A Grand Plan for a Grand Piano

There's almost never a scenario where moving a grand piano is easy. But when it comes to hauling this huge instrument around on a freezing winter day in Calgary, are bets are off. Two Small Men mover Montell Beals encountered this hellish task when he was asked to get an 800-pound piano down an icy slope, where risk of damage to the instrument and personal injury was high.

And the worst part about it is that this is all in a normal day's work. Beals and his regular Two Small Men coworker Kalmin Contenti Ranger deal with this kind of thing all the time. When the weather is good, it makes it more palatable. When the weather is bad, you just deal with it. This is the reality of moving in Calgary.

"I like it," Kalmin says of the job. "Every day is different, so I like that."

Things may always be in flux in Calgary, but the winter is different entirely.

"It gets slower," Kalmin admits, "but all around not too bad still. It's still work—and nobody likes staying outside every day in the freezing weather anyway."

The piano move that Montell was called to was marked by these frozen conditions. Perched on a hill, the location of the house made the frigid moving conditions especially precarious. The access path was completely frozen over, forcing them to use the rear entrance before heading down the slope from hell. And all that needed to happen before getting the piano in the moving truck bound for Cranbrook.

"It was very challenging," admits Montell.

For Kalmin, this kind of Brutal Calgary day is almost scond nature. A local of the land through and through, he's prepared for any kind of swerve a local move might throw his way.

"Mostly I'm in and around Calgary," he says.

He's modest and soft-spoken, but what he's really saying is he knows all about weird home layouts, impossible staircases, and the heaviest kind of antique furniture that just doesn't want to budge in these awkward spaces.

"Maybe just having certain items that are super big for certain areas," Kalmin explains. "Say, for example, a piano upstairs. But then their stairs have a bend in it, so you have to think of maneuvers around that."

And both movers agree that pianos are the worst of the worst.

"Yeah," Kalmin says, "it's definitely one of the harder things the guys have to move."

Gun safes can be heavy, he adds, but pianos are a different beast entirely.

Montell says the above-mentioned piano weighed roughly 800 pounds and that the job really required 4 men. On this occasion, however, it was just Kalmin, Montell and their coworker Eric on the job. Together, they had to use their years of collective experience to get the job done.

"Usually we just have as much guys as we can," says Kalmin. "Make sure we have all the equipment ready and stuff like that. At certain times, if it just doesn't work—say your straps just don't work with that angle—you just kind of… go as you see."

You've got to be able to adapt. On this day, Montell came up with the bright idea of backing the truck up as close the hose as possible in order to shorten the distance they'd need to carry the piano.

"It got rid of a lot of the breaks that we would have had to take," he said.

Kalmin can recall other instances where they had to use their imagination.

"There's been times where we had to basically take apart a couch," he said. "Take the bottom frame off of it. Take doors, railings, all that off."

Sometimes, moving feels like magic.

"They wanted their bed frame and it just wouldn't fit… He recommended he just take it out and cut the bed frame in half."

At the very least, it keeps things exciting.

"Every day is different," Kalmin said. "Whether the house is different or the pieces you're moving. There's always different things in every day."

Where the movers don't get creative is when it comes to safety. There are certain protocols in place, no matter how crazy the situation, even when the clients aren't accurate when it comes to weight or access paths.

"They didn't tell us about, say, a gun safe that was too heavy… and they want it up a set of stairs that just isn't realistic. There's been times where we have to turn down stuff due to safety."

"Access is a big thing," says Montell. "If it was like a grassy hill, we're definitely going to opt out." Instead, they prepared the path and handled it gingerly. "Just being prepared, man," says Montell. "That's the biggest thing for us."

Kalmin can see the appreciation in the customers for this level of preparation.

"They're usually there with us, trying to watch how we go about it," he said. "We end up finishing it… they're usually pretty happy and very appreciative. Very rarely does someone just kind of ignore it."

The customer who requested the winter piano move was admittedly skeptical.

"When we arrived there, actually, they're like, 'There's only three of you guys,'" Montell recalled. But there was no doubt in the end. "They just said, 'Great job.'"

Kalmin says there were lessons learned on this job that can be applied to any move. "Quick thinking," he says. "Being able to adapt to the situation as it comes to you."

And always be aware. "You always have to be focused… watching what's around you so you're not gonna trip over your feet."

These aren't just abstract ideas. They're words to live by whether moving on a bright sunny day in the summer, or fighting for your life alongside a piano on a frozen hill in the winter.