Take the Rake at Trollhaugen: Hannah Peterson

Instagram: @xannugh2.0
Home Resort: Trollhaugen, WI
Current Resort: Trollhaugen, WI
Years on the Job: 3 years digging, 3 years operating equipment

Currently listening to: Growing up in rural Wisconsin, I’m actually a vountry girl through and through. It depends on my machine I’m in, if I have a newer machine with an aux import, I’ll turn on an old country playlist or if I’m in a high-paced situation that day loading a ton of dump trucks, I’ll turn on some rock & roll and give ’er hell. Just depends on what’s happening that day.

Favorite thing about being on park crew: Honestly, my favorite thing about my job is proving to the boys that I’m equally as capable as they are. I love it when the subcontractors on a job or just the public driving by have to take a double take because they can’t believe a little 110-pound girl is up in that seat. Also, how much pride you feel after you finish a project. I worked nights basically all summer on a super busy highway project just north of Minneapolis, and I’m able to drive by and point out to people: “Hey, see that pond there? That used to be a hillside that I personally excavated for two weeks straight,” or “Yeah, this exit ramp has three buried fiber optic cables below it that are just barely underneath the gravel under this road,” or “There used to be buried debris in this hillside that had to get excavated super cautiously because of how toxic it was.” They’re the little things that people drive by every day, and they have no idea what’s going on besides how much the construction is impacting their drive home. One of my favorite parts is just having that little bit of extra knowledge and the pride of knowing I helped make a difference.

Words of wisdom: As far as being an operator goes, you can’t be afraid of hard work and you sure as hell can’t be fragile. Just like being in the snowboarding industry, construction is male-dominated, HEAVILY. Bosses are going to yell at you, dozer operators are going to yell at you, and you either choose to sit there and cry about it or stand up for yourself; the latter usually gets your further. You have to be mentally, physically, and emotionally strong. BUT, depending on where you work out of, it can be an amazing option for someone involved in snowboarding. When fall rolls around in Minnesota, weight restrictions and frozen ground make it extremely challenging to work, so I get laid off for the winter and as long as I’ve saved enough money for a winter layoff, I get to enjoy some time off and snowboard whenever I want to. BIG SCORE. Another thing, especially being a woman, you are super employable with anything construction. On the big jobs, *cue “you’ll get that on them big jobs” they need to have a certain minimum of minority hours to meet a quota in order to bid new jobs, which is great–I get more hours and more experience. I love talking about my job and my experience so far, so if you have any questions feel free to shoot me a DM. ❤️