Utility Sled

In winter 2023, lift mechanic Sean Antonio at Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Pa., built a tow-behind utility sled for transporting heavy or large objects across the snow surface—and he salvaged all the materials for the project. The trailer measures 3’ x 6’ and is a great tool for hauling bins and totes to various locations. The build: From the fabrication shop, he repurposed some old 1” box tubing for the frame, and used pieces of 2” x 4” box tubing to mount four old snowmobile skis (discarded by vehicle maintenance) to the frame. He adapted recently retired CTEC grip springs for suspension. Finally, seat-pad mounting bars from an old quad chair were welded onto the frame (the flat metal bar encased in vinyl that the 1/4”-20 hardware goes through when installing the seat pad to the carrier). The four skis distribute the weight, making the sled stable. And despite its heavy weight, it glides effortlessly. It does throw a lot of snow onto whatever is being hauled, but there is room to install plywood or plastic to shield the contents if necessary.  By Sam Geise

Your Responsibility Code in Mandarin 

Heavenly Mountain Resort, Calif., posts Your Responsibility Code signs in English and Spanish, but with an increasing number of Mandarin-speaking visitors, director of skier services Robin Barnes decided to create additional signs in that language. Tapping connections at Chinese ski resorts as well as U.S.-based Mandarin-speaking friends to translate and proofread the code, Barnes was able to come up with text for a Mandarin version of the sign. One challenge, she said, was selecting which characters to use (Mandarin has several different types of characters). The resort opted for simplified, or traditional, characters. The design of the sign copies the English and Spanish language signs readily available on NSAA’s website. Mandarin signs were printed at Heavenly’s in-house sign shop in a variety of sizes and materials and placed around the resort in restrooms, lift queues, learning areas, and elsewhere. “Hopefully, having the sign in multiple languages helps more of our guests better understand how to keep themselves and others safe on the mountain,” said Barnes. “We really want to welcome guests from all places and backgrounds.”  By Karolyn Towle