Cat Operators of NS

MRoden

MRoden

Member
Interested to see who else grooms and pushes out parks. Throw in where you work, cats you run, type of terrain( flat, park, pipe, cat skiing, winching), years of experience. This thread is also open to discussion pertaining to grooming. Examples being Sticks vs Steering wheel, PB vs Prinoth, and so forth. Also could be a gateway for helping people through the process of becoming a operator. Mods, move to NSG if need be.

I'll start,

Hill-Cannonsburg Ski Area, Michigan

Cats Operated-2014 PB 400 Park, 2009 Formatic 350, 2010 Formatic F1 Prototype

Terrain Type-Park and Flat Grooming

Experience-Going on my 3rd Season.

GO!
 
Hill - Ski Sundown

Cats - PB 400 Park (09 and 13)

Terrain - mostly park

Experience - started last season
 
Heffy, Meeks, Alec, Wibbitywabz and the kid all run a salt cat up on hood in the summer, some big ole piston bully that struggles to make it up palmer. Shit gets looooose out there
 
cat1.jpg
 
I have been running cats part time for 4 seasons. Mostly just push projects in the park with a few normal grooming shifts thrown in. Lots of moving and setting rails as well.

In the states I mostly run a bison x or 350. Done a few days in a beast.

In NZ I run an old PB 320 with a steering wheel for pushing. Also spent a bit of time in our Park Bully.
 
4 seasons doing primarily park builds in an 09 PB400 Park. Still trying to figure out where I want to head this season... or if I want to be in a cat at all.
 
13142280:T.L. said:
4 seasons doing primarily park builds in an 09 PB400 Park. Still trying to figure out where I want to head this season... or if I want to be in a cat at all.
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There are a lot of good jobs up for grabs this year for park managers, park groomers, and diggers. Hopefully you find a good fit.
 
I cannot confirm nor deny that I have operated snow cats. No one was ever paying me to do it, though.
 
Any advice on how to score a job as a cat operator? I've spent a bit of time on excavators and in bobcats/skid steers and would be stoked to be driving a cat for a winter or 5
 
13142867:.tomskis said:
Any advice on how to score a job as a cat operator? I've spent a bit of time on excavators and in bobcats/skid steers and would be stoked to be driving a cat for a winter or 5
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If you've got machine/equip op experience, you'll get hired no prob. Unless you're trying to groom at a BIG RESORT where there's no turnover and people fight for seasons to get those jobs.

With you're experience, I bet lots of places would be happy to train you.

I've spent a bunch of time in a skiddy and loader this year....fun stuff. I feel like I'm in Voltron or something.
 
13142868:casual said:
If you've got machine/equip op experience, you'll get hired no prob. Unless you're trying to groom at a BIG RESORT where there's no turnover and people fight for seasons to get those jobs.

With you're experience, I bet lots of places would be happy to train you.

I've spent a bunch of time in a skiddy and loader this year....fun stuff. I feel like I'm in Voltron or something.
Click to expand...

You would be a shoe in for a cat operating job, even at a BIG RESORT. I had no equipment experience other than a small tractor and a long time ago I got hired at Vail. Only did one season but it was a really fun season for sure.
 
Good thread.

I currently build the park at Falls Creek in Australia, first season here.. crazy place to say the least. I run a 200 park bully most of the time. Other than that i have 8 seasons of operating experience and last year was my first year on Blackcomb building the halfpipe. Running a 400 park bully and a polar winch with an 18' Zaugg there.
 
13142830:theabortionator said:
There are a lot of good jobs up for grabs this year for park managers, park groomers, and diggers. Hopefully you find a good fit.
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There really is a TON of job openings for operators and park staff right now. I've got a spread sheet I've been updating for the past few weeks with probably at least 50-60 positions.

13143030:BMit said:
Good thread.

I currently build the park at Falls Creek in Australia, first season here.. crazy place to say the least. I run a 200 park bully most of the time. Other than that i have 8 seasons of operating experience and last year was my first year on Blackcomb building the halfpipe. Running a 400 park bully and a polar winch with an 18' Zaugg there.
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A couple questions. Are you from Austrailia? If yes..g'day mate! If no..what's the process like for getting a job there? Also, what's the pay like there if you don't mind me asking?
 
