The Blade Dive Episode 51- We are joined by Elia Hamilton, Maddie McConomy, Brandon Dodds & Myles Grote. With Special Guest Questions from Chris Grenier, Josh Dirksen & Charles Beckinsale at SAM Magazine's Cutters Camp, Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood Oregon!

The Fireside Chat is sponsored by Prinoth

Enjoy! And if you’re in the machine… Turn up the volume!

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The Blade Dive - Episode 50, Maddie McConomy joins me in the virtual booth all the way from Thredbo Australia!

Originally from Ontario, Canada, Maddie found Snowboarding through the support of her parents, but ultimately fell in love with the idea of supporting her passion for riding through working directly or indirectly with ski resorts.

After taking a year off from university and truly realizing that welding was a trade skill she wanted to pursue, the journey began. Maddie has completed and been a part of fabrication projects for Thredbo Ski Resort, Arena Snow Parks, Kosciuszko National Park, has competed in welding competitions and is never afraid of her next challenge.

These are the conversations that get us outside the ropes and into discussions about other careers within this small industry. Maddie and I discuss community and what it means to truly have support and remembering who those people are. We talk about her hand injury and the lessons learned. We discuss being your authentic self in a male dominated industry and that snowcats are just fucking awesome machines. As an operator who has 1 season in a machine but has built a name for her herself in welding, the sky is the limit for Maddie as she climbs back into the operator seat and works with the had crew in Thredbo during a marquee 2024 season.

Enjoy... and if you're in the machine, go ahead and TURN THE VOLUME UP!

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The Blade Dive - Episode 49, we are joined by Ken Gaitor who was Brighton Resort's Terrain Park Manager in 1997, and just like every other park builder in that era, was responsible for carving out a reputation for his program through failures and successes as the golden era of park riding took off.

In the early 2000s, he headed east to join the team at Mt. Snow and was the
Terrain Park Manager as well as the Project Manager that spearheaded the planning and launch of Mt. Snow's all mountain park portion of the resort, Carinthia. In 2010, he returned to his home state of West Virginia to over see the the Terrain Park, Grooming and Snowmaking department and would eventually assume the role of VP of Operations at Snowshoe. Not only has Gaitor been impactful in operations and terrain parks, but he has worked on sustainability initiatives and has been an instructor at Cutter’s Camp since it began.

Episode 49 is a really fun dive into the life and career of Gaitor through a long list of special guest questions from Elia Hamilton who knows Gaitor incredibly well. We discuss what it’s like to involve conflict within your management style, the power that your co-workers have to influence you as a leader and that you should allow them to remind you of why you started on this journey. We discuss the biggest career mistakes as well as best career decisions, the value in being able to talk professionally about money when it comes time to budget for your department, and yes, there are some great stories and big laughs in this one!

Enjoy... and if you're in the machine, go ahead and TURN THE VOLUME UP!

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