Browse Our Archives

Female drivers are becoming increasingly visible at the controls of big groomers. This is not some quota-driven equality thing, either. While performance doesn't come down to gender alone, it seems that women have certain personality traits and skills that make them excel as cat drivers.

What makes women such good groomers? "Being a groomer takes a little bit of an artist's mentality," says Chris Nyberg, currently president and GM of Killington Pico, who spent 20 of years as vice president for Bombardier and Prinoth. "The mountain is your tapestry and every night, you repaint it." It takes a certain natural talent, a combination of hand/eye coordination, patience and an innate sense of what's happening with the snow under the machine.

Being female, by itself, is not enough. Most managers say that accomplished skiers and snowboarders, male or female, make the best groomers. Folks who've experienced the pitfalls, or maybe just the falls, that can come from windrows or death cookies, intrinsically get it-they're out there using the product they make. On-snow experience aside, though, female groomers have their strengths.

FEMININE TRAITS
First, the general consensus is that women don't break the machines as often as male groomers. "Women tend to have a better feel for the equipment and are lighter handed with it," Nyberg says. "They don't seem to want to take as much risk, for example come as close to something as they possibly can. They're a little more conservative, with better judgment, so we get far less breakage from them."

Or, as Blair Craig, grooming supervisor at Fernie Alpine Resort in B.C., says, "Women are less cowboy."

According to women drivers and their supervisors, women also seem to approach a slope more strategically, spending a few extra minutes making a plan before diving in. "The women on my team think things through rather than trying to power their way through a problem," says Matthew Reeder, manager of snow surfaces for Northstar at Tahoe. "They don't rip and tear as much; instead, they'll use finesse over brute strength. They're strategic problem solvers and think more about how to get the end result."

Many of the women we interviewed say they like the harder, more complex grooming projects. That might be part of the reason women gravitate to and excel at driving winch cats. They seem to look at it as a big puzzle, kind of a game, and approach problems with a sense of adventure.

"I actually enjoy it when the equipment breaks down in the worst possible spot, in the worst possible weather," says Julia Dunievitz, a senior groomer at Sugar Bowl Resort. "One night the turbo went out on my cat. After we got it figured out, we were sitting there in t-shirts. And I was joking that there was something wrong because we weren't out in the middle of a blizzard."

At Northstar-at-Tahoe, Sarah Person, 33, started as a night lift operator before she was recruited as a groomer 11 years ago. She progressed quickly into a management position and now supervises the graveyard shift, which includes both men and women. She's noticed that women tend to groom a little more slowly, with more of an eye for detail. She says that, for her part, she's more likely to take that extra pass and go slower to make sure it's perfect.

SOMETHING TO PROVE
Partly, that's to prove she belongs. "I think women face a little extra scrutiny," Person says. "And while women tend to be more detail-oriented and organized in general, I think we also feel a little more pressure to produce quality and prove our skill, because we do sometimes get that second glance. Whether it's real or it's just a feeling, I think most women groomers feel that."

Craig has noticed that attitude, too. "It's a little bit of a non-traditional role, so they want to prove it can be done," he says. "And in general, I think that perfectionism and attention to detail make a really good groomer, and that those traits are a little stronger in women."

Kim Martin works at Fernie as a grooming supervisor and winch operator. The night before she gave birth to her first child she was out in her cat grooming-a feat that really impressed her male coworkers.

That toughness is part of proving that women belong in cats. Mike Thomas, terrain park manager for Heavenly, says one of his female groomers often puts the guys on his crew to shame by "stepping up" and taking on the harder jobs, like carrying the salt hopper to salt the park jumps and halfpipe.

WOMEN IN TRAINING
The caution and care with which women approach the job also works to their advantage in training-they are unafraid to ask a lot of questions. Where a guy might try something first and ask questions later (after it's bungled or broken), women are more likely to seek out advice ahead of time.

Women are also willing to listen to feedback, even criticism-wherever it comes from. For Karen Bruce, 23, a terrain park groomer at Heavenly, getting direct feedback from the kids in the park the next day is one of the best things about spending a lot of time on the mountain.

"Oh yeah, they'll be the first to tell me if it's good or bad," she says. "Sometimes you don't hear what you want, but you have to be able to take the criticism and not take it personally."

"In a lot of ways, women are more coachable," Craig says. "When you put some time into training them, they really soak it up." That means it's also important to pair them with a trainer who's not going to mind 20 questions. Or more. If you can pair a new woman groomer with a more experienced female drive for training, that's even better-because the vet can act as a mentor. And that leads us to another concept . . .

"I also think women make really good trainers," Nyberg says. "It seems they have more patience and empathy for someone who's learning. And I've noticed guys are actually more inclined to listen to a girl and feel more comfortable asking questions than if they're being trained by some snarly old vet."

GROUP DYNAMICS
That brings us to group dynamics. Women drivers change the dynamic of the group, usually for the better.

For one thing, it cuts down on the whining. No fooling. "The women try harder to prove themselves," Craig says. "So if the guys are all complaining and the girls just go out and get it done, the guys have to buck up and go do it. Also, the meetings change from the locker room jocularity to a more professional, work-focused environment. The women add that level of professionalism because they are so committed to having the product come out well."

