RE 492 Internship

Habitat: High Altitude Provisions

Collin Wheeler

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Clarity of career objectives

Confidence and assertiveness
Satisfaction/dissatisfaction with career choice

I. Narrative Report
Since 2004, Habitat has been serving up the best of mountain life sales in the recreation
field in the Teton Valley. Habitat focuses primarily on bicycle and lifestyle sales in the
summer and is a full pledged ski and snowboard shop in the winter months. Recently,
Habitat was purchased by Grand Targhee resort, located in Alta, WY that operates within
Targhee National Forest. After this acquisition was made, a second retail and rental shop
was opened on location at Grand Targhee Resort. This Mountain Habitat operates from
June throughout October months and focuses on providing rental bicycles, protection,
and guided services to both resort guests and locals interested in downhill mountain
biking. As part of the acquisition deal, Mitch Prissel, founder and owner of Habitat, was
able to stay apart of the shops ownership as well as operations and general management.
Mitch is also in charge of all hiring for Habitat and is focused on providing the full
Teton Experience to all guests and customers.

II. Bi-Weekly Logs & Reflections

BI-WEEKLY LOG # 1
NAME: Collin Wheeler
WEEK: 6/1 6/14
GOAL: Get Board shop cleaned out so we can start bringing bikes into there and
make it an actual bike shop.
OBJECTIVE 1: Remove all snowboard logos and paraphernalia
OBJECTIVE 2: Make it look like a bike shop, not a snowboard shop thats also a
bike shop
State how you did or did not accomplish your goals and objectives this week: I
did by working my job.
INSIGHTS GAINED: None
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED: None
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH: I confirmed that I can do what I have been doing for
the last 5 years.
TIME/ACTIVITY LOG:
6/1: Paperwork 10-1
6/2: Worked at Driggs store prepping bikes 11-4
6/3: Off
6/4: Cleaning storage 11-2
6/5: Learned POS system 9-6:30
6/6: Saturday Retail 9-4:15
6/7: Worked 10-12
6/8: Cleaned out Boardshop to make room for Demo Center 11-3

6/9: More cleaning 10:45-3

6/10: Started brining POP and merchandise to Demo Center 2-6
6/11 Off
6/12: Driggs Store working floor 11-2
6/13: Bike Demo in Wilson, so I worked the shop 9-5
Hour Log:
49.75 Hours worked this week
49.75 Total hours worked to date

BI-WEEKLY LOG # 2
NAME: Collin Wheeler
WEEK: 6/14 6/28
GOAL: Open store for Friday, 6/19 opening day so that we can begin rentals and
retail sales immediately.
OBJECTIVE 1: Make sure all bicycles are dialed, built, and ready to go.
OBJECTIVE 2: Be ready to open for sales and rentals by the 19th.
State how you did or did not accomplish your goals and objectives this week: I
worked 13 days in a row to make sure the shop was ready to open as well as the staff
felt confident to be there.
INSIGHTS GAINED: Make sure every bike is thoroughly examined after every
demo. Having my own staff is awesome, I learned how not to treat staff at DWS and
my new boss has been great to me so far.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED: Devinci Wilson DH bikes rattle bolts loose.
ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN FOR WHEN ELECTRONICS FAIL.
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH: I feel that I am a good leader and my fellow
employees enjoy working with me.
TIME/ACTIVITY LOG:
6/14: Day off. Went to Yellow Stone
6/15: 11-3:30 Displayed Retail Items, built displays for store, hung signs and POP.
6/16: 10:45-5:30 Brought and organized more retail items to MTN shop, started
bringing rental bikes up too.
6/17: 10:15-3 Brought more retail items up, cleaned, and organized space.

