Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

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Snow has been light this year in Minnesota, which makes classic winter activities harder to pull off. 

“I love this place. I grew up here, basically,” Thomas Sticha said. 

Sticha is a ski area specialist — and he and his team of four work to make sure Hyland Hills is open and ready for operation. Along with routine maintenance, Sticha is also a snow groomer. 

Every other weekend from 3 p.m. to 5 a.m., he makes snow for the park and hops into his 

 alone, smoothing out trails, designing ramps and building the park for skiers and snowboarders. He says he’s spent over 1,500 hours in that seat. 

“Make it, groom it, push it around. We do everything,” he said. “It’s almost like a Zen garden.” 

Sticha, who’s been skiing since he was four, says he used to watch the snow groomers when he was a kid. Now that he’s doing the job, it feels like he’s come full circle. 

“Not that I've made it by any means, but my younger self would think I did.” 

This conversation is a part of our Job Interview series, where we talk to everyday Minnesotans about the rewards and challenges of their work. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. Click on the audio player for the original version.

You’ll go up there and you'll just watch. And the kids — you’re like, a superstar. They're like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the guy that builds the park.’ 

Like every time we do a change in the terrain park, I always go up and I want to watch for like, 10 minutes at least and see.

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 Before I was just more of a machinery operator. After we closed, they just gave me the keys, and they said, “You have 12 hours,” basically, and, “Good luck. We’ll see in the morning,” sort of deal. That was a long night.

very dedicated to it for no real reason other than I learned to love it as a child, so it's just as an adult. Now I want to give back that experience that I had to the next generation or two.

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Job Interview

Lukas Levin

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Even when there’s little snow in Minnesota, ski hills around the state will find a way to keep their doors open. Thomas Sticha explains what it’s like to make and groom snow in this segment of Job Interview.

Job Interview: This man keeps skiers on the slopes, even when nature doesn’t cooperate

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