It feels great to be respected and trusted as a female in this male-dominated industry. There really are not many women in mountain operations. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be here for so long when I first started. I started to apply to nursing school a few years in, but at the same time, my career here kind of took off. So when my coworkers encouraged me to stay and build something bigger here, I decided to stay.

I have been here to see this mountain go through a lot of changes. From being privately owned to being owned by KSL and now Alterra, there have been some big shifts in my career. By being a part of a larger company, we have a lot of opportunities to meet people at other resorts. I enjoy getting to interact, share information, and meet other women in this field. Through it all, I stay in awe of the people I work with here- Sonja in lift ops, Eva at Alpine, Jimmy, Chris, Steve, Kyle, and Brendo, to name a few. I have amazing coworkers in Ski Patrol, Lift Maintenance, Lift Ops, and Grooming with a wealth of knowledge that is extremely helpful. My Dispatch team is fantastic, and I have enjoyed watching them grow and learn in this position. And when working with other departments, I appreciate knowing and understanding how they do everything here. I really appreciate those working relationships.

Why Palisades Tahoe?

Palisades has always been a big deal to me. My Dad used to call me KT growing up, and he says it’s because he remembers the famous KT lift when he skied here in medical school. But really, this job dropped in my lap from Jimmy recruiting me, and it has always felt surreal to have this place as my playground. Being able to ski right on Red Dog every day in the winter and hiking up the face in the summer, it’s an amazing place. I now live in Reno with my husband, TJ, and two kids, Foster (11) and Andrew(8). Despite the longer commute every morning, my favorite thing to do is drive into this valley. It’s a sight that never gets old.

I actually got married here in 2013. We had our ceremony at Cushing Pond and our reception at the stables. I asked Jimmy if he could put the funitel cars on the line and the chairs on KT so the photos would look nicer. Well, he did that and more. He gave us a lift up KT, which was special in itself, but once we crossed over the top of the fingers, my husband and I saw a helicopter at the top. He surprised us with a helicopter ride around the valley; it was a fantastic wedding present. On the chair on the way back down, my veil flew off and landed in the Fingers! The lore is that it’s still there, and the mechanics get a glimpse of it some summers.

What are you looking forward to this summer?

In the summer, I love hiking the Western States Trail and Shirley Canyon, running or biking on the bike path, and bringing my kids to all of our little spots on the lake. Even though I live in Reno now, we make a big effort to come up here for music in Tahoe City and Kings Beach and just enjoy the area with our friends up here. My family is my biggest priority, and they love it up here too; it is so special to share this place with them.