Slopes Maintenance at Schweitzer
Photo taken 09/24/2026
Written by: Team Schweitzer
October 1, 2026
rich-text, responsive-table
Written by: Team Schweitzer
October 1, 2026
rich-text, responsive-table
The Other Summer Crew: Getting Schweitzer Ready for Winter
You know what’s happening on the mountain in summer. Hiking. Biking. Scenic chairlift rides. Maybe a little après in the sunshine.
But while you’re out enjoying the mountain, there’s another crew quietly working toward winter.
Meet the Slope Maintenance Crew.
While the Trail Crew gets to be the heroes of summer—building, repairing, and fine-tuning our hiking and biking trails—the Slopes Crew has a slightly different summer agenda: get the mountain ready to ski.
And they don’t mess around.
24 Mowed. 15 Hand-Cut. Zero Days Off.
Okay, maybe not zero days off. But you get the idea. This summer, the Slope Maintenance Crew mowed 24 trails and hand-cut another 15, with a big chunk of that work focused on the lower-elevation slopes of Outback Bowl.
That means heavy equipment, chainsaws, and a whole lot of vegetation. It’s not exactly the glamorous side of mountain operations—but it’s a pretty important one.
So… Why Are We Doing This?
Because good skiing starts before there’s any snow.
All that summer slope work is part of our larger mountain maintenance program. While our Lift Maintenance Crew is busy inspecting and servicing lifts throughout the summer, the Slope Maintenance Crew is working on the terrain itself.
The goal is simple: create a smoother surface underneath the snow so our snowmaking and grooming teams have a better foundation to work with once winter arrives. A well-maintained slope means we can get terrain into shape with less snow, helping us open more of the mountain as conditions allow.
The Behind-the-Scenes Work You Never See
By the time the first chair loads and you’re cruising your favorite run, you probably aren’t thinking about what happened underneath your skis.
And that’s kind of the point.
The mowing. The hand-cutting. The heavy equipment. The lift maintenance. The countless hours of work happening across the mountain.
It all adds up to one thing: getting Schweitzer ready for another winter.
So the next time you’re making your first turns of the season, take a second to appreciate the crew you probably never saw working behind the scenes.
Because winter at Schweitzer starts long before the first snowflake falls. rich-text, responsive-table
You know what’s happening on the mountain in summer. Hiking. Biking. Scenic chairlift rides. Maybe a little après in the sunshine.
But while you’re out enjoying the mountain, there’s another crew quietly working toward winter.
Meet the Slope Maintenance Crew.
While the Trail Crew gets to be the heroes of summer—building, repairing, and fine-tuning our hiking and biking trails—the Slopes Crew has a slightly different summer agenda: get the mountain ready to ski.
And they don’t mess around.
24 Mowed. 15 Hand-Cut. Zero Days Off.
Okay, maybe not zero days off. But you get the idea. This summer, the Slope Maintenance Crew mowed 24 trails and hand-cut another 15, with a big chunk of that work focused on the lower-elevation slopes of Outback Bowl.
That means heavy equipment, chainsaws, and a whole lot of vegetation. It’s not exactly the glamorous side of mountain operations—but it’s a pretty important one.
So… Why Are We Doing This?
Because good skiing starts before there’s any snow.
All that summer slope work is part of our larger mountain maintenance program. While our Lift Maintenance Crew is busy inspecting and servicing lifts throughout the summer, the Slope Maintenance Crew is working on the terrain itself.
The goal is simple: create a smoother surface underneath the snow so our snowmaking and grooming teams have a better foundation to work with once winter arrives. A well-maintained slope means we can get terrain into shape with less snow, helping us open more of the mountain as conditions allow.
The Behind-the-Scenes Work You Never See
By the time the first chair loads and you’re cruising your favorite run, you probably aren’t thinking about what happened underneath your skis.
And that’s kind of the point.
The mowing. The hand-cutting. The heavy equipment. The lift maintenance. The countless hours of work happening across the mountain.
It all adds up to one thing: getting Schweitzer ready for another winter.
So the next time you’re making your first turns of the season, take a second to appreciate the crew you probably never saw working behind the scenes.
Because winter at Schweitzer starts long before the first snowflake falls. rich-text, responsive-table