大象APP

It wasn鈥檛 a bad gig in the winter, but once the summer heat came on ...

鈥淵ou gotta try to get out and work fast and get back into the truck,鈥� Smith said of those days when he would do six, seven changes on an eight-hour shift, more if it was his after-hours on-call week. 鈥淚t was brutal. There was no way around it.鈥�

This summer, the hottest Smith gets is walking from his car into his brother鈥檚 3-year-old contrast therapy business in midtown.

Instead of changing tires on broken-down backhoes and tractor-trailers with the sun beating down, he鈥檚 helping people 鈥渃ool down and feel better鈥� as part of recovery and wellness.

Talk about your 鈥渃ool jobs.鈥�

Smith has what we like to call a summer dream job, one that makes you forget that the temperature outside just topped the century mark and it鈥檚 barely 11 a.m.

We found four 鈥渃ool鈥� summer jobs that make you forget it鈥檚 summer in the desert.

Taking an icy plunge

In the middle of the Ohio winter, when Matt and Luke Smith were little kids, they鈥檇 jump in their uncle鈥檚 hot tub. With the steam still rising off their wet bodies, they鈥檇 jump out and run around in the snow.

鈥淭hen we鈥檇 jump back in the hot tub,鈥� Matt Smith said. 鈥淚 would say that was kind of the first, unintentional introduction to cold plunging.鈥�

Fast-forward a lifetime to 2022, when Luke turned that early cold immersion therapy experience into a business at 大象APPCold Plunge, 3017 E. Speedway. Brother Matt joined the company in the last year.

大象APPCold Plunge specializes in contrast therapy, where participants start out in a steamy sauna, then spend two to three minutes in a tub of icy water, ranging in temperature from 30 to 50 degrees, then dip into a hot tub. The water is cooled with a chiller similar to the technology used in an ice machine.

鈥淢ost people get a couple rounds of that 鈥� sauna, cold plunge, hot tub,鈥� Smith said, explaining that sessions last an hour. 鈥�(Most) people spend their time doing a 15-minute sauna session, two- to three-minute cold plunge session right after that, and then the hot tub just kind of gets you back to baseline if you choose to do that.鈥�

Smith, his brother and the two other 大象APPCold Plunge employees guide clients in their sessions, which often involve contact with that cold water.

Dipping his hand into an icy tub in the middle of July in 大象APPis far better than changing a tire along Interstate 10.

鈥淣ow I鈥檓 living a life of luxury,鈥� Smith said.

You鈥檒l want to bundle up

鈥淵ou got to go change.鈥�

Those were the first words 大象APP reporter Jamie Donnelly鈥檚 dad, Bill Donnelly, said when he saw her in their living room with shorts on.

鈥淵ou need to put on pants and grab a hoodie,鈥� he said.

A sweater and pants in 90-degree weather in Nogales, Arizona, seemed crazy to Jamie, but for those working in produce warehouses, pants and a puffer jacket are their uniforms year-round.

From unloading and loading cases of product from trucks, to making sure each order gets fulfilled and sent out on time, produce warehouse workers toil in icy cold conditions.

Once the produce, such as bell peppers or mangoes, are picked, they need to get cleaned and cooled, starting what is called the cold chain. From there on out, it鈥檚 crucial the cold chain doesn鈥檛 get broken or the integrity of the produce can be affected.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want these vