Director of Mountain Operations.
Email Justin | Phone: 802-644-8875; ext. 110
“This company is part of who I am,” Justin Day explains of his long relationship with G.W. Tatro. He is a firm believer in the importance of a finished product that is of the highest quality. It is this attitude that he brings to everything he does at the company. In his role as Mountain Operations Director, he directs all aspects of the division: bids, overseeing daily operations, problem solving, and is often seen on the mountain working with his team. He has worked on projects at over 40 ski resorts in the East, from Pennsylvania to Maine. Justin is passionate about taking on challenging jobs that other companies won’t. His favorite jobs to tackle are the ones where people tell him, “you can’t do that,” or that a job is too difficult. Justin also delves into the mechanical aspects of the shop as Equipment Manager. From that role he oversees all mechanics and welders, as well as making sure necessary purchases, repairs and maintenance are accomplished in a timely and quality-driven fashion.
Justin has over 20 years of experience at G.W. Tatro. He literally started at the bottom of the company, as a shop hand in his teens. As time went on, he worked as a laborer on various sites, and while there learned to operate heavy machinery. As an operator, he became interested in the mechanical side of the heavy equipment. He would become one of the lead mechanics, his expertise ranging from chainsaws to excavators and covering everything in between. As he grew in experience, Justin began to supervise various projects. He found he loved the steep slopes of the mountain jobs, and felt he had a talent for the skills involved in such jobs. He thus worked primarily in the Mountain Division and would in time advance to become second in command. In 2010, Greg and Dawn offered him the leadership role as Director of Mountain Operations.The project that Justin most proud of the 2012 terminal removal at Mt. Ascutney.
G.W. Tatro was tasked with removing the entire top terminal of a ski lift and its components. Ascutney is well known for having no work roads, steep terrain and no access to the summit. The client believed that the only way to remove the terminal was by air. When G.W. Tatro wanted to extricate it with their mountain crew, Justin recalls that “they said we were crazy. That it was not possible” accomplish the removal with heavy equipment. He proved them wrong: “We did it for half the price, safely, and with heavy equipment,” thanks to an expert mountain crew and lots of planning.
Justin goes into his work with a very logical and discerning vision. Understanding the various equipment and the crews as well as he does, Justin innately knows the capabilities and particularities of each. Those who have seen him work say he is an expert at fine-tuning a job site to get the most out of the resources at his disposal. His greatest dream is to help contribute to the company’s success and longevity: “I want to do the most I can to keep G.W. Tatro the best… There is no place I would rather work. I take a tremendous amount of pride in our people and fleet of equipment.”
In his free time, Justin loves spending time with his family, being outdoors and is usually in the middle of a good book. He also enjoys traveling down to Boston for a weekend here and there.