By Karen D. Lorentz
updated
Fri, Feb 17, 2012 08:55 AM
Info:
Name: Jay "Rosey" Rosenbaum,
Profession: Terrain Park Supervisor for Killington and Pico
Favorite Movie: Caddy Shack
Favorite Book: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Leisure Activities: Snowboarding, Mountain Biking, Fishing,
Skateboarding
Snow Sport: Skier ages 6-13, rider ever since.
Social Media: "Never tweet, no Facebook. YouTube all the time for
research, entertainment and educational purposes."
What Made a Difference in Your Life: "A significant moment that
brought me to the mountains."
Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Jay "Rosey" Rosenbaum grew up in
nearby Danbury and graduated from Immaculate High School and then
Western Connecticut State University in the winter of 1993. Despite
a major in history and minor in economics, his plans were unformed
because he was in a good job that paid well and was
comfortable.
It was that job of meat cutter "working nights to put myself
through college" that ultimately changed his life.
More specifically, it was "the accident - a significant moment
that brought me to the mountains."
Meat Cutter to Snowboard Bum
"A fellow worker and friend cut off all his fingers on a band saw
and they rolled in front of me.
The good thing is science - they sewed them back on and he
regained full use of his hand.
"But it shook me up. I packed up the car and moved to Killington
that night."
Rosey had seen accidents before, he added, explaining, "the men
used to drink a lot and there were digits lost back in those days.
But even though I was comfortable -it was union work that paid well
-I didn't want to settle there just for the money."
With his benefits and vacation time he was able to support himself
and became a "100 percent snowboard bum.
"I moved in with friends in Bridgewater and I lived the dream. It
was a very good winter (1993-94) with the mountain open into
June."
He spent the summer on Mount Hood (a glacier where lifts are
buried in snow all winter and operable in summer) and bussed back
to Rutland in August. "That's when the bus company lost all my
luggage, and I returned with the shirt on my back to start all over
- and out of money."
Dishwashing at the Gristmill and then part-time work at Vermont
Ski and Sports for a couple of years, and serving as a volunteer at
Killington events followed. The latter led to part-time job working
snowboarding events and a pass for 1994-95. "I also used to work at
the DarkSide part time at night - rentals, repairs, sales,
janitorial services. I did a lot of cleaning when they were
busy."
Then another fortuitous turn of events: the mountain didn't have a
part-time position open for 2001, but a full-time Terrain Park
Supervisor was needed.
Terrain Park Supervisor
As the Terrain Park Supervisor, Rosey is in charge of the
creation, implementation and maintenance of all terrain parks at
both Killington and Pico. He has a crew of five at night and eight
during the day, including groomers who report to him. They build
the features and once the parks are established, they make changes
on a regular basis so as to refresh the parks so that guests
continually find new challenges each week.
Part of Rosey's daily duties include going to the Snow Plan Room,
where he is part of co-ordination planning for snowmaking and
grooming.
When not planning he is out on the slopes "testing and inspecting
every feature daily." That includes making sure each feature's
transition is "done right and if not, it has to be fixed or we
don't open it. It can happen," he states, noting it is important to
"inspect and test for safety reasons."
In late fall as soon as temps allow, the high-elevation park on
upper Reason gets built with rails which takes less snow to build
than other features. In a few weeks, they add Upper Mouse Run with
greater variety of features and more technical rails. Both parks
have medium-sized features that allow freestylers to get back in
the groove.
As soon as possible, the Timberline Park gets going with both
small and medium features and in some years a small halfpipe.
Then it's on to Bear Mountain and the Stash, open for the
Christmas holiday if Mother Nature cooperates, and shortly
thereafter to the Superpipe and Dream Maker park (medium and large
features).
There's also the Triple Slope Terrain Park at Pico so when it
comes to creating and planning, it is easy to see why a typical day
during the week begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. but weekends
begin at 5:30 a.m. and go to 9 or 10 p.m. If there is an event the
next day, the hours are almost always extended.
Years like this winter of low snow and 18 rain events present lots
of challenges, too. Among them getting the 22-foot Superpipe built
which takes two and a half weeks with many many days of snowmaking
and then a week to blade the two roads - stack snow and blade,
stack and blade till two giant walls are built, Rosey explained.
Then the V in the center has a step pattern built to the top of
each wall, and when that is complete, the Zaugg (a pipe-cutter
implement attached to a groomer) cuts and fills in the steps to
create the transition.
"Mother Nature gave us just enough cold weather to pull off a
miracle considering the winter we had before the Mountain Dew
Tour," Rosey noted of one of Killington's most exciting events and
toughest challenges this year.
Q & A
Aren't rails and park tricks hard on skis and boards?
"Park skis and snowboards are built to be more rugged today, but
human error occurs and they are not indestructible. I can go
through two to three boards a winter. You can break a board if you
land wrong for instance."
What do you enjoy most about your job?
"The creative side and what you can come up with (for features),
lay out, and then watch the kids enjoy it. And enjoy using it
myself."
What's the biggest challenge?
"The weather every year. It's not only a year like this one with
rain events and lack of snow that creates harder terrain to land
on. When we get natural snow that buries the features, we have to
rebuild them. It's a good thing to have more snow to work with but
it takes longer hours for the crew."
What do you do on your day off?
I ride the parks. I work on tricks at Timberline which is easier
and fun, and then when feeling comfortable I take to the bigger
jumps on Dream Maker and work at it and think harder as there are
more consequences on the bigger jumps, but bigger rewards."
What's a perfect day for you?
"For my day off, it would be one foot of fresh snow, mid-twenties,
no wind, and the sun is irrelevant.
"For a work day: two days after a four-inch snow. There's thick
corduroy, the sun is shining, and it's below 32 degrees so the snow
is good. The landings are soft and guests are having a good time,
And, we're not sweating the weather."
What about summer?
I create mountain bike trails and do other assorted tasks as
assigned.
Any advice for a teenager or young adult who might love the
mountains and wonder about a career?
"If you come up, work hard, and have a good attitude, you can make
something happen,"
So are you still living the dream?
"Yes, absolutely."
Tagged:
Jay Rosenbaum, Rosey Rosenbaum
