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TAG the World Cup last winter at Killington – 16,000 people! We have amazing terrain here. So can we have a World Cup here? Absolutely! Are we ready for it right now? Absolutely not. So, in the meantime, we know we are the birthplace of freestyle skiing; �� NEW HAMPSHIRE’S FAMILY RESORT we host freestyle events better than anyone else, and we’re going to expand on that to drive us to the point where we’ll hopefully be able to host World Cups following the Waterville model. Do you take ski vacations to other resorts? Have you been able to plan or incorporate any of the concepts at Waterville? –Brenda Maille (Chelmsford, Massachusetts) Every ski season I incorporate something I learn from another resort, if not multiple things, and every time I come back from another ski resort, I change something I’m doing. The trips I took to Winter Park as a child probably influenced me the most because that’s a primary reason I chose this profession. But every ski season, I incorporate what I’ve seen, especially, lately, the hospitality and lodge aspects. Every trip affects me, and it’s not just ski vacations – the cleanliness and friendliness of Disneyland was just awesome. Also, the trips that Katie and I have taken surfing in Puerto Rico, or climbing in Grand Junction. You want to create that experience that changes your Facebook profile, like hucking a 60-foot jump off lower Bobby’s; it’s that thrill that has you so excited about yourself, you change your photo. How else do you keep Waterville fun? Sundays before the season begins, we do this thing called “glade brigade,” where we work on National Forest lands picking up sticks and cutting down little pecker poles that can trip you up when you’re skiing. That’s amazingly fun, because you’re talking about skiing and the upcoming winter season the whole time; it really gets you going. Also, the little tray-sliding kids do in the courtyard between the base-area buildings every night; at first it was really annoying to me and then I went, “You know what? It’s not hurting anything, and they’re having fun. I’ll jump on a tray with them!” And you do other stuff, like skateboard with your kids, and participate in the Banked Slalom, and not roping off terrain? Yeah, we go down to the skatepark – it’s our generation’s version of swinging on swings. I don’t know the last time I pushed my boys on a swing, but just last week I was teaching my son how to ollie. I partake in the Banked Slalom because it’s exciting, and it helps create new ideas through experiencing what the customer is experiencing. And I don’t like to use the term “not roping off terrain” – it’s more of the “ski it if you can attitude.” So it’s about giving a warning at the top: “There might be a rock in this run,” but that’s no reason not to ski it. I’m OK with thin cover; it keeps me on my toes. Having more of an aggressive ski-style trail comes with the territory. Tell us the story about the snowcat and the dead tree… It was the Thursday before Thanksgiving last season, and I’m in the winch cat. There’s five metric tons of weight being pulled on the cable, so I hook up on a tree and I start dozing down a run. Everything’s working fine; I’m confident, and I hear my reel go “phhtt.” I lose pressure and start sliding down the run, so I hit the emergency stop, thinking I broke the cable. I look up the run and think, “This is weird!” I see this thing coming down the headwall at me – “What the heck is that?” I call the other snowmakers to come help me and realize, “That’s a tree!” I had unknowingly hooked up to a dead tree, and had pulled it all the way down the run with me, taking out multiple air hydrants for the snowmaking system. We had to shut down snowmaking, and the staff was laughing at me. But it happens. I made a mistake. And I’m a firm believer that the best way to learn is from your mistakes. Bucket list trips: heli-skiing in Alaska; a hut trip with his boys Like owning two cars that currently don’t work – an old Saab convertible and a classic Jeep C J 7 Checks three weat her channels first thing when he wakes up Has current certifications from the PistenBully Service School You know that kid who seeks out every lip, roller, or dip in the trail that gets him even an inch of air? Now you know Tim.


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