IF you have spent any time skiing at Mt Hotham during this century (or the later portion of last century) you may have seen, heard, spoken to, had a coffee with, skied with, been helped out by, or come across the general manager of operations, Len Dobell.
As a Hotham visitor and skier since 1964, a part time liftie in the early 70s, one of the resort's resident policemen for 16 seasons through the 80s & 90s, and a supervisor/manager with the lift company for the last 25 years, it is safe to say that what Len doesn't know about Mt Hotham, probably isn't worth knowing.
It is an open industry secret that Len has given notice of his intention to finish up at the end of winter 2023, so now is a great time to talk about working in his 'happy place', Mt Hotham.
"My sister and I were very lucky to have really adventurous parents," says Len.
"We started skiing in '62 at Mt Buffalo and would camp at Porepunkah."
By 1964, after a long chat with locals over dinner in the Porepunkah Hotel about the 'bigger hill up the road', the family began spending weekends and August school holidays in Harrietville and skiing Mt Hotham.
Depending on how far the family car could get up the mountain, days were spent skiing out on the Razorback, heading up to the Twins or skiing on Hotham itself – high adventure indeed!
"My first job on the Hotham hill was a lunch time relief liftie in the 1972 season," said Len.
"The reward for an hour of work was a day pass.
"I came across to the lift company in 1997 as a casual unskilled labourer to help complete the Keoghs/Orchard and Gotcha lifts.
"That led to being a lift supervisor for the 1997 season, assistant operations manager for the 1998 season and then in July 1999 I was offered the operations manager position.
"Along the way and during one of the many ownership changes that title was changed in 2001 to GM – Operations."
Responsible for 145 staff in winter across all of Mt Hotham's 'outdoor departments', they include lift operations, grooming, maintenance, terrain parks, snowmaking and airport personnel.
Len's days start early and often end late.
Waking at 4.30am, he usually contacts the grooming and snowmaking crews to get up to speed with any issues and information to prepare for the day ahead, then hits the office or is out in the field by 6.30am.
"The office work is the email traffic, the reviewing of reports, making sure we are staying within a budget," Len said.
"Out in the field I try to ski every morning and visit as many of the lifts that are operating and inspect the terrain.
"The day rounds out with a daily 3.30pm operations meeting that includes RMB Ski Patrol to reflect on the day gone and any surprises for the next day.
"I try to ski every day. It is part of the job.
"I need to be able to provide accurate feedback to lift operations, grooming and snowmaking.
"I always enjoy that part of the job, but it is still work.
"I may ski half a dozen days a season at Hotham when I am not working and, on those days, my favourite areas are the Orchard runs and Blue Ribbon.
"It is nearly always the groomed given the powder is well and truly tracked before I can get near it.
"One of greatest challenges of operating lifts at Hotham is the exposure that the lifts have to the elements when the storms come through.
"The weather elements can be pretty tough on infrastructure with the de–icing and winds we face.
"Hotham is not alone in this area; it is a challenge that faces all resorts in this country."
Whilst managing the wellbeing of staff through COVID remains a huge challenge, Len sees future challenges requiring fresh strategic planning.
"So I think the pathway forward will be some good strategic planning, not knee–jerk reacting," he said.
"On a really busy, super Saturday we have 5500 to 5800 skiers out on the slopes.
"And if we're all open, the resort can comfortably carry that number, but we need to think about how we modernise some of that lifting capacity.
"Our return guests are experiencing new lifts across the globe and even in this country.
"But any changes require good, strategic planning. And that's where we will have to get to again...."
And the toughest lift to manage on the mountain?
"Keogh's/Orchard are probably our toughest lifts to manage," said Len.
"There are challenges with the creek which needs to be filled with snow to create the run–in to the load station and it also has the challenges of loading in both directions.
"The lift crews need constant concentration when loading guests."
One of Len's most admirable qualities is that despite holding the position of general manager for nearly 23 years, he can still be seen leading by example: helping out the lift crews setting up for the morning, doing wheel checks, assisting with training, and keeping a few over–zealous skiers in their place when first chair is up for grabs.
He was recently sighted happily 'bumping chairs' for guests as they loaded at Heavenly Valley during a classic weekend powder day.
Len says, "Bumping chairs ..... yep. Everyone needs to go back to their basics from time to time!"
Lens lift management career has been replete with humorous moments, but unfortunately most of them have involved the misdeeds of guests and, "... it would be very inappropriate to bring too many of those up!"
A couple of the funnier anecdotes he was prepared to share included the final CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) inspection of the Hotham Airport before it opened at the start of the huge, early snow season in 2000.
"At the final inspection, there we were with CASA, who really had no appetite for an airport above the snowline in Australia, and there was nearly a metre of snow sitting on the runway!"
Suffice to say it passed, but the irony was not lost on anyone.
Len says, "One thing I still see at least once a season is ski–boots on the wrong feet. One couple had come in for a coffee after skiing and the wife was complaining about how uncomfortable the boots were. The husband has pretty much said that she should stop whinging, they are ski boots, so they are going to be uncomfortable. When I looked up, I told him it would help if they were on the right feet! Oh, she said, he put them on me this morning ...."
"There's always funny moments.
"I've always said, let's not take ourselves too seriously.
"Skiing is fun. Every day puts a smile on my face.
"When you see the guests having a good time, arriving at five past seven for first tracks in early July – you can't do that anywhere else in the world.
"And, you know, the fact that we managed to get Keoghs and Orchard open for June, we haven't done it since 2000.
"We had first tracks going in June. We haven't done that for a long time.
"It just puts a smile on everyone's face that works in the team and shows that we're really delivering."
For anyone thinking of a career in the ski industry, Len says, "It is exciting, dynamic, in rapidly and ever–changing conditions. No matter what, from being involved in this industry, you will make lifelong friends. The future leaders will need to develop sound decision making skills, situational awareness, flexibility, excellent work ethics. I think all the operations areas provide long term opportunities to move up in the business."
Whilst I had met Len on numerous occasions over the years, my fondest memory of interacting with him, and a real insight into his character, was out at the top of Orchard chair on a very snowy morning several years back.
The snow base was building, and whilst we were out hunting untracked powder, Len was out in a groomer assessing the hill for opening in the following days.
On seeing us ripping the skins off our skis, Len pulled up and asked where we were headed.
We mentioned One Tree, and he kindly groomed a trail all the way to the top of Spargos for us to easily access the goods. Brilliant!
It's easy to talk to Len for hours on end about all things people, mountains and snow, and it is easy to see his passion for Mt Hotham and the joy that it brings him.
"My happiest moments on the mountain are many. Having my kids still visiting when they can and skiing with my grandkids. I have 12 grandkids and I've been lucky enough to ski with 11 of them. Enjoying the company of lifelong friends I have made through the journey. There's nothing better than watching the sunrises, the sunsets and the storms. I love a crackin' Hotham blizzard, just love them. What you see at the bottom of Heavenly in the mornings, the smiles when those paddle gates come open and they start bumping first chair, the guests just love it. And I'm really happy leading a great team. Living here, it is for sure my happy place."
Same here Len, same here.
