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altasnob
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altasnob
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PostTue Nov 29, 2022 6:34 pm 
Ski wrote:
^ ahhh thanks... I thought the lodge was open year-round!
The park still has to plow the road, and parking lots, on weekdays because with the amount of snow Paradise gets, if they stopped plowing on weekdays they wouldn't be able to clear it for the weekends. I have also been told the Nisqually Bridge needs to be regularly plowed to keep it under weight limits. Not sure if that is true or not.

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kiliki
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PostTue Nov 29, 2022 7:12 pm 
Ski wrote:
It is a hierarchy all unto itself which answers only to the Regional Deputy Directors (I believe the closest one to MRNP is based out of Portland? San Francisco?) and the Director in Washington DC.
The regional director is in SF. He's from DOD and does not have the typical NPS background. https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/frank-lands-named-regional-director.htm He is hyperfocused on getting more veterans into the NPS. (Vets already do have preference in federal hiring). Does he care about recreation access or anything else? Not sure. There are deputy directors as well including one in Seattle. No one is in Portland. It's hard to know how much if any control the MRNP superintendent has re hiring more winter staff. There might be no money for those particular jobs. They don't get one pot that they get to divvy in whatever way they like. There are many many different funding sources for specific things. But then again they can prioritize and try to get money for X and Y and Z. It got a lot harder to hire under the last administration. All sorts of wacky new rules were put in place essentially to limit NPS hiring as part of the whole "make government so small you can drown it in a bathtub" project. They made it a lot harder for employees to work seasonally at one park in summer then another in winter, for example. HR was gutted and so there's just not the capacity there to hire enough people to staff parks. There's a truly miserable personality and reasoning test that was a $200 million gimme to a private company, probably a Trump donor, that is meant to limit federal hiring and has really wreaked havoc on NPS staffing. (More on that here: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/03/07/trump-mandated-exams-are/). Anyway, a lot of things were done to make hiring harder that are supposed to be undone but haven't been yet. Plus not sure if they went back to cramming staff into housing as they used to (but limited during Covid). I could go on.

vogtski, Cyclopath, zimmertr, zhenya, fourteen410
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PostTue Nov 29, 2022 8:21 pm 
thanks.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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philfort
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PostWed Nov 30, 2022 10:18 am 
vogtski
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cascadeclimber
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PostTue Dec 06, 2022 4:25 pm 
I'm just finding out about this closure. It literally turns my stomach. I spent a decade working to get a summit in each calendar month and I'd still be trying if my only overnight option was Saturday. MORA used to take pride in getting the road open safely every day. Before my time, they also kept the road to Chinook Pass open in winter. Edit toadd: And the park entry fee then was $5 and there was no climbing fee. Their accountability regarding the Paradise road has been eroding for years now, really since the 2006 flood damage when they closed it all winter, EXCEPT for the paying guide services, who were still allowed in. This announcement has me wondering if they will be allowed preferential access again this winter, while the public is locked out (at least M-F). The NPS needs better funding, but as long as they keep prioritizing things as they have at MORA it's hard for me to support that. Pubic access should always come first. Instead they prioritize commercial interests and spent millions on Camp Muir for their benefit, while ignoring ongoing Wilderness Act violations. Completely disgusting.

If not now, when?

fourteen410, Secret Agent Man, zimmertr
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Randito
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PostTue Dec 06, 2022 8:43 pm 
Just posted on Mt Rainier's Instgram feed
Some listings From USAJobs
Quote:
Health Technician (Paramedic) National Park Service Department of the Interior Multiple Locations Pacific West Region (Interior Regions 8,9,10 and 12) Starting at $21.44 Per Hour (GS 7) Not to Exceed 1039 Hours Open 12/05/2022 to 12/19/2022
Quote:
Motor Vehicle Operator National Park Service Department of the Interior Multiple Locations PWR Seasonal Recruitment Interior Regions 8,9,10,12 Starting at $23.78 Per Hour (WG 8) 1039 hours Open 12/05/2022 to 12/30/2022
Quote:
Park Ranger (Alpine Rescue and Mountaineering) National Park Service Department of the Interior Ashford, Washington Pacific West Region (Interior Regions 8,9,10 and 12) - Mount Rainier National Park Starting at $19.11 Per Hour (GS 5) Not to Exceed 1039 Hours Open 12/01/2022 to 12/15/2022
$19.11 per hour and a max of 1039 hours per year == $19855.29

vogtski
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vogtski
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vogtski
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PostTue Dec 06, 2022 11:08 pm 
Better than blowing a gasket: https://www.change.org/p/restore-mount-rainier-weekday-winter-access/

Diagonally parked in a parallel universe
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Carbonj
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PostTue Dec 06, 2022 11:45 pm 
As you can see the wages are not that great, and some of the jobs are seasonal(1039) hrs. If you care write your state and fed reps its the only way things change.

gb, vogtski
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cascadeclimber
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PostWed Dec 07, 2022 9:57 am 
I saw a similar ad on Facebook. The one response noted that they were failing to pay 'scale'. With Target paying $20/hour during the holidays there's just no way they are going to get proper staff at $19/hour. And, the failure to properly staff the park in the winter is a failure that goes back years now. Over and over they used the excuse of not having enough plow drivers to get the road opened. For years. But yeah, they have money to install webcams, spend millions on Camp Muir, add internet service for staff at Muir Schurman, and blast a new and entirely unneeded helo pad in a Federally Designated Wilderness area at Camp Schurman (which obliterated prime tent locations).

