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 An Easy Training Opportunity

The operations department at Stowe is determined to take advantage of every possible training opportunity for its snowmaking staff. For example, these images, posted in the restroom, show how to properly adjust various pieces of snowmaking equipment. Think about it: Why crowd the restroom with random reading material when you can replace it with training tips and other practical information? The situation is ripe for this: 63 percent of people read while in the bathroom, according to an American Standard (the toilet people) survey. Just sayin’.

A Green Forest Clean-up

Wood compost piles like this aren’t new, but also aren’t very common in the U.S. Gerhard Komenda, co-owner of Ramblewild adventure park in northwest Massachusetts, employs them at his operation, with great success. “Wood compost piles are an old but forgotten method to rebuild soil and keep the forest healthy,” he says. “They help prevent fires, accelerate soil generation, and create a habitat for insects, birds, and other wildlife. Logging or other harvests leave less material to decompose into essential nutrients and microbial-rich soil. After picking a shady, moist, and wind-protected spot, remove (and save) debris to clear an 8’x8’ footprint on bare ground, and sprinkle with Mycelia and Mycorrhizae spores. Stack the logs/sticks/branches as tightly as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle some saved soil, leaf and needle debris on that layer, and add more Mycelia and Mycorrhizae spores. Stack the next layer perpendicular to the first. The tighter you stack, the better the moisture retention and composting rate will be. Continue in this fashion until your stack reaches from 4 to 7 feet in height. If done correctly, you will see at least double the usual decomposition rate compared to leaving the debris scattered on the ground. Burning may seem easier, but compost piles have more benefits. Besides, you don’t need a permit, and you won’t start a forest fire.” And really, they look kind of cool.

Onboard Luggage

Brothers Nick and Joshua Quail, co-managers of Ski Hill Mulcher, were looking for an easy way to carry their video display to ski shows. They adopted this idea after they spotted something similar in a neighbor’s booth at a show. All they had to do was duplicate the basic components: an LED projector and roll-up screen, as shown here. (Hereby proving once again that the best method of R&D is rip off and duplicate, a method that is, after all, a main purpose of this page.) Now, flying to a ski show is a breeze—the booth display is a carry-on item, with no extra cost. And it delivers a knockout presentation, too.