The Economics of Everyday Things
00:09:55 · Zachary Crockett, Andrew Gast, Rob Goodell, S4, S6, S7
[00:09:55] S2: Gast says Mount Ashland has other hiring challenges. [00:09:59] S5: Last year, we didn't open until January 11 because we got no snow in the month of December. We do our staff orientation in the middle of November, preparing to operate early December. And if something happens, then... And those employees are kind of on standby. They're not earning their paychecks. And often they'll start to find other employment. [00:10:19] S2: There's another group of employees in a ski area that bring a different kind of operational risk. [00:10:25] S3: Our ski patrol not only are emergency outdoor responders, transporters, but they do carry explosives. [00:10:33] S2: That's coming up. [00:10:36] S4: Hey, Fidelity. Can I get a second opinion on stocks in the Fidelity app? [00:10:41] S6: With Fidelity, it's easy to get an outside opinion from independent experts in a single score. [00:10:47] S4: And then? [00:10:47] S6: When you're ready, trade US stocks and ETFs with no commissions. [00:10:52] S2: That's right. [00:10:52] S6: I am always right. [00:10:54] S7: Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. $0 commission does not apply to customers designated by Fidelity as a professional equity trader. A limited number of ETFs are subject to a service fee of $100. See details at fidelity.com/commissions. Fidelity Broker Services LLC, member NYSE SIPC.
00:10:54 · S7, S8, S9, Zachary Crockett
[00:10:54] S7: Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. $0 commission does not apply to customers designated by Fidelity as a professional equity trader. A limited number of ETFs are subject to a service fee of $100. See details at fidelity.com/commissions. Fidelity Broker Services LLC, member NYSE SIPC. [00:11:06] S8: Ever noticed how every new AI tool asks you to explain your business to it all over again? Google Workspace with Gemini skips that. You get Google's AI built right into the premium versions of Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and more. No new tools. No extra logins. Just one subscription that gives you personalized AI right inside your actual workflow. Make work less work. Try Google Workspace with Gemini at goo.gle/workspacewith Gemini. [00:11:35] S9: With the Discover Cashback Card, it's payback time when you earn cashback on everyday purchases. Activate and earn 5% cashback at different categories each quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases. That's 5% cashback at different places each quarter, like grocery stores, on gas, and at restaurants. It pays to Discover. Terms apply. See discover.com/5 for details. [00:12:05] S2: Loveland Ski Area opens for business each year around Thanksgiving and aims to be open until May. That's usually a hundred and eighty to two hundred days per year that mountain operators pray for snow. But Rob Gudel of Loveland's ski area says more snow means more preparation for ski areas in the off hours.
00:12:05 · Zachary Crockett, Rob Goodell
[00:12:05] S2: Loveland Ski Area opens for business each year around Thanksgiving and aims to be open until May. That's usually a hundred and eighty to two hundred days per year that mountain operators pray for snow. But Rob Gudel of Loveland's ski area says more snow means more preparation for ski areas in the off hours. [00:12:26] S3: We have nine snow cats. Very large, powerful, tracked machinery to push and groom snow that cost more than the first house that I owned. But they're very efficient in what they do. And the operators that we have can take a 16 inch storm and get it ready to open the next day. [00:12:48] S2: Snow cat operators navigate massive machines around the mountain at night, sometimes in whiteout conditions. They ensure that ski trails are groomed by the time the sun comes up. On the ground, there's another group of staff that make sure conditions are safe. [00:13:06] S3: We've got, about 50 ski patrol, and then we also have a large chapter of national ski patrol, which are volunteers that work on weekends or holidays, over a 100 of those that volunteer throughout the season. [00:13:20] S2: Ski patrol are identifiable by their red coats with white crosses. They're trained first responders and medics, ready in the event of an emergency on the mountain. They're also the ones responsible for assessing snow conditions, particularly on the steeper slopes where there's a risk of avalanches.
00:13:20 · Zachary Crockett, Rob Goodell
[00:13:20] S2: Ski patrol are identifiable by their red coats with white crosses. They're trained first responders and medics, ready in the event of an emergency on the mountain. They're also the ones responsible for assessing snow conditions, particularly on the steeper slopes where there's a risk of avalanches. [00:13:40] S3: This crew is very well versed in snow science and how to evaluate snow packs and it's a constant monitoring measuring. The challenge is not to allow really deep snowpack on top of unstable layers that have been there for a long time. [00:13:57] S2: At any ski area with advanced steep terrain, ski patrol will set off explosives. This is to trigger avalanches before skiers hit the slopes. [00:14:08] S3: It is a smaller handheld charge that they tie to a rope so they can throw it and know exactly where it will be placed in the trigger zone. And they have the length of the fuse, so they know to step back, get into a safe zone, and there's always a remote team watching them from afar to keep contact with them to make sure that they are well beyond harm's way. [00:14:32] S2: And then? [00:14:33] S3: Then there's a muffled boom, and hopefully snow moves and slides down when and where we want it to go as opposed to when the public is on it. [00:14:46] S2: Ski areas are usually located in remote high alpine locations that sometimes require them to source their own water and treat their own sewage. And water at a ski area isn't just for toilets. It's for snowmaking, particularly in the early season when winter storms can be scant.
00:14:46 · Zachary Crockett, Rob Goodell
[00:14:46] S2: Ski areas are usually located in remote high alpine locations that sometimes require them to source their own water and treat their own sewage. And water at a ski area isn't just for toilets. It's for snowmaking, particularly in the early season when winter storms can be scant. [00:15:06] S3: We either need compressed air and water or the power to create the compressed air and the water mix. And so that runs for miles, the pipes and the power lines up all the trails that we have snowmaking on. [00:15:21] S2: These lines connect to fan guns that spray snow over the ski slopes. [00:15:26] S3: We start making snow as soon as mother nature cooperates and gives us some temperatures. Typically, we will be ready anytime from the end of September on. We're very jealous of the ski areas back in the Eastern United States that have access to almost unlimited water supplies. But out here in the West, it's all about the water. We do have a finite amount of water that we can use to make snow, and that lasts about two months. [00:15:55] S2: Loveland is granted water rights by the state of Colorado. It's called a special use permit, and through the permit, they're granted water rights. But Loveland's water grant isn't enough for their snowmaking operations. [00:16:09] S3: We have a certain amount of rights that we own, but then we also purchase some from other right holders in the area, and it's expensive.
00:16:09 · Rob Goodell, Zachary Crockett, Andrew Gast
[00:16:09] S3: We have a certain amount of rights that we own, but then we also purchase some from other right holders in the area, and it's expensive. [00:16:20] S2: Ski areas typically own facilities like chairlifts and lodges, but they lease their land from the US Forest Service. Both Loveland in Colorado and Mount Ashland in Oregon have a forty year special use permit for the land they're on. Again, here's Andrew Gast, general manager of Mount Ashland Ski Area. [00:16:40] S5: That was signed in 2012. The permit costs a percentage of the revenue that we take in. So for every ticket that's bought, there's a part of that that goes back to the forest. [00:16:53] S2: Skiing is an inherently risky activity. And with staff members carrying explosives, liability insurance becomes a big expense. [00:17:03] S5: Our insurance amounts to about 9% of our expenses that we pay annually for the mountain. They will come several times a year, the representatives from insurance, and look at really the entire operation, the techniques that ski patrol is using, explosives. They look at the maintenance of the chairlifts and are they up to code, really all of our equipment. Even down to they'll look at in the rental shop, the ski bindings on the skis. Have they been tested? How are those things maintained? [00:17:31] S2: Property insurance is a major consideration as well.