LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT_>>
lift maintenance class. In turn, Vander Spoel gets feedback from mountain man- agers on course content. While the basics don’t change, he says, “some years we’re heavy into electrical. Another year it’s rigging or hydraulics.” Changing Curriculum The curriculum for each program has evolved with the industry. “There have been massive changes in technolo- gy, direct-drive lifts and detachables, patrols requiring more training, remote avalanche systems, automated snow- making and grooming systems, climate change—there is nothing that hasn’t changed, and it’s all continually chang- ing,” says Cairns. Staying current. CMC is redesigning its ski area operations curriculum—and working with industry partners such as Vail Resorts, Alterra, and the National Ski Areas Association to do so. The overhaul includes new continuing education pro- grams for current ski area employees,
Selkirk students take a field trip to Grouse Mountain, B.C., for a safety class.
nerships with a wide range of local ski areas. “Some are independent; there’s Vail and Alterra; one is owned by a hotel company,” says VSU professor Sean Doll. “It gives students a taste of different man- agement models.” Delivering what resorts want. Lees- McRae’s collaboration with Beech Moun- tain underscores how regional needs shape curricula. “There had already been a close tie between the resort and the col- lege; graduates wanted to stay in North Carolina, and we wanted to formalize a program,” says Beech marketing direc- tor Talia Freeman. After the program launched in 2019, Beech built a large
on-site classroom to support it in 2020. UMF followed “strong and construc- tive feedback” from the snowsports industry and relaunched a modified ver- sion of its program, says director of the UMF alpine operations certificate pro- gram Meghan Price. “We all feed each other,” says Goge- bic’s Vander Spoel. The schools provide educated and qualified employees, sup- pliers provide equipment, and resorts donate spaces, people, and time. Sometimes, resorts even provide the students. For example, resorts send—and pay the tuition for—many of the stu- dents enrolled in Gogebic’s summertime
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