Singles Line

[thetrailboss]

One person scans... Another person manages the line. If the scanner is having a problem, let 'em through...

C'mon folks - this aint rocket science!!!!!!

If only it were that easy....

:roll:

 

[Marc]

Oh yeah.....that was happening.

Exhibit A: Sunapee HSQ this past season. Lifties gave up after a while....

You're such a law geek.

:dunce:

 

[deadheadskier]

One person scans... Another person manages the line. If the scanner is having a problem, let 'em through...

C'mon folks - this aint rocket science!!!!!!

No it most certainly isn't rocket science


However, to find someone that cares and is willing to do the job right for $8 an hour is rocket science for management.

I think the areas that accomplish this and other low paying services the best (major resorts with high cost of living in the area, which = most ski areas these days) are those that import their labor for the season. In most instances, that $8 is of much higher value for the foreign worker than the local. Also to be considered is that foriegn exchange workers are often housed at the resort. They screw up the job, their out of a bed and most likely out of the country.

 

[tirolerpeter]

Lift Line Work?

No it most certainly isn't rocket science


However, to find someone that cares and is willing to do the job right for $8 an hour is rocket science for management.

I think the areas that accomplish this and other low paying services the best (major resorts with high cost of living in the area, which = most ski areas these days) are those that import their labor for the season. In most instances, that $8 is of much higher value for the foreign worker than the local. Also to be considered is that foriegn exchange workers are often housed at the resort. They screw up the job, their out of a bed and most likely out of the country.

Interesting: So importing South Africans, Chileans(sp?), Argentineans (sp?) is OK, just don't bring in Mexicans? (Sorry, just couldn't resist)

If I ever manage to sell my house and move west as planned, one of the part time jobs I'm actually considering is "Liftie." Of course, it won't actually be for the money.

 

[thebigo]

hey ski dork

everytime i was at k last year grizzly was down at skyeship base, kind of a waste since there is never a line down there

i never ski ramshead but i thought they usually have import over there, they should definitely put the locals at the busy lifts and the imports at out of the way lifts

the other good liftie at k was the local working the ol quad most of the year

 

[SkiDork]

hey ski dork

everytime i was at k last year grizzly was down at skyeship base, kind of a waste since there is never a line down there

i never ski ramshead but i thought they usually have import over there, they should definitely put the locals at the busy lifts and the imports at out of the way lifts

the other good liftie at k was the local working the ol quad most of the year

Thats not Griz at the Skyeship base - thats Farmer. They both have beards.

Actually grizzly is not really a liftie, he's the head of the mountain ambassadors. He just helps out sometimes when its really crowded..

 

[JimG.]

I think the areas that accomplish this and other low paying services the best (major resorts with high cost of living in the area, which = most ski areas these days) are those that import their labor for the season. In most instances, that $8 is of much higher value for the foreign worker than the local. Also to be considered is that foriegn exchange workers are often housed at the resort. They screw up the job, their out of a bed and most likely out of the country.

Ah yes, management by tyranny. Do your job right or you're out of a job, your house, and the country. This is how my boss tries to manage and he can't understand why folks are unmotivated and hateful. This is the style adopted by bullies and it never works in the sense that the service delivered uniformly sucks. But then again, I forget that the service to the end user is not really the issue.

You ALWAYS catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

 

[BeanoNYC]

Thats not Griz at the Skyeship base - thats Farmer. They both have beards.

Actually grizzly is not really a liftie, he's the head of the mountain ambassadors. He just helps out sometimes when its really crowded..

He does a morning RSN report at K .... right?

 

[SkiDog]

He does a morning RSN report at K .... right?

True DAT.....

M

 

[SkiDog]

We should all hope RFID becomes cheaper and more abundant.

Im not hoping for this solution until things get a little more secure...obviously with a ski pass we're not worried about as much...but if its this easy to take info off something SOO IMPORTANT whats to say we wont be able to start a counterfitting ring for RFID Ski passes? could cost resorts a ton of money not only in initial investment, but also in lost sales.

I know ive commented on this before, and remember being in favor of utilizing RFID in ski pases, but upon further review I think the tech needs some work...I still think it would be good for skier tracking and grooming ops..but...

http://www.wirednews.com/news/technology/0,71521-0.html?tw=wn_index_8

Thoughts?

