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Martin Kaufmann takes Blick with him to his work: He has been driving snow groomers for 15 years.
Pictures of Swiss ski slopes are currently going around the world: in many places there is a shortage of snow and only a narrow white band invites you to ski – lined with bright green grass. Snow is also scarce in Wengen BE: the valley run is closed, everyone is praying to the weather gods and hoping for more snow.
But you can also find it right at the top of the Mannlichen: a wonderfully snow-covered mountain landscape. However, the situation is not relaxed. “We have to be careful with the snow. Of course, we also have to do that when we have a lot of fresh snow – but now there is a risk of causing damage to the land,” explains snow groomer driver Martin Kaufmann (37). That’s why you have to be particularly careful.
A job for flexible people
It’s just after 4 p.m. and the sun is already slowly disappearing behind the mountain peaks when the working day of the trained agricultural machinery mechanic from Grindelwald BE begins. “We always decide after midday whether to start work in the late afternoon or after midnight,” says Kaufmann. “It doesn’t help if we drive in the evening, even though heaps of fresh snow are still falling during the night. That’s why we always have to decide spontaneously.” Flexibility is therefore essential in his job.
He has been driving a snow groomer for 15 years – this year he is employed in the ski area all year round for the first time. Up to now he has been working in his former training company as an agricultural machinery mechanic in the summer. “There’s also a lot to do in summer, for example overhauling the snow groomers,” explains Büezer from Bern.
Little snow requires a lot of experience
He routinely climbs into the 13-ton snow groomer via the caterpillars. “Just hold on tight when boarding,” he warns. A fall on the aluminum caterpillars could otherwise end badly, they are very sharp-edged. He starts the vehicle and drives to the beginning of a red runway. There he gets out and hooks the vehicle to a metal cable: “But the cable winch, contrary to what many people think, is not like the climbing rope used by mountaineers to protect against falls, but it really helps to brake the vehicle depending on the direction of travel or uphill to pull.”
Martin Kaufmann begins by distributing the snow evenly. He joins the masses of snow that have slipped to the edge of the piste due to countless skiers during the day, back in place. The on-board instruments help him, he explains: “On this screen I can always see how thick the snow cover is under the vehicle.” The vehicle has only had this tool for a few years: “And at the beginning I had to learn that I still can’t just rely on it. Because if the snow cover is the same thickness everywhere, that doesn’t mean that the piste is easy for skiers to ski on.” That’s why looking through the windshield is essential – and years of experience are helpful.
With more snow, work is more fun
“I grew up next to the ski slopes and this is my childhood dream,” says Martin Kaufmann as he routinely skis up and down the red slope. “Every evening when I heard the snow groomer, I ran to the window.” To this day, the fascination has him firmly in its grip. It’s more fun when there’s more snow than this year. Because: “Then the area is larger and we have more open slopes that we have to prepare.” But even the little snow has its charm. “You always try to get the most out of the available resources,” says the slope groomer.
After the Oberlander has distributed the snow evenly, it’s time to mill the piste: This is how the typical grooves are created that you know from freshly groomed ski pistes. It’s dark outside now, but the moon is almost full, illuminating the white snow and snowy mountain peaks all around – the stars twinkle in the sky. You can also see the lights far below in the village.
With the skis towards the bed
“I can rarely complain about the lack of prospects in my job,” says Kaufmann with a smile. Shortly after 7 p.m. the red slope on the Mannlichen is ready and he unhooks the winch again.
But his shift is far from over: “Now let’s continue, I still have to prepare the toboggan run, among other things.” Then he starts his way home around midnight. With the skis under the starry sky to the parked car – and from there home to a warm bed.