Preparing for Park City Mountain’s Opening Day takes a lot of work. Tickets need printing, chairlifts need priming, food needs prepping, and lessons need planning. But, above all else, we need snow.
That’s where the Park City’s snowmakers come in.
A snowmaker is someone that lays the foundation for an epic ski season. They work around the clock to ensure there is enough snow to last the entire season.
A typical snowmaking shift consists of getting covered in snow at freezing cold temperatures, hauling metal snow machines across the mountain, and crossing steep terrain with little visibility. Snowmaking is known as one of the most difficult and physically taxing jobs on the mountain, but Park City’s snowmakers still come back year after year.
Seth Cook, Snowmaking Manager of the Park City Base Area, says that it is because snowmakers tend to be adrenaline junkies, “They are out there in variable weather when it can be cold, dark, and scary with a ton of action.”
The Park City snowmaking team has a passion for quality and is willing to put in the long hours to get it.
“The satisfaction of the job comes almost immediately,” Cook says, “For the graveyard shift, they get to see the milestones that they’ve made overnight when the sun comes up.”
Before the cold weather rolled in, our crew has been focused on repairs, hauling snow guns into position, and training the newer staff, but the recent drop in temperatures has given the green light to turn the snow guns on.
The Park City Mountain Snowmaking Team has safety and efficiency as their top priorities to provide quality snow conditions for the ski season. Thanks to our snowmakers, we look forward to our targeted opening date on Saturday, November 26!
