Land Your Dream Job: Moving Mountains

For 16 years Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson and his Snow Park Technologies team have circled the globe building sick terrain parks for top athletes. Here’s how they do it.

For 16 years Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson and his Snow Park Technologies team have circled the globe building sick terrain parks for top athletes. Here’s how to make serious cash shoveling snow—even in spring!

Photographed by Tom Zikas 

Photographed by Tom Zikas 

Take Plan B

Photographed by Tom Zikas 

Andrew Erath: “If you can’t be a pro athlete, get into this. Most of the guys at SPT were or wanted to be professional snowboarders or skiers. With this job you still get to have that lifestyle of working on the slopes and riding during your downtime.”

Take It Easy

Photographed by Tom Zikas 

Gunny: “It’s been said that 

we shape frozen water so people can play on plastic toys, and that’s true. It’s awesome to have a job traveling the world—through the States in winter to New Zealand in summer—making people happy with things you have built.” 

Be Ready For Overtime 

Photographed by Tom Zikas 

Gunny: “The parks we create for the X Games take roughly 25 days to build. A halfpipe alone can take 12 to 15 days, which sounds like a long time to be shoveling snow, but 

you have to realize we’re pushing 15 million gallons 

of water on a halfpipe.”

Operate Machinery 

Photographed by Tom Zikas 

Chris Castaneda: “This job 

is similar to construction, 

but with snow. Learn how to work a Sno-Cat. When building jibs, you have to be comfortable with a welding torch. And for final adjustments, we go straight at the snow with chain saws.”

Photographed by Chris Wellhausen 

Check out SPT in action on their new reality show, Mountain Movers, premiering May 9 at 8 p.m. EDT on Nat Geo.

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