Did you ever wonder what your ski shuttle van was doing last summer?
Well, if you’re not riding Summit Express, it’s more than likely your van was busy carrying 11 very wet river rafters twice a day to and from their drop-off points along the many excellent white water sections of Colorado’s rivers. I know, because I was one of them and often.
I’ve been following the transportation industry in Summit County since the early 1990s and I’ve come to learn about a few tricks that shuttle companies to do save money, and increase profits. Don’t get me wrong – I love profits. But I also like companies that turn a profit with high quality services and the best customer experience possible at a fair rate. It’s a very common practice for ground transportation providers to “farm out” their vans in the off-season to generate a little extra cash. Some go to church groups. Others to youth camps and dude ranches. If your shuttle van could talk, oh… the stories of abuse it would tell.
I’ve seen some pretty nasty treatment of those year-round work horses such as the Chevy Express van and the Ford E-Series van. These are incredibly tough trucks and they can weather the truly rugged terrain of Colorado just fine. But it’s the interiors that take a beating in summer. Wet, soggy rafting enthusiasts, soaked to the bone, sliding in and out many times a day, covered in sand, mud and slime.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg …
There are the helmets, the paddles, the life preservers, floatation devices, leaky coolers, wet suits, sand-packed booties, pop cans, squashed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bags of ice, and an occasional crawfish rolling around in the back of these vans. Once, someone actually had a frog and a snake along for the ride. I’ll bet at least of few of these vans have seen a mountain goat or a raccoon as a stowaway.
Compared to their summer duties, a winter of double trips between Summit County and DIA is like a three month holiday in the Bahamas for a shuttle van. They’re washed every day and their worn, tattered and sometimes fishy-smelling seats are treated with daily vacuuming. These vans are happy to score a gig doing the ski shuttle and I doubt they care how big or boney your butt is as long as it’s dry. To a year-round shuttle van, winter is like a day spa.
I’m not suggesting all shuttle companies do this, but many do and it’s pretty easy to tell if you’ve managed to snag a ride on one of these river rats. Just look for signs of rust, torn interiors, or a faint smell of week-old trout. An old-timer and 50 year veteran river guide once told me if you hold your ear up to the side mirrors, you can actually hear the Arkansas river.
At the end of a long flight, no one likes to ride in a crappy seat for two more hours, especially since it’s your vacation. So you might want to ask your ground transportation provider what they do with their vans in the off season. If they tell you they’re loaned to a dude ranch or the boyscouts, insist on one that’s used by river rafters. Or call Summit Express.
Just sayin’ … jj
(Ed Note: This article is from a new local writer “JJ” who will be joining us from time-to-time to provide unique and humorous insight into happenings in and around Summit County. As you can tell, “JJ” has some unique perspectives concerning the vans that call the Rocky Mountains their home. By now, you’re probably wondering what we do with our tricked-out vans and luxury SUVs in the summer. The picture in this post pretty much tells the story. Our vans wait patiently all summer, occasioning working a charter to the golf course or a casual ride to DIA for conference-goers. But for the most part, they soak up the warm summer sun waiting for the snow and you. Just you.)
