During the epochal snow storm in late 2021, this huge snow wall formed in front of the garage of Alta Vista Chalet. For three days, our snow removal contractor could not reach us, because our main access road was also blocked with similarly huge drifts, and the entire town of Truckee was essentially cut off from the outside world, because Interstate 80 was closed from Colfax to the Nevada Stateline. (Pnoto 12/27/2021).
When one rents a vacation home in snow country, a guarantee of perfect weather and the best powder skiing conditions is not included in the rental fees. There is always a finite risk that Mother Nature presents a statement of her own sovereignty which, without understanding, cooperation and goodwill, could easily cause a strain for all involved. This is a story of such an event that ended on a positive note, for which we sincerely thank all participants.
We have just successfully navigated through the toughest rental management situation we have ever experienced in over 30 years of facilitating vacation rentals. An unprecedented atmospheric river, bringing never-before experienced masses of snowfall and snow drifts, caused our access road, as well as I-80, to be closed to vehicular traffic for several days and nights on end. This prevented the current renters from departing and required us to accommodate them for three more nights; and it also caused the housekeepers and the new renters to postpone their arrangements by three days.
The huge blower of the Town of Truckee making his first cut uphill on Skislope Way, just prior to getting past Alta Vista (to the very right), after a similar snowfall event eight years ago (but lesser and of shorter duration) …
Of course, the main complication was that nobody had a crystal ball telling how long the closures would actually last, and so we remained on edge for three full days and nights, hoping the big snow blower would come up the road. And even when that is finally happening, the problem is not solved. Several other parties must also do their part. They have diverse duties and interests – one simply cannot expect that everything falls in line instantaneously when the main hurdle has been removed. There is then still the driveway snow removal contractor who has to do his work before the guests can depart. And then the housekeepers have to be able to come and clean, before the new party can move in. And then the maintenance contractor has to come and fix what is broken. All of them have to be available during the small window in time after the monster plow from the City opens the road and before the wind plugs it up once again – and, of course, all of them have other customers who are in the same situation as we are and need them, as well, all at the same time …
All in all, the following seven parties were involved and required accommodation:
… passing by Alta Vista, viewed from the upstairs MBR of Alta Vista Chalet (two photos 12/29/2013).
The previous renters, needing to get back to their places of work in the Bay Area … and our worries, “do they have sufficient food supplies?” “What if they incur a medical emergency?”
The new renters, wanting to celebrate a round birthday — well, they would not have been able to get beyond Colfax anyway … but nonetheless, unsettling for them and us.
The housekeepers coming from Reno and having other work commitments and their own lives and plans; and their local employer in the midst of all.
Our Internet provider, who needed to restore service not once but twice, following several major power outages — us of course not being their only customers ...
Our local service technician, who needed to come twice to repair the snow impacted garage doors.
The Town of Truckee snow removal service, working on an unpredictable schedule, not for us alone but for thousands of homes.
Our privately contracted driveway snow removal service who could only reach our home – and those of his many other clients -- after the access roads had been plowed.
I myself ended up spending countless hours managing all that:
monitoring the weather, road conditions, and the on-line snow plow schedule of the Town of Truckee (https://www.511portal.com/truckee), which is set up very well but is, nonetheless, unpredictable;
communication with the departing party in over 50 Airbnb messages and phone calls, much of it during frustrating power and Internet outage conditions;
accommodating/appeasing the — understanding and cooperating — delayed arriving guests in over 3 dozen email exchanges;
keeping our housekeepers on short notice in numerous phone calls and emails and text messages — they made it happen in just perfect timing but then got stuck in the snow down the road on their return trip;
talking repeatedly to our highly cooperative Internet provider (Oasis Broadband) to keep our stranded guests connected, in spite of — or caused by — several multi-hour power outages;
coordinating with our highly private snow removal contractor (Mountain Maintenance Co.), who went far beyond his “call of duty” with terrific response and service quality; and
getting much appreciated instantaneous help — not once but twice — from our skilled local repair contractor (Larson Maintenance).
There were, of course, also significant expenses, financial accommodations, and calendar adjustments to manage until, finally, the departing guests were on the road, the house was cleaned — both as fast as possible — and the new guests arrived and settled in.
Phew!!! Clearly, vacation rental management takes more effort than “clipping coupons” … 😉. Good reviews must be earned. I am beginning to understand why many home owners in snow country hesitate to make their homes available for others to rent …
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12/29/2021