13143052:T.L. said:
A couple questions. Are you from Austrailia? If yes..g'day mate! If no..what's the process like for getting a job there? Also, what's the pay like there if you don't mind me asking?
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Im Canadian, but, g'day mate nonetheless! Getting a job can be easy depending on what you're going for.. theres tonnes of lifty and instructor jobs you can just apply for and have pretty good chances of getting hired. Grooming and park jobs are hard to get just because theres such few positions and really low turnover.. the easiest way in there is to know someone and have a reference. I got pretty lucky just cause i got my name in there right when the old builder had decided to move on..

Pay rates for ski resort jobs in Aus are arguably the best in the world.. depends on experience, but i will say im doing significantly better here than in Canada. Helps that they don't really care how many hours you work.. i was working an average of 70 hours/week this winter. So ya, good times down here!
 
I work at a stupid resort in tahoe and am typically a free groomer, this will be my 3rd year grooming. I either run a 300 park bully with more than 17k hours on it or the shaky PB edge cats. I groom everything from the flats to the black diamonds and am also one of the park groomers. Going to do one more year here for some more experience until i can hopefully work some where that gives a shit about their parks/snow cats.

Overall, once you get used to the hours its the best job ever!

Sticks > Wheel any day
 
drove a bombardier 350 this summer and a 280 last summer up in hood..mainly drive around delivering salt to all the boxes, race, and freestyle camps so they can operate..we're also not limited to just that we haul rails..random race equipment...and even shitters
 
I was literally retarded and kinda thought this thread was going to be about actual cats.

...either way, I miss getting behind the controls of that 2004 bombardier and pushing snow around.
 
Been operating for 6 seasons. Do everything from pipe cutting, winching, park, cross country, and jump tower grooming.

I've run bombi MP plus tower winch, Camo 350 Sherpa, Bison X, PB 400 Park, PB 200 Edge, PB 300 Kandi, plus random heavy equipment.

Just looking around for work. I would love to build in the states, but visas are impossible to get.
 
Home hill: Mount Everest

Cats: PB 1000 Winch

Been in a cat for 69 years and all of which have been here.

The terrain is pretty rocky and steep to say the least
 
T.L. with our experience you could probably land a job. Good park builders are always in demand. Also with ll those features you built. I haven't built THAT much stuff but I'm pretty sure that' why I got hired in NZ. They wanted some new features. Also the place I'm at has people from all over. We have young cat operators from Austria in the fleet.

Work holiday visas)1 year_ for NZ are real easy, and from what I've heard they are also real easy to grab in Aus(6months).

I didn't see much listed for park jobs in Australia. I think somewhere was hiring but I didn't end up applying. Last year their were a couple places I saw. This year there were 5 places hiring in NZ. Cardrona, Mt Hutt, The Remarkables, Whakapapa, and Turoa where I'm at.

All those jobs were listed online as well. I think the spots went up at in mid feb/march. The season in NZ is mid to late june - to late october early november.

I feel like you're going to land something solid for this next season though. There are some fucking heavy hitters hiring. Everything from the small spots to the big park powerhouses to a college hill up in AK are hiring this year. I don't even know why I look. It just makes me jealous.

Good luck though. Sorry about the wall of text.
 
13142868:casual said:
If you've got machine/equip op experience, you'll get hired no prob. Unless you're trying to groom at a BIG RESORT where there's no turnover and people fight for seasons to get those jobs.

With you're experience, I bet lots of places would be happy to train you.

I've spent a bunch of time in a skiddy and loader this year....fun stuff. I feel like I'm in Voltron or something.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. I'm actually in Aus too and to get a cat job here you've really got to know someone or have a fair bit of experience it seems. Might have to start planning an OS season though.
 
13143714:theabortionator said:
T.L. with our experience you could probably land a job. Good park builders are always in demand. Also with ll those features you built. I haven't built THAT much stuff but I'm pretty sure that' why I got hired in NZ. They wanted some new features. Also the place I'm at has people from all over. We have young cat operators from Austria in the fleet.

Work holiday visas)1 year_ for NZ are real easy, and from what I've heard they are also real easy to grab in Aus(6months).

I didn't see much listed for park jobs in Australia. I think somewhere was hiring but I didn't end up applying. Last year their were a couple places I saw. This year there were 5 places hiring in NZ. Cardrona, Mt Hutt, The Remarkables, Whakapapa, and Turoa where I'm at.