6/18: 8:30-4:30 Did final organization of store, made sure everything was good for
opening day.
6/19: 8:45-6 First Day of lift access and resort full opened. Worked up at MTN for a
few hours in morning, then closed Driggs store.
6/20: 9-5 Worked at Driggs Store because one person was fired and another left for a
NPS job, so I had to run town shop.
6/21: 9-4 Worked Driggs store again to cover the shifts the other 2 left open.
6/22: 9-6 MTN shop was slow. Did 3 rentals all day. Apparently the computers
crashed on Opening Day so we had to do everything by hand all weekend.
6/23: 9-5 Very slow day, spent the day coming up with ideas regarding how to rent
bikes without our computer system.
6/24: 9-5 Did 9 rentals before 10 AM, without the computers, good thing we came up
with an organizational system the day before.
6/25: 9-10:30 Full blown Internet crash, thank god it was absolutely dead. Weekend
staff was at shop, so I left early to go ride. Also bought a new bike, Devinci Spartan.
6/26: Off
6/27: Off
6/28: Off
Hour Log:
74.25 Hours worked this week
124 Total hours worked to date

BI-WEEKLY LOG # 3
NAME: Collin Wheeler
WEEK: 6/29- 7/12
GOAL/S:
Provide top-notch service and products to resort tourists and people in town for the
holiday.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Prepare store so that it is clean and well stocked for the incoming flux of tourists.
OBJECTIVE 2:
Make sure bikes are in perfect working condition, trail knowledge is at an all time
high, and everyone is doing their job correctly.
State how you did or did not accomplish your goals and objectives this week:
I made sure that the store was well stocked, bikes were riding smooth, and that
everyone was ready for the busy holiday weekend.
INSIGHTS GAINED:
Even a resort this small still has its corporateness
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
Experienced my first corporate encounter when asking for website prices to be
changed so they were correctly matching our prices.
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH:
I feel that my marketing skills and general outdoor industry knowledge could benefit
this resort greatly.
TIME/ACTIVITY LOG (listed or attached):

6/29: 8:30- 8:30 Hot, slow day. Got to be involved in a photo-shoot for the resort for
2016 trail maps, brochures, and advertisements.
6/30: 9-5 Restocked retail items and reordered product to be filled in for holiday.
7/1: 8:30-5:30 Corporate Day The Grand Targhee website had incorrect prices for
bike rentals listed, so I asked the guy who runs the website if he would update it. His
response: Who are you to make these types of decisions. Youre not my boss. Even
though our prices are displayed right in our front window.
7/2: 8:30-1:30 Prepped for Fourth of July. Tuned bikes
7/3: Off
7/4: 11:45-5:15 Worked at Driggs Location because of anticipated tourist traffic.
Turned out to be very slow day.
7/5: 8:50-4 Worked at Driggs Location. Busier than the Fourth. I sold 2 bikes,
accessories, and a rack.
7/6: 8:30- 5 Back at Mountain. Busy day, still tourists at resort.
7/7: 8:30-5 Started to slow down today, a lot of tourists leaving. Got asked by my
boss if I could start doing guided rides in addition to my current position.
7/8: Slow day, finally able to catch up on retail reorders and go thru bikes.
7/9: 8:45-3:15 Closed early due to thuderstorms and couldnt run lift, which means
no bike rentals.
7/10: 8:30- 11:30 Closed even earlier due to thunderstorms.
7/11: 8:45-5:45 Busy Saturday. Some storms. Lift was closed for about 3 hours but
people refused to leave.

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7/12: 8:40-5:30 Very Busy Sunday. Beautiful weather and wedding on property so
people were out and about.
Hour Log:
94.25 Hours worked this week
219.25 Total hours worked to date

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BI-WEEKLY LOG # 4
NAME: Collin Wheeler
WEEK: 7/13-7/26
GOAL/S:
Summer is in full swing. Keep providing a great service scape and outdoor
experience to guests.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Restock store so things are looking clean, full, and ready to go.
OBJECTIVE 2:
Make sure we assess every guests needs and skill levels on mountain bikes.
State how you did or did not accomplish your goals and objectives this week:
We have had a lot of people the past 2 weeks that have little or no mountain bike
experience and are interested in riding the technical downhill trails. We have been
trying to recommend these guests try the cross country trails first to familiarize
themselves with a bike before getting in over there head.
INSIGHTS GAINED:
People have a preconceived notion that down hill mountain biking from the chair lift
is nothing more than riding their bikes down a cat track, or steep dirt road.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
Having to tell these guests they should rethink riding the downhill trails if they have
never been on a mountain bike. Some people take this very personally and we have to
express that we are just concerned for their safety.
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH:

