Di

Name: Di

What department do you work in: Ski Area GM

How long have you worked at Alyeska Resort? What other departments have you worked in?
Since 1994. I have been a lift operator, snowmaker, trail crew, ski patrol, night ski patrol supervisor, mountain host supervisor, mountain services manager. I have also helped out at the rental shop, ticket offices, mountain events when needed and drove the shuttle bus.

Have you worked at other resorts; what did you do there?
Crested Butte mountain resort in the late 80's during college at Western State, where I was a children's ski school instructor and a cashier at the upper mountain restuarant.

What brought you to Girdwood/ Alyeska?
I was raised in Anchorage and grew up skiing at Alyeska. After college I decided to move to Girdwood to be a ski bum for a season and never left.

What is your favorite thing about Girdwood/ Alyeska?
Powder, of course. As well as all the really great people that live in this community.

Do you ski or snowboard? What other recreational activites do you enjoy in the local area?
I am a former snowboarder and telemark skier too, but I prefer to ski. I also like to whitewater kayak and raft, fly fish, camp, DH bike at Alyeska, hike and run. And hang with my family.

Any other resorts you'd like to give a shout out to?
I really enjoyed Mammoth Mountain when I went there, but of course they were in a crazy storm cycle with lots of powder.  Super fun and the people there were really friendly.

What piece of advice would you give to our guests?
Winter: Don't be discouraged if it's raining at the base- it means it dumping up top and epic & bring your fat skis. 
Summer: Be responsible with your trash so the bears don't have to be shot. Give all wildlife plenty of space.

New price points for DH Biking Lift Tickets!

There's some good news and some bad news. Bad news: chair 6 won't be running until next weeknd (at the soonest). Good news: lift tickets are only $20 for chairs 3 & 4 only!
Get stoked and come check it out! The trail crew is hard at work, fine tuning the existing trails and toiling away at new trails.

It has been the perfect summer to start the new DH biking program. Come by and give it a try.

How to safely load your bike and self on Alyeska Resort's chairlifts

As always with loading lifts, lift crew is there to assist and educate on safe un/loading processes.

Enjoying the Spoils of the last few days

No outer areas were open yesterday, and the mountain was closed the day before, so the skiing was absolutely wonderful on the high traverse and upper north face today. This afternoon's warm sunshine wasn't bad either!

Below, looking up at my track and friends still up on the traverse:

Pow Day!

There were quite a few mountain employees checking out the conditions this morning. I don't think anyone was disapointed.

The north face from Ragdoll gate down was open for a few hours today.
So much snow fell in the early part of the day (8" between 6am and 10:15am, and it continued a few more hours), that the chairs on lift 4 had to be flipped up and back down again to clear the snow off them midday.
Yay for freshies!

All over the place

The lift 1 electric motor came home today.

Hoisted into place by lift maintenance. Now to be re-connected and tested, and hopefully ready by Friday night skiing.
I made it out to the Knuckles with Jen D. and Di today. It was an adventure!
Kelly (former lift and tram op) is enjoying life on patrol this winter.
Beautiful afternoon moonrise.
Hope 2011 has been good for you thus far!

More Media Coverage of Downhill Biking at Alyeska

Opening the mountain to tram accessed downhill biking has been quite a big deal! Check out this video and article from the Anchorage Daily News. I have to add, for the record, that Karl's last name is Mittlestadt. The video is 8 minutes long, but it is worth it. You might be surprised where the trail goes at about minute 5.

Alyeska lets Bikes on the Tram for 1 Weekend

There was a line out the door and around the tram building Sunday, all day.

The weather could not have been better!

Saturday was industry/ guide training day, there were a total of 27 riders.
Heading out the bowl. Click to enlarge.
Loading bikes on the tram.

A Break in the Rain

Up in Glacier bowl there is still snow (and water, be careful).

This summer has been rainy. Yesterday we got a brief respite:

Looking down Christmas Chute:

The Super pipe from the tram. A lot of dirt work got done this summer.

Summer on the Mountain

The lower growing fireweed is already blooming.

Trail crew has been working hard this summer, and the trails look nice.
I saw this truck out on the mountain, and just thought it was funny. Not really sure what they were doing, but we definitely had plenty of deliveries this March.
Snow in July? No that's just cottonwood fluff. Friday was sunny and the trees just let loose.

Drew & Holly's wedding

Longtime lift op, Drew, married his fiance, Holly, today in Big Lake.

They looked so happy, and I was delighted to be able to attend for such a joyous occasion.
There were a few (former) lifties in the crowd. Below, Phil and Erika, and their little guy Quinn, who just turned 1 a few weeks ago:

Blueberry Pancake

Check out this video of some sweet biking at Alyeska. It was taken by Jeramy, one of the hard workers who made this awesome trail.

Winner Creek Extension (Under Construction)

The portion of the Winner Creek Trail between the 2 base areas has been formalized into this beautiful piece of handiwork:
You can tell that our trail crew is well seasoned by the quality of their work:
Although, there are areas in the middle that they are continuing to work on. Trail crew will continue to work on this trail until the end of September, so it will stay closed until then (and possibly longer due to other construction). The trail runs from the end of Taos to the "new" pumphouse, near the base of 7.

End of Tourist Season

A cow moose and her 2 calves were checking out this statue across the pond from the tram base this morning.

There was a party last night that many mountain folks attended.
Tammy and Sophie
Dudley Family
McPhie Family
Although it is the end of the "height" of the summer season, the tram will still be running throughout the shoulder season, until Oct. 18. Stop by and enjoy Alyeska without all the hustle and bustle.

North Face Trail

The Anchorage Daily News wrote a great article about the new North Face Trail, check it out here. The slide show is pretty cool and only a couple of minutes long.

There are definitely a few errors, like John Byrne III is the name of the owner of the resort, and the Glacier Express is the restaurant he was talking about, but overall it was positive press.

Beautiful Weekend

Matt & John are still working on the half-pipe.

Cool clouds.
Devil's Club
Hikers on the ridge line (click to enlarge).
The Winner creek extension trail (not open to the public). This trail runs between the base area of the resort, and is not quite finished yet. It is very obvious where trail crew has completed sections.

Mushrooms, Blueberries & North Face

I could see this fungus growing on a tree from 50 feet away, on the tram dock. I went over to check it out today and found so many PERFECT blueberries along the way.

Trail crew is still hard at work getting the North Face trail ready for when it opens to the public this Saturday.
Looking up the valley from the tram this morning.