Jeff Lytle's summer is officially over.
"Pretty crazy to go from warm weather to cool weather and now we're looking at a snow plow and waiting for the snow to come," says Lytle.
The 30-year-old is a new trainee at the City of Ottawa's snow plow school. The five-day courses running now until the end of November.
"We've got an average 400 operators that have to go through these programs. With a little luck on our side we'll be able to get all of that training done before the snow actually flies," says training manager Cliff Wall.
Getting operators ready is a race against time considering the city spent nearly $24.5 million dollars on snow removal, last year.
The course includes days of classroom training and obstacle runs at the city yard on Trim Rd.
“Railroad crossing, catch basins, curbs, medians, we do all of those exercises right here in this yard before they even get to the edge of the gate,” says Wall.
Pylons are set up to simulate both cars and mailboxes. Operators must weave through them seamlessly while operating the plow and wing simultaneously.
“It's a lot of multitasking inside the cab,” says Lytle. “Outside the cab you've got a lot of traffic, people walking, it's a stressful environment but the training gets you through it.”
Trainees will also be taken out on to the street to simulate real-life situations both before and after the first snowfall.
With a report from CTV’s John Hua.