If not now, when?

vogtski
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hbb
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PostWed Dec 07, 2022 12:05 pm 
The qualifications and requirements for the Park Ranger (Alpine Rescue and Mountaineering) position are laughable in light of the pay scale and seasonal nature of the position. On call 24/7, "may be expected to work up to 100% of any given month in travel status," Wilderness First Responder (or higher), Pro-1 Avy, substantial mountaineering experience, and at least one year of comparable experience. Working another seasonal job within NPS is not permitted, so it's not possible to transition to a summer ranger position at MRNP or another park. An 18 year-old high school drop out flipping burgers makes more money and has a better work-life balance. I suppose I can see someone really wanting to make a career as a climbing ranger taking the job, but I imagine most folks with the necessary qualifications would rather go into guiding and not have to deal with NPS bureaucracy.

gb, vogtski
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Bruce Albert
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Bruce Albert
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PostWed Dec 07, 2022 1:01 pm 
hbb wrote:
The qualifications and requirements for the Park Ranger (Alpine Rescue and Mountaineering) position are laughable in light of the pay scale and seasonal nature of the position.
I respectfully disagree. I do not think pro ski patrols are having much difficulty hiring for similar requirements at similar pay. I look at those positions as an attractive chance to work outdoors in a really cool environment for a winter or two. Yeah they're part time gigs and you won't get rich, but a lot of young adult employment is part time gigs where you don't get rich. If you've got the chops you can instead go make the big $$ at XYZ Inc. but they're not going to pay you to experience dawn at Paradise five days a week. I once lived at Baker for a season, digging out experiments and not getting rich. But I got to live at Baker and watch the sunset on the border peaks nightly from my room and skin up to Artist by the light of the moon now and then. It was wonderful, and I rank that winter equally together with my first season in the orchards as being among my most valuable formative experiences. To me the opportunity to run the Blower on the Longmire/Paradise road would far outshadow the opportunity to restock the croutons at the salad bar at the Arby's in Spanaway...money be damned. I think the deal makers/breakers for me at Rainier would be affordable housing somewhere close and how they are to work for.

MtnManic, SpookyKite89, hikerbiker, Ski, vogtski
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cascadeclimber
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PostWed Dec 07, 2022 6:35 pm 
Bruce Albert wrote:
I do not think pro ski patrols are having much difficulty hiring for similar requirements at similar pay.
You either don't know or have forgotten that Stevens Pass only partially opened last season because they didn't hire enough staff. That was also because they weren't willing to pay the wage required to get applicants in this region. Also, Pro Patrol gets to ski free. The $19/hour NPS employee does not.

If not now, when?

vogtski
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Randito
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Randito
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PostWed Dec 07, 2022 7:40 pm 
Bruce Albert wrote:
I do not think pro ski patrols are having much difficulty hiring for similar requirements at similar pay.
There is a saying in the ski industry -- it's not about the pay -- it's about the perks.
Cascade Climber wrote:
You either don't know or have forgotten that Stevens Pass only partially opened last season because they didn't hire enough staff.
There is a lot more involved in the Steven's short staffing issue than just pay and perks. A big portion of it was personal -- to the extent that Vail corporate replaced the Steven's GM partway through the season with a manger that had prior experience skiing/working at Stevens and had a more favorable relationship with local ski bums. https://snowbrains.com/stevens-pass-wa-general-manager-replaced/

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Bruce Albert
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PostWed Dec 07, 2022 8:05 pm 
cascadeclimber wrote:
You either don't know or have forgotten that Stevens Pass only partially opened last season because they didn't hire enough staff. That was also because they weren't willing to pay the wage required to get applicants in this region.
Sorry, on this matter I am neither ignorant nor forgetful. After 30 years before the mast up there I still have a pretty close connection to what's happening via a select group of cronies, spies, and fellow fifth-columnists smile.gif . I reiterate that patrol rarely if ever suffers from a lack of willing applicants at any wage. You're getting paid to ski and throw bombs...or so you think when you hire on...the job sells itself. Yes many of the problems last winter were caused by a lack of staffing...in lift ops and other areas, but not by a lack of patrollers. These in turn were aggrieved by the reign of an incompetent GM. Once Tom rolled into town things immediately improved, but they had a deep hole to crawl out of. Toms improvements may have been aided by some changes in posture down in Broomfield there; I'm not privy to that. Back to the original topic I continue to believe that the posted openings at Rainier would be good and interesting jobs at a fair wage. Will potential hires agree? I have no idea.

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Bruce Albert
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PostWed Dec 07, 2022 8:13 pm 
Randito wrote:
There is a saying in the ski industry -- it's not about the pay -- it's about the perks.
The overall job market has a tremendous effect on ski area hiring. When unemployment was high Stevens was getting some very sharp individuals to shovel snow and stuff butts. As unemployment drops ski areas increasingly look to fog on the mirror as the definitive hiring criteria. As you can imagine herding the first group of cats is much more rewarding than herding the second. I suppose that's much the same at the NPS.

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