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Millwright recognized for 29 seasons of service

Darcy Arnold has worked at Big White for 29 seasons.
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Itsa国际传媒檚 a quiet day on the mountain. You can see clouds below and sun reflecting off of snow. Yousa国际传媒檙e the only one around. Getting to indulge in the Big White scenery is only one of the perks millwright lead hand Darcy Arnold gets to experience at his job. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a pretty rare treatsa国际传媒 you know yousa国际传媒檙e literally the only person at the top of this mountain right now sa国际传媒 and itsa国际传媒檚 my mountain,sa国际传媒 he said. Arnold was one of many employees to be recognized at Big White Ski Resort for more than 25 years of service and his day-to-day tasks are to keep the resort in operation. Itsa国际传媒檚 a stressful, ever-changing job, but he enjoys it. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 actually quite good at figuring out my way through challenges, thatsa国际传媒檚 what makes us good here; the ability to deal with a curve ball. Theresa国际传媒檚 so much variety in it. Theresa国际传媒檚 no same day twice,sa国际传媒 he said. When the mountain resort was small, Arnold did every task imaginable. He remembers one New Years he took apart a toilet to get an apple that was lodged inside. Fresh out of high school in 1988, he applied to be a lift attendant at the mountain and stayed a part of the maintenance crew for the summer. That summer, he remembers the first detachable lift that was installed. Also known as a high-speed lift, the lift slows and detaches from the cable at the station, before reattaching which makes the lift faster. His also installed lights on what would be the first night run at Big White. On the runs, they had an average of 100 to 200 people skiing in a day and he worked as an airport shuttle driver, built equipment and fixed Snowcats. sa国际传媒淲hen I started, you could get a fresh powder day and if you didnsa国际传媒檛 get fresh snow for the rest of the week, five days later you could still find fresh powder.sa国际传媒 The resort has 15 lifts that Arnold watches over, and they stop on a regular basis due to operator error and winter conditions. Now, he mainly supervises the rest of the millwrights and ensures the conveyor equipment in running. The ski resort has more than doubled in people, lifts and the carrying capacity of each chair since Arnold started 29 seasons ago. At one time, there was only one safety system on a track, but now theresa国际传媒檚 three or four. He remembers how 70 people on the payroll climbed to more than 800. As technology advanced, so did the chair lifts. Once run on a simple circuit where sa国际传媒渢he lifts took care of themselves,sa国际传媒 said Arnold. sa国际传媒淏ack in the day there was a simple safety circuit, now the new lifts have a fiber optic network and PCs at the tope and bottom of the lift,sa国际传媒 he said. The stress has also advanced. sa国际传媒淲e get as many as 10,000 people on the hill in a day. It can be quite stressful. The pressure to get the lifts running is quite immense,sa国际传媒 said Arnold. Arnold has a home in Kelowna but spends the winters at Big White with his family. His son and daughter attend the elementary school in the area while his wife works in the area. Hesa国际传媒檚 looking forward to working on the lifts, adding new bike racks as Big White expands into mountain biking. Other than maintaining lifts, at Happy Valley Day Lodge, he monitors the tube park, grooming it for use and sets up the weekly fireworks. sa国际传媒淓ven my skills evolved and developed. I can make the show look a little better than I used to.sa国际传媒 He enjoys doing the big Christmas and New Yearsa国际传媒檚 shows and said hesa国际传媒檚 gained a local following. The 46-year-old doesnsa国际传媒檛 snowmobile on his days off, he said the novelty of driving a snowmobile at work has worn off long ago.




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