Or as Nyberg puts it, "They keep the boys in line and create a healthier work environment for everyone."

Person agrees, adding that having women on her crews adds to the level of sensitivity and diversity, which in turn leads to a higher level of appreciation for differences, "especially when the guys see the women getting it done," she says. "It can help shatter some stereotypes for some of the male drivers, which is always a good thing."

And talk about breaking a gender stereotype, more than one manager said the women on their crews complain less and bring less drama to the workplace than the guys.

The fairer sex also has some advantages when it comes to dealing with mechanics. "When things break, the mechanics get pretty angry," says Bruce. "But they don't usually yell at me quite as much as the guys, which is nice."
Having women on the crew also strengthens the team in many cases. Once they've proven themselves and are accepted, more often than not, the men tend to be both proud and protective of their female colleagues. Neufeld says that the guys on his crew really like the fact that "we do have some gals on our crew and they kick ass. I think they take pride in letting folks from other departments know that."

Dunievitz says she often facilitates communication both between the grooming staff and also between the grooming department and other departments on the mountain. "I feel like I help make things run more smoothly," she says. "I'm a pretty mellow person and I have kind of a calming effect."

How far does this commitment to sexual equality go? Reeder recalls an incident where one of his female groomers had a run-in with a snowmaker, who hurled a long string of gender-related insults at her, many starting with the letters "b" and "c."

"The next night a bunch of guys from the crew pulled him aside and told him how it was going to be," Reeder says. "The guy quit a few nights later."

SEEKING WOMEN DRIVERS
So how do you create a better gender balance on your grooming crew and find qualified women?

Craig and Reeder suggest looking for candidates among women who are already employed at the resort, especially lift operators and snowmakers. That's where they found Martin and Person, respectively. Women with a proven work history at your resort are good candidates.

Make sure your human resources department knows you're looking for some female applicants, and ask the HR recruiters to actively encourage qualified applicants, both male and female, to apply for grooming. Advertising should encourage both men and women to apply, too. Most of the snow surfaces managers interviewed say they have had women specifically ask, "Can women apply for this position?" You've got to do a little extra to make it clear that the position is open to both men and women.

Once you've got some qualified applicants, how do you choose the right ones for the job? Hiring a woman who doesn't work out only serves to reinforce negative stereotypes and could do more harm than good.

First and foremost, look for women who don't care too much about gender in the first place. If they don't see it as an issue, neither will anyone else. Many of the women interviewed have worked in male-dominated fields before, which shows they're comfortable in the environment. "To me the gender thing has never been a big deal," says Rehlen, who worked doing landscaping before becoming a groomer. "It's about having a good attitude and wanting to learn." The rest is pretty much the same as hiring anyone else for the position.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Once they're on your team, make sure your female groomers get the training they need and develop good skills. Those are the two things you can do to ensure both their success on the job and their acceptance by the rest of the crew. "Women that perform are accepted readily and easily," Reeder says. "Once they've proven their worth and know how to do the job without expecting any special treatment, they're in for good."

To get to that point, provide opportunities for ride-alongs and training beyond the first week, as you would for other recruits. Give them the opportunity to ask questions that have cropped up while they're on the job.

It's also important to remember that, real or imagined, women on your crew will often feel like the spotlight is on them, and that they're subject to a different level of scrutiny than the guys.

"Especially at the beginning, whether this was really true or not, I felt like I could make the same stupid mistake as anyone else and where it'd be, 'That person's a dumb ass,' in my case, they'd say, "Oh, she's a girl," Rehlen says. "Like if anything happens, any normal thing that would happen to a rookie, it felt like it'd be twice as bad for me. Of course, once you prove them wrong and do a good job, they definitely give you a lot of respect."

"I've broken plenty of things," says Person, who's been grooming for 11 years. "In fact, I break things maybe even a little more often, because I like the special projects that are more technical and challenging and there's just more opportunity for things to get broken. Maybe at the start I felt I'd get that gender criticism. But now that my skills have developed and I'm a supervisor, people just don't go there with me."

Other things that can help the women on your crew succeed and feel comfortable might seem simple and silly, but are actually very important. For starters, it's good to have a women's bathroom and a place for women to change. On the hill, when they're grooming as part of a team, the women we talked to prefer to be at the end of the line-that way they can hop out and pee without it being a big deal.

Uniforms that fit smaller frames are nice, too. Kim Martin is all of five feet tall and weighs just over a buck ten. While she doesn't mind wearing the men's extra-small jacket, it's still way too big, and she really appreciated it when her boss ordered one her size.

If you have a romance develop on your team, it might be best to put the love birds on different shifts. But, you have to figure that one out on a case by case basis.

At the end of the day, the job of the snow surfaces manager is to put out the best product possible. You've got to hire the best people you can find. "It doesn't matter if it's a guy or a girl if they have the dedication and the heart to put into it," Thomas says. "I hire based on attitude and enthusiasm." When you include women in the applicant pool, you increase your chances of finding those qualities. "The biggest thing is that 50 percent of your potential applicants are women," Craig says. "So you really short yourself if you're not giving them a chance. The guys on my crew, if there were suddenly no women, well, I don't think they'd know what to do."

Melissa Bearns is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She also co-owns the outdoor, adventure travel magazine Wend.