M

 

[deadheadskier]

Ah yes, management by tyranny. Do your job right or you're out of a job, your house, and the country. This is how my boss tries to manage and he can't understand why folks are unmotivated and hateful. This is the style adopted by bullies and it never works in the sense that the service delivered uniformly sucks. But then again, I forget that the service to the end user is not really the issue.

You ALWAYS catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

See, I had a different experience than this having worked in management at two mid-Atlantic ski areas that relied heavily on migrant labor during the season. Most of these kids were there on work Visa's and wonderful people. $8 an hour and the experience of spending four months in another country was far more appreciated by them and hence they worked harder and had better attitudes than did the 17 to 19 year old local kids who were employable for these positions.

It was far from tyranny and never were the words used, do your job right or you are out of the country. They needed the employer as a sponsor for their work VISA's and were grateful for the opportunity these two areas provided them and in return we (management) were grateful for having them there.

 

[JimG.]

See, I had a different experience than this having worked in management at two mid-Atlantic ski areas that relied heavily on migrant labor during the season. Most of these kids were there on work Visa's and wonderful people. $8 an hour and the experience of spending four months in another country was far more appreciated by them and hence they worked harder and had better attitudes than did the 17 to 19 year old local kids who were employable for these positions.

It was far from tyranny and never were the words used, do your job right or you are out of the country. They needed the employer as a sponsor for their work VISA's and were grateful for the opportunity these two areas provided them and in return we (management) were grateful for having them there.

Point taken...I misread the tone of your post.

I had no doubt that the migrant workers were nice folks, but I see how they're treated at Hunter and that management style never works.

 

[SkiDork]

He does a morning RSN report at K .... right?

Like SkiDog said - exactly.

 

[Jonni]

Having been on both sides of the issue, both waiting in the singles line and directing traffic at a lift with a singles line I feel that I know a little about it. As far as using them while skiing, I'm all for it. I usually ski alone anyway and I almost always try to fill a chair in favor of not letting an empty chair go up the hill on a busy day.

As far as being in a busy corral on a holiday or Saturday, the singles line is my friend. I've worked the base of the Sunapee Express more than once and found myself with a 15 to 25 minute wait on my hands that I have to keep moving. I tend to move clockwise around the lines of people filling up chairs and trying to give people advanced notice on when they are supposed to head to load the lift. Most of the time, it works, but many times people just don't pay attention. Singles are fillers. There are times that if the singles line has been sitting for a while I will let a full chair of singles go and then use them as fillers, it depends on the situation. My one main concern is keeping the skiers happy while keeping the line moving.

We recently started using the scanners at Sunapee (reportedly for marketing, or at least that's what they tell us...) in the lift lines. We use a system of hitting as many people as we can as fast as we can in order for the guy directing traffic to keep the line moving. Random scanning is usually what results from saving time. The higher ups don't like it, but we had a big enough argument with them that convinced them that they were not going to have their way. So alas we do our best to do our jobs, but overall it's quite difficult to keep everybody happy on a busy day, including the singles.

 

[riverc0il]

i think we can all agree that there is nothing worse than an empty seat on a chair when there is a line. scanning tickets is the absolute worst thing for filling seats because it takes to long to scan everyones ticket. jonni, glad to hear you guys gave the higher ups a fight over the scanning issue, random scanning is definitely better than scanning everyone if scanning must be used.

 

[hammer]

We recently started using the scanners at Sunapee (reportedly for marketing, or at least that's what they tell us...) in the lift lines. We use a system of hitting as many people as we can as fast as we can in order for the guy directing traffic to keep the line moving. Random scanning is usually what results from saving time. The higher ups don't like it, but we had a big enough argument with them that convinced them that they were not going to have their way. So alas we do our best to do our jobs, but overall it's quite difficult to keep everybody happy on a busy day, including the singles.

As an occasional skier at Sunapee, thanks for taking the practical approach...

One minor gripe I do have is when I've been hit multiple times by scanners and held up when people in other lines get to go through...if the scanners are really doing their job on a random basis, then they need to alternate between the groups. :-?

 

[ga2ski]

depends on the lines.