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I want to be a snow groomer

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
That should not be too hard to become . Check with the local ski resorts in your area . You will need to start out as a trainee .You do realize that it is seasonal work and you will be doing other things in the off season . Pay will be probably be minimun wage for awhile and you will do every crappy job for awhile until you earn your operator stripes .That takes a hell of a lot longer than 1 season . Most shifts will be at night and you may run 12 hour shifts .
Every seasoned operator went through this so don't expect any short cuts or special treatment . No one will turn over a 1/2 million dollar grooming machine to anyone with no experience unless the boss is a idiot and he won't be the boss long if he does . Stay after work for free and ride along to show the boss you are sincere in learning .

Last thing : Never become a " Hotdog". That's a new guy that thinks he knows it all and runs equipment way to hard and beyond its limits . It gets torn up and then the "hotdog" points his finger at everyone else instead of accepting responibility for his stupid actions .Once you get that nickname it sticks and your done .
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Jason423 said:
I've thought about trying to become one as well

about how many seasons would it take?

Alot of it depends on how much seat time you get . Time = experience.
As you get better you will go from the easy grooming jobs to the more difficult ones with steeper grades . The best operators will do the most demanding work usually .

Season's vary in length from year to year . You may get 400 or 500 hours of Overtime alone one year and 50 the next . Again TIME=EXPERIENCE.
3 to 5 years should see you in the more demanding jobs as a operator. Alot of this depends on your boss . If he thinks your ready it can be faster , or slower if your stubborn , thick headed and don't listen .
 

BoneheadNW

New member
Is there an age limit to being a snow groomer? I know there are some members here that would have a hard time staying awake.:whistle:
Bone
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
BoneheadNW said:
Is there an age limit to being a snow groomer? I know there are some members here that would have a hard time staying awake.:whistle:
Bone


wha... huh.... What was that ???? Sorry I doze off there for a bit .
Oh! You were saying something about age . 18 is the minimun in most outfits . Some may be as high as 21 . Ok I am going back to sleep now
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
wakeborder556 said:
Is any one here one? What kind of training would one expect to go through? Pay? about how many hours do you work a week?
For anyone who wants to get involved in GROOMING trails or ski hills,
I would suggest that our "ForumsForums" is the wrong place to visit.


However, one of our members, KOZ from New York, runs a dedicated site for snow groomers. I'm not trying to turn away members here, but KOZ's GROOMING TALK is the place to be for learning about modern snow grooming equipment.

Snow Grooming requires very specialized equipment, very expensive equipment, and while
some folks here are groomers and are certainly willing to help, most of us here are owners of older
equipment, or owners of equipment that is not specifically grooming equipment. There are a lot of
common interests between groomers and most of the Snowcat ForumsForums members, so we
are very happy to have groomers and dealers at our Forums. However, I think that people who really
want to learn about dedicated grooming jobs need to go to where the groomers hang out. Please also
feel free to contribute here. The world of snowcats is pretty small. We all can learn from each other.

Link to Koz's Snow Grooming Talk website:
http://s2.invisionfree.com/snowgroomingtalk/index.php?
 

mtntopper

Back On Track
SUPER Site Supporter
Another great source for the ski area jobs can be found in the following link. It has a classified section for equipment sales and jobs available in the ski industry. Many of the smaller ski areas are always on the lookout for people to work the hills which may lead to actually running the snow cats.:thumb:

Ski Area Management (SAM)
http://www.saminfo.com/

The state of Wyoming is looking for snow cat operators in the fall for running the snow cats with drags on the snow mobile trails. It is usually a part time non benefited type of job and with the booming economy of WY they have problems filling these positions. The contact info for the trails management program is listed in this link. The season for grooming usually starts about mid November and goes through mid April.

Wyoming State Trails Link
http://wyotrails.state.wy.us/snow/index.htm

Snow Mobile Groomer Guide From State Of Wyoming Link
http://wyotrails.state.wy.us/pdf/GroomerGuidecomplete.pdf
 
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