Page 66 - NSAA 2017 Fall Journal

Last Lift
NSAA’s Longtime “Glen Paulk, who

Technical Director was GM at Steamboat
Steps Down at the time, had also
worked overseas and
knew it would be a
BY REBECCA W. AYERS, EDITOR good opportunity for
me,” Roslund recalls.
“He said, ‘You’re crazy
YOU CAN PICK UP interesting clues about people just by if you don’t take it.’ A
looking around their office. The books, certificates, pho- year later, I was on my
tos, and memorabilia all tell a story. When you walk into way to the jungle.” Sid Roslund
Sid Roslund’s office at the end of a quiet hallway at NSAA’s Transitioning from a pristine maintenance facility at a
headquarters, you get the sense that this is a person with a ski area to a grungy mining operation in the untamed jungle
very busy—and very full—life. took some getting used to. “I kept a journal, and my first entry
Degrees, awards, and family photos are on the walls, after we got there was: ‘This place is a pit—and I don’t mean
volumes of manuals and three-ring binders line the shelves, an open pit.’ In the first year, we changed 26 cables. There are
and more than a few tchotchkes are in view: an enormous probably people in the industry today who have never changed
brass Swiss cowbell given to OITAF-NACS at an interna- more than 10. It was a 24-7, heavy-use operation in a remote
tional ropeways conference, a couple of model trolley cars, job site. It was training under fire, and I learned a lot.”
a miniature tram constructed entirely from Legos, rusted While the Roslunds and their two young sons grew to
chunks of cable “paperweights,” a large framed engraving of love Indonesia, after three years they were ready for a change.
a locomotive. Fortuitously, the Swiss tramway company Von Roll approached
Little by little, Roslund—who is retiring as NSAA’s Roslund about helping open a US office in New Jersey. Once
director of technical services at the end of the year—is sift- again he had a quick introduction to the job. The day after
ing through 27½ years as the person who oversees the devel- arriving back in the US, he heard a news report that a cable
opment and dissemination of the B77 standards for ski lift had been dropped from the Roosevelt Island Tramway in New
design, operation, and maintenance in the US. While there York City, blocking traffic. He called the main office and asked
are mountains of files and emails yet to dispense with, he is if they knew about it. They didn’t. Long story short, Roslund’s
intent on leaving things in good shape for his predecessor (to first day was a lot sooner than planned, and he became the pri-
be announced this fall), who will take on a job that Roslund mary advisor for Von Roll on putting the tram back together.
himself describes as “herding cats.” Roslund recalls another tram incident that occurred during
A fishing trip to Steamboat to visit a college roommate those years, but this one he describes as downright spooky. “I
led Roslund to the ski industry. While there he heard that went home for lunch one day and was sitting at the table with
the ski area was looking for someone to do odd jobs. In what my wife, when I had suddenly had this feeling that I needed
would become a recurring theme of trial-by-fire on-the-job to call the Palm Springs Tram,” he says. He phoned in only to
training, Roslund immediately found himself pulling barbed learn that there had just been a major malfunction during rou-
wire fencing off of pastureland, digging utility lines, and run- tine cable replacement at the tram. Two men, one of whom was
ning a backhoe until the snow flew, then becoming an oper- his close friend Bob Ficker, were sitting on the track cables 800
ator on the beginner ski lift. In a matter of weeks he worked feet in the air, and the only access to them was via helicopter.
his way up to overseeing gondola maintenance operations. He The rescue was successful, but Roslund was on a plane
was with Steamboat for nine years. During that time he and the next morning to help with repairs to the tram (which took
his wife, Glenda, started their family. three months). He says he still gets goosebumps thinking
The Rocky Mountain Lift Association—now known sim- about the sudden inclination to call the office. Roslund’s intu-
ply as RMLA—was just getting off the ground, and Roslund ition has served very well over the years.
quickly became involved. A year after the 1976 Vail gondola In his nine years with Von Roll Tramways, Roslund
accident, Roslund gave a presentation on Steamboat’s new wire became known throughout the ropeway industry for his dil-
rope testing machine at a wire rope inspection conference. igence as much as his ability to organize. When he attended
Soon after he got a phone call from a head hunter scouting for the NSAA National Convention in Boston in 1990, he was
technicians to run the material trams for Freeport Minerals’ approached for a position with the newly formed United Ski
massive copper mine complex in Indonesia. Industries Association (USIA) consolidation of NSAA and SIA.

64 | NSAA JOURNAL | FALL 2017