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Hi. I’m Ben Benton from Flagstaff, Arizona. I believe that you will enjoy my daily journal from Winter Park, Colorado, Ski Resort during Christmas break 1999-2000. I left downtown Flagstaff Wednesday morning, December 22 with my skis, duffle, and laptop computer, and ended up at Snoasis, a lodge midway up the mountain in Winter Park. My journal will continue through the first week of January. You’ll read about Winter Park Ski Resort, Snoasis, Sunspot Lodge, the great people who work here, and anything else I can think of to write about. I’m the author of “National Park Employment Data,” a guide to working in national parks, which is available for purchase on my web site at www.gorp.com/nped/. I’ve been working in national parks and ski areas off and on for over twenty years. Because I want the data in my book to always be fresh, I continually test the concepts, employers, and tips that I provide. I first worked at Winter Park in the late 70s while I was a student at Arizona State University. |
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Tuesday, January 4, 2000Mama Mia Pizza PartyI was disappointed when I found that Tim wasn’t opening Mama Mia’s Pizza in the basement of Snoasis this year. He said he just doesn’t have enough people to staff it. I’ve been using the Mama Mia “Power Dough” and “Power Sauce” recipes since 1996 and have even talked with friends in Flagstaff about opening a pizzeria. I bought a double stack conveyor convection pizza oven last year from Jimmy Craven, who owns the Monte Vista Hotel in Flagstaff. He bought it from Northern Arizona University. It can make high volume, consistent pizzas. Consistency is important. Deck ovens, which most small mom and pop pizzerias use, are inefficient because the bed of the oven, the stone, varies widely in temperature as you bake pizzas. The more you bake in the same spot, the cooler it gets. So mom and pop start using different areas of the oven, but soon forget where they’ve been and where they’re going. The result is dark pizzas, light pizzas, and crust problems from baking longer on a cool spot or shorter on a hot spot. Conveyor ovens don’t have that problem. ***** What can I say about today? I skied all day and threw a pizza party after the low landers when home on the snowcat. We all ate authentic Mama Mia pizzas and everyone got exactly what they wanted on their pie. Of nine dough balls, we have three left. I made a 14" pepperoni and mushroom; I made Jessica a veggie with onions, green peppers, black olives, and mushrooms; J.C. made himself a stuffed crust pizza; Chris made a pepperoni, mushroom and onion pie; Ethan, who is most creative in the kitchen, made a “kitchen sink” using everything available. I’ll be on my way to Arizona in the morning.  |
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