The mountain air is softer in the spring, and Mother Nature is a little more playful. She laces the trails with white clover and adorns the glades with fern frills that sit closely under canopies of green and filtered light. The sun is shining, the cat mint blooming, and the birds are singing a little louder. The mountain slowly changes face, and we move along with it. With every change of season comes a change in landscape. At the base of school hill, we replace ski lockers with Adirondack chairs. We plant flower beds, mulch, and maze irrigation. We trade in groomers for grass cutters and work daily on our killer farmer tans.

Jeff “Bucky” and Nick “Seabee” landscaping school hill.

School hill courtyard.

Oddie transitions from grooming to grass cutting.

The best part of our job is in the diversity of the work. We play Jack-of-all-trades as our day-to-day transitions from electrical to landscaping to foreman work. We recently built a new course in the Summit Aerial Park welcoming for true beginners and kids. We constructed a terrace on the shoulder of Vista and installed stone walkways and stairs. The site doubles as a serene setting for outdoor weddings and the upcoming Yoga with a View series.

Summit Aerial Park.

Beginner course.

Caterpillar crawl.

Summit view.

Terrace setting.

Slopeside herb garden.

The other best part of our job is working outdoors. This week, we are setting up for the Wine Me Up festival this Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5. We’re the behind the scenes guys on set-up and break-down for events. We pitch the tents, we move the tables, we light the fire pits. Our days are a mix of heavy lifting, team work, and problem solving balanced with a continuous call to repairs. In the warehouse, the flail mower is under heat of the welder and the groomer is dissembled for engine maintenance.

Brad prepping school hill.

Picnic tables.

Team work.

Bucky moving tables.

Festival ready.

We are convinced a cat has more than nine lives.

Rich welding flare mower.

Groomer surgery.

Just another day.

Engine repair.

On the flip side, the bike crew is hiking the woods and clearing brush for new trails. The mountain bike park is gradually growing and peaked with the highest vertical in the state. As we continue clearing land for our new ski trail, we are reclaiming wood to build new park features for both summer and winter terrain,and the rest to fuel our fire pits. The new ski trail is set east of Paradise, left off the Comet lift.

Through the woods.

Harvested wood and park prep.

New trail!

Razor’s Edge, best view on the mountain.

It is the same mountain with a different view. A different perspective, adventure, experience. When the winter calls for a hot toddy, the summer calls for a crisp IPA. And the mountain always, always calls you.

The grass is always greener when the snow melts.

See you on the slopes,

the snowmisers