All those jobs were listed online as well. I think the spots went up at in mid feb/march. The season in NZ is mid to late june - to late october early november.

I feel like you're going to land something solid for this next season though. There are some fucking heavy hitters hiring. Everything from the small spots to the big park powerhouses to a college hill up in AK are hiring this year. I don't even know why I look. It just makes me jealous.

Good luck though. Sorry about the wall of text.
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That's sick. I'm definitely going to have to look into jobs overseas when the time comes around again. Part of me wants to jump right back into a medium-large size program again. Part of me wants to just half way bum it as a digger or something and actually enjoy a winter with no stress for once... I'm so fucking indecisive right now haha.
 
13143918:T.L. said:
That's sick. I'm definitely going to have to look into jobs overseas when the time comes around again. Part of me wants to jump right back into a medium-large size program again. Part of me wants to just half way bum it as a digger or something and actually enjoy a winter with no stress for once... I'm so fucking indecisive right now haha.
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Check this one out
https://www.uakjobs.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1411381167418

Pretty good pay, benefits, and only a small park and not too many hours. Says 15-40 hours a week $21 an hour.

Not sure how close to the big mountains it is but seems super cruisey. If it's around next year I might think about it and just do some big mountain skiing for a couple years and take a break from the park game.
 
13142867:.tomskis said:
Any advice on how to score a job as a cat operator? I've spent a bit of time on excavators and in bobcats/skid steers and would be stoked to be driving a cat for a winter or 5
Click to expand...

Try to get a foot in at the maintenance department at a hill/mountain. Heavy equipment experience is a plus, but anyone that has ran equipment can tell you cats are like nothing else. I'd ride with a operator once a week or so to see how they run the machine. A lot better to express a interest and willingness to learn rather than walking into a job being all " I ran a bobcat cat once, throw me the keys."
 
13144056:theabortionator said:
Check this one out
https://www.uakjobs.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1411381167418

Pretty good pay, benefits, and only a small park and not too many hours. Says 15-40 hours a week $21 an hour.

Not sure how close to the big mountains it is but seems super cruisey. If it's around next year I might think about it and just do some big mountain skiing for a couple years and take a break from the park game.
Click to expand...

That looks like a pretty cool opportunity. Dunno if I could live in AK though. I wonder what type of machine they run haha.

13144484:MRoden said:
Try to get a foot in at the maintenance department at a hill/mountain. Heavy equipment experience is a plus, but anyone that has ran equipment can tell you cats are like nothing else. I'd ride with a operator once a week or so to see how they run the machine. A lot better to express a interest and willingness to learn rather than walking into a job being all " I ran a bobcat cat once, throw me the keys."
Click to expand...

This is some pretty solid advice. Just by getting ride along in the cat you've already passed the first test. Either he wants you in there or he's been told to get you in there from by his boss. From my experience, if you're lucky enough to get to that point you'll encounter 3 types of people. The first type will talk your head off and feed your unbelievable amounts of information. You might get a handful of words in on the conversation but it will be worth it. The second type will quiet unless he's engaged. He'll gladly answer any question about the cat that you could possibly have. If you're a visual learner, pay attention to everything he's doing. Every button he pushes, inquire about it. The third type will be a stone cold statue. Not necessarily because he hates you or wants you dead... It's because he's in the fucking zone painting on his canvas and you're sitting in his paint brush. In that case I hope you're a visual learner because you're about to see some awesome shit.
 
13144688:T.L. said:
This is some pretty solid advice. Just by getting ride along in the cat you've already passed the first test. Either he wants you in there or he's been told to get you in there from by his boss. From my experience, if you're lucky enough to get to that point you'll encounter 3 types of people. The first type will talk your head off and feed your unbelievable amounts of information. You might get a handful of words in on the conversation but it will be worth it. The second type will quiet unless he's engaged. He'll gladly answer any question about the cat that you could possibly have. If you're a visual learner, pay attention to everything he's doing. Every button he pushes, inquire about it. The third type will be a stone cold statue. Not necessarily because he hates you or wants you dead... It's because he's in the fucking zone painting on his canvas and you're sitting in his paint brush. In that case I hope you're a visual learner because you're about to see some awesome shit.
Click to expand...

You forgot the third type....crusty old free groomer who thinks terrain parks are just running his wall to wall cord, and is the waist of a good machine. These animals are becoming more and more rare.
 
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