Night crawlers: Inside the cab with a snowcat operator
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Charlie Greenberg hates moguls.
“Every bump I destroy brings a smile to my face,” said Greenberg, as he piloted his Bison X snowcat home for the night.
For the past eight years, Greenberg, 27, has fulfilled his childhood dream driving a snowcat at Steamboat Ski Resort.
Since the 1950s — when Winter Park Resort began to experiment with human-powered grooming devices — ski areas have used specialized blades and tills to remove moguls and smooth snow. The resulting pattern is called corduroy.
Today, most ski areas use tractor-like machines called snowcats that are equipped with treads and can ascend steep slopes to groom portions of their mountain.
Today, most ski areas use tractor-like machines called snowcats that are equipped with treads and can ascend steep slopes to groom portions of their mountain.
Video: Cormac McCrimmon, Rocky Mountain PBS
Growing up in Denver, Greenberg made his own snowcat toys and searched for snowcat video games. The one video game that does exist is “really weird,” he said.
Snowcat operators are perhaps the most elusive workers of Colorado’s ski industry. They operate largely under the cover of darkness and use heavy machinery to move snow and manicure ski runs. Done right, the only trace snowcats leave is a flicker of light and a footprint of fresh corduroy.
As climate change threatens to disrupt Colorado’s snowpack, many ski resort owners are investing in complex snowmaking operations. However, it remains the job of operators like Greenberg to move snow where it’s needed on the mountain.
“We've expanded our snowmaking system to areas that 15 to 20 years ago, you'd never think about putting snowmaking,” said Greenberg.
Steamboat employs 25 snowcat operators. Each night the resort grooms roughly 500 to 600 acres.
By spring, much of a snowcat operator’s job is to preserve fast-melting snow. Using the cat’s high-tech blade and till, the machines process snow to prevent it from becoming too firm. The operators cover up thin patches on the slopes to help ski areas to extend their season.
“Dirt is like Kryptonite for snow. It attracts heat and it expels heat, and it just melts [snow] beyond-belief fast. If we can keep a clean surface, we can get some serious longevity out of the snow,” he said.
Throughout the season, workers bank snow at various places on the mountain so that they can fill in thinner parts later in the season.
Despite the ski industry’s reliance on expert operators, many struggle to afford the high price of resort towns. According to Zip Recruiter, a jobs database, the average wage for snowcat operators in Colorado is $19.71 an hour. According to Jake Ingle, the slope maintenance manager at Steamboat, first year operators earn $23 an hour.
Greenberg said that most of the employees he knows, even seasoned operators with 20 years under their belts, often continue to live with roommates.
Although ski areas have long faced questions about worker compensation and housing, this year proved to be something of a tipping point after ski patrollers at Park City Resort struck against Vail Resorts in December 2024.
In January, ski patrollers at Arapahoe Basin voted to unionize, and lift mechanics at Crested Butte reached a deal with Vail Resorts to avoid striking in February.
Snowcat operators at Steamboat are not a part of a union, though the mountain’s patrollers have been part of a union since 1998.
While Ingle “can’t solve the employee housing question,” he said that he’s working to convert more of the seasonal snow cat operator positions under his control to full-time, year-round positions with benefits. Workers who stay on during the summer build the resort’s ever-expanding snow making system.
After Greenberg graduated from Denver School of the Arts, he spent the summer waterproofing mittens to save up money, then moved to Steamboat Springs and landed a job raking terrain park features. Greenberg spent his nights riding alongside other operators.
After Greenberg graduated from Denver School of the Arts, he spent the summer waterproofing mittens to save up money, then moved to Steamboat Springs and landed a job raking terrain park features. Greenberg spent his nights riding alongside other operators.
When the resort fired a seasoned terrain park operator, Greenberg received a call asking if he was ready to drive his own cat.
“Having a terrain park background, he’s just got a good eye for what works and what doesn't." He cares a lot about the product,” said Ingle, describing Greenberg.
People often compare it to mowing the lawn, said Greenberg, but “it's the farthest thing from a lawnmower.”
“People don’t realize how complicated it is. Snow is so complicated. It changes every night.”
Each component of a snowcat is highly adjustable, allowing operators to adapt to different snow conditions. The blade alone can move in 12 different directions. Greenberg’s 2024, mid-sized Prinoth cat costs roughly $375,000. The ski area gets roughly 6,000 operating hours out of each cat, said Greenberg.
Greenberg spends his summers driving excavators, dozers and loaders and installing snowmaking equipment at the resort.
At Steamboat, operators work four 10-hour shifts. Roughly half the workers clock in at 4 p.m. and work until 2 a.m.. The rest work from 10 p.m. until 8 a.m.
“There's something so addictive and so beautiful about this lifestyle,” he said. “During the day, I get to do what I love. And at night, I get to give people a product to share what I love with everybody.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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