Behind the Scenes | A Night in the Life of a Snowcat Operator

We pass them on our way home and again when we arrive in the morning, going in opposite directions. They are our groomers that prepare the surface for us every night, and give us that perfect corduroy every morning.

[@Sky1]

Beautiful machine, wonderful job!

[@natasiadem5620]

I LOVE watching the groomers. It is the coolest thing. 🤓 Esp. seeing the bright lights in the distance going up and down the hill. Very cool 🏂🏻🧊❄️

[@ImTorryTF2]

What?🤨

[@d_kortman]

@@ImTorryTF2 what part do you not understand? Made perfect sense to me

[@Daniboi971]

Just had this exact experience and had to look into it.
So cool and also spooky

[@bikingdervish]

I miss operating snowcats. Coolest job I’ve ever done

[@SuperValcron]

I'm going into my second year grooming and I can't agree more. Best job I've ever had and I want to do it forever.

[@bunnyman6321]

@@SuperValcron How you making out now?

[@bretleysfilm4078]

@@SuperValcron hey man how do you get into it?

[@adventuresofchris6098]

@@SuperValcron still enjoying it?

[@keithtaylor6069]

Something I always wanted to do. Operated dozers all my life but thought this would be awesome. Yes it’s a job. But when your a perfectionist we’ll.

[@tedjob21]

Looks like a fun job.

[@Sky1]

I used to like watching them when they operated during the day.

[@Rediipandaii]

I seen this before in a old kid show. I always wondered what kind of vehicle it was finally found what kind of vehicle it is. Thank you so much for making this video.

[@homiekitten6161]

I like this video

[@bunnyman6321]

I love your profile name 😂😂; you're a legend Homie Kitten

[@homiekitten6161]

@@bunnyman6321 hello

[@bunnyman6321]

@@homiekitten6161 Hey Homie how you living?

[@homiekitten6161]

@@bunnyman6321 yes

[@bunnyman6321]

@@homiekitten6161 💯

[@pittmanfh]

I watched your video out of curiosity as to what exactly is a Snowcat. I saw those guys over at Adventures with Purpose pull one out of a once frozen lake. Two men in Oregon took one of those beasts out onto a frozen lake and it was too heavy for the ice. Both men lost their lives that night. But I was just curious as to exactly what the heck is a Snowcat, since I live where it never snows. I enjoyed your video, and it totally explains what that machine does. RIP to the two poor souls who decided to drive that huge machine onto a frozen lake in the middle of the night. From what I've read, they were warned that it was not a good idea. Now we all know it is not a good idea, as they found their bodies laying at the bottom of that lake beside that very heavy Snowcat.

[@bunnyman6321]

Damn

[@wendyokoopa7048]

I'm here because of Hawkeye

[@d_kortman]

Yeah this are big, heavy heavy machines. You’d probably have to have many many feet of ice to support this thing, even then it would still be sketchy.

[@leosypher9993]

no snowcat in sight, remember, snowcats are made by tucker, there brand specific, calling a pistonbully a snowcat is like calling any pickup a silverado weather its a chevy or not
but this was a really cool video to see, its just a little annoying for me only because im looking for the history of tucker snowcats specifically, and them being odd machines from a small company any information on them is hard to find as is

[@bunnyman6321]

I just bought a Chevy Silverado too; I like your comment Bro Bro

[@anthonyhitchings1051]

A Tucker snowcat was used by the NPS staff (2 couples) who wintered over at the ghost town of Bodie, CA many decades ago. It's described in Carl Chavez' first book. Carl retired a while back.

[@jessebuchman6744]

no lol.. snowcats are purpose built groomers. Pistenbullys, prinoths & tuckers are all snowcats.

[@kcthewanderer]

Now I see how Renner got flattened. Why isn't there a platform over the treads to prevent operators from getting thrown under them? Terrible design.

[@jessebuchman6744]

There are a number of reasons why track guards are not a thing in the modern day industrial snow cat. 1) Visibility: Track guards could obstruct the operator's view of the tracks and the surrounding terrain. 2) Accessibility: We often need to access the tracks and undercarriage for maintenance and repairs. Track guards would make it more difficult to reach these areas, potentially increasing downtime for servicing the machine. 3) Maneuverability: Track guards could affect the snowcat's maneuverability, making it less agile. 4) Safety Measures: Us operators are trained to operate these machines safely, which includes understanding the risks associated with the equipment. We are trained to operate the snowcat in a manner that minimizes the risk of being thrown into the tracks or encountering other hazards. Looking at Jeremy Renner's incident, plain and simply: He failed to do what any reason operator is trained to do. Before you get out of the machine for any reason, we are trained to do 2 things. 1) put the parking brake on (that way the machine doesn't roll) and 2) put the front blade on the ground (that way if the parking brake fails, the groomer won't go anywhere with the blade digging in. If Jeremy Renner had done either of those 2 things, that would never have happened. It is definitely very sad that it happened and I am glad his recovery is going well! Cheers.