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I am trying to communicate with the higher ups at the resort for a more permanent,
upper level position.
TIME/ACTIVITY LOG (listed or attached):
7/13: 8:43- 5 Pretty slow day, restocked items from weekend, cleaned store up.
7/14: 8:44-6:20 Several bike rentals, nothing too out of control. Gave all bikes a
detailed washing.
7/15: 8:41-5:30 New Habitat logo wear arrived organized that and made sure it was
looking good fro the big weekend.
7/16: 8:43-5 Guests for TargheeFest, Grand Targhees annual music festival, started
to arrive. Fairly busy day with bike rentals.
7/17: 9-4 TargheeFest Day 1, a decent amount of people demoing/renting bikes and
riding the downhill trails.
7/18: Off
7/19: Off
7/20: 8:37-5:19 Cleaned up bike and store from busy weekend. Very slow day for
bike rentals and DH riding.
7/21: 8:44-5:34 Bad weather rolled in in the early afternoon, slowed down rentals for
the day. Filmed cross country footage for a television commercial for Habitat
7/22: 8:39-5:18 Another storm blew in in the afternoon. Filmed Downhill footage for
Habitat commercial.
7/23: 8:30-4:30 Closed early due to thunderstorms and couldnt run lift, which means
no bike rentals.

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7/24: 8:30- 12:30 Prepped bikes for weekend. Slow day, few rentals so I went home
early and let the weekend crew takeover.
7/25: Off
7/26: Off
Hour Log:
78.48 Hours worked this week
297.73 Total hours worked to date

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BI-WEEKLY LOG # 5
NAME: Collin Wheeler
WEEK: 7/27-8/9
GOAL/S:
Be prepped and ready for The Montana Enduro Series on August 2nd.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Make sure the store is well stocked with retail items and parts for mechanical break
downs.
OBJECTIVE 2:
Create a short video highlighting the trails for use on our social media pages as my
special project
State how you did or did not accomplish your goals and objectives this week:
I accomplished my goals because everything went smoothly for the enduro race and I
was able to make a few videos for the local trails as my special project.
INSIGHTS GAINED:
I actually enjoy taking people out on guided rides.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
Making sure we have the staff for busy weekend, such as the Enduro race.
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH:
I enjoy doing guided rides a few times a week. It breaks up the regular schedule.
TIME/ACTIVITY LOG (listed or attached):
7/27: 8:41-2:13 Tuned and washed Bikes after weekend.
7/28 8:46-5:40 Created bicycle video for Social Media

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7/29: 8:43-5:13 Finalized bicycle edit to share on Facebook, Instagram, and Grand
Targhees website.
7/30: 8:36- 5:15 Heavy detailing of bikes, cleaned pads and all rental gear.
7/31: Off
8/01: 8:40-2 Prepped shop for Montana Enduro Series Race. Hung flyers and posters.
8/2: 7:42-12 Montana Enduro Series race. Set up an aid station a the start and finish
of 2 stages. Provided water, snacks, and morale to racers.
8/3: 8:35- 4:35 Cleaned store after weekend. Storm rolled in at about 3, lift was shut
down early.
8/4: 8:43-5:20 Detailed bikes that were out in the rain the previous day. Had a few
rentals go out.
8/5: 8:34-4:04 Trailed were very wet, chairlift opened at noon instead of 10 due to
how wet the trails were. No rentals went out. Started storming again, lift closed early.
8/6: 8:45-5:55 Had to rebuild the drive train on a Devinci Wilson after I took a rock
into the rear derailleur. Not fun.
8/7: Off
8/8: Off
8/9: 8:50- 5:41 Took 2 boys out on a guided downhill mountain bike ride. Turns out I
actually like guiding people. Never would have thought.
Hour Log:
79.35 Hours worked this week
377.08 Total hours worked to date

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BI-WEEKLY LOG # 6
NAME: Collin Wheeler
WEEK: 8/10/8/24
GOAL/S:
Finish 400 Hours for internship.
OBJECTIVE 1:
Work as much as possible before I leave for Michigan so that I will have all of my
internship hours completed.
OBJECTIVE 2:
Make sure the shop is ready and able for me to be gone for 10 days.
State how you did or did not accomplish your goals and objectives this week:
I wrote out detailed information about all the guided services that had been scheduled
for the week. Made a list of what bikes needed service, and what service was needed.
INSIGHTS GAINED:
Everything needed to be 100% ready for me to disappear for 10 days, took a lot of
time to do that.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED:
Finding enough staff to cover for me while I was gone.
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH:
I am glad to have completed my internship hours.
TIME/ACTIVITY LOG (listed or attached):
8/10: 8:44-5:50 Get store cleaned and ready for my departure.
8/11 8:32-5:02 Clean and tune all bikes, including my own.

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8/12: 8:42-5:00 Write out detailed list of what needs to be done while I am gone, that
I usually do.
Hour Log:
24 Hours worked this week
401.08 Total hours worked to date

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III. Special Project

For my special project I created a series of 15-second video edits featuring the
downhill mountain biking trailed at Grand Targhee. I posted created and posted these
videos to Habitats social media pages such as Facebook and Instagram. I would post
these videos on Tuesdays usually in the early afternoon, so that people would see
them on their lunch breaks as they were flipping through social media, and get
excited to ride or come check out our trails. We did not use paid advertising to
promote these videos because we were looking to generate organic views or word
of mouth and/or sharing. All in all these Targhee Tuesday edits seemed to be very
successful generating about 500 views on average and between 20-30 likes on
Facebook. They were slightly more successful on Instagram, generating between 6070 likes per video, but unfortunately we were unable to tell how many views they
received.

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My roles changed almost daily, which I really enjoyed. I was able to ride a lot and do a
pretty solid amount of guiding guests on private rides. I also helped coordinate some of
the local events and races. I helped with social media posting and promoting things that
were happening at the store, as well as the resort. I was responsible for commuting with
resort guests on a personal basis, every day. I was also included in decision making such
as what inventory to bring into the store as well when we would sell our demo fleet of
bikes.
My favorite task was being given complete control of the mountain shop and getting to
layout and organize the shop however I wanted. This was very fun for me, because for
once I was not being told where to put something, I got to choose where it went.

Problems Encountered
The biggest issue we had this summer was understaffing. There were a few times that I
worked pretty significantly past over time, just because we didnt the staff to cover when
one person would leave, get sick, or just already worked past their 40 hours. This
required some of us to work overtime and work holidays.
The second biggest issue we encountered was the impact trails have on bikes. The trails,
being very rocky and technical, rattle bolts loose, dent rims, blow fork seals, and just
generally put extreme wear and tear on to bikes. Because of this we had to meticulously

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check bikes before and after each ride to make sure they were in top operating order to
ensure guest safety.

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Clarity of Career Objectives

Confidence and Assertiveness
I am confident in my confidence or assertiveness. Having 5 years experience in bike/ski
shops prior to this definitely helped. I did have to learn some new product, and how to
sell in a resort town, but overall it was not a problem. Ive always been a confident
person and stand behind my values or ideas, unless I actually am wrong.

Satisfaction/dissatisfaction With Career Choice

Overall I am very satisfied with my choice of internship. I have fallen in love with the
Tetons and wake up stoked everyday. Plus the job is very fun. Being right at the resort is
a very cool experience and was something I am not used to. I have been offered a
position with Habitat and I plan on staying for at least the next year, do the ski bum thing
for a while, and then try to work my way into a management position here at Targhee or
over in Jackson. Well see.

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Site Evaluation

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Mid-Term Evaluation

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VII Final Evaluation

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