1. JJ's job: make ski lift selfies
and skier calls for help
possible for our customers
February 27, 2015
By Lauren Garner
AT&T Insider Staff Writer
Imagine driving in your company-owned Prius with studded snow tires, strapping on your skis, loading your gear in
a backpack, taking the gondola to another chairlift and then traversing across the mountain above 8,000 feet to get
to your job.
Check out JJ in action (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC-udODy7-k&feature=youtu.be) on the slopes of
Steamboat.
That's what JJ Henrikson, senior manager of real estate and construction, does regularly. He may even have to
shovel three to six feet of snow to get to the door of the cell site equipment shelter.
"I've been a skier all of my life," JJ said. "It turned out to be a blessing. I never thought it would be a benefit to my
professional career."
JJ manages the installation of distributed antenna systems, or DAS, in Colorado. Basically, he and his team design
a spider web of small antennas and fiber. The DAS provides wireless service in an area or building where
geographical limitations or large crowds might prevent a good experience.
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Outdoor DAS, or oDAS, are common in ski resorts. Regular cell sites can't penetrate the mountains' peaks and
valleys.
JJ works on the Arapahoe Basin, Aspen, Buttermilk, Snowmass, Vail, Beaver Creek and Winter Park ski resorts.
But one of his favorites is Steamboat Ski Resort. It was his team's job to cover the places on the resort where large
numbers of people congregate, like the base area and mountain lodges.
"There are places that had zero coverage and now AT&T customers have five bars," he said.
Achieving that level of coverage is no small feat. Installing an oDAS at a ski resort is not your average network
build. JJ and the engineers had to work around weather conditions and restricted working hours to install 10 miles
of fiber up chairlift and gondola towers and underneath slopes to reach a cell site.
A selfie at 8,000 feet
"Our customers don't realize the effort it took to allow them to post a selfie at 8,000 feet," JJ said. "They can look
up on the chairlift and see our cable above them."
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2. They built the ski resort's network during the summer before the ground froze. A drive to the top site is up to an
hour and a half one way from the base, but up to five hours from the Denver office.
"One time, the ski patrol warned us that our loading area at one lodge was a favorite place for bears to take their
naps," JJ recalled. "Thankfully, we didn't run into any."
Now, to maintain and upgrade the experience during the winter months, JJ coordinates all of his activities with the
ski patrol. He has to ski, snowmobile, snowcat, snowshoe and hike to the equipment – up to two hours at the
highest point.
JJ loves working outdoors.
"The ski resorts are some of the most beautiful places," JJ said. "And our customers, the ski resort staff, are some
of the best people to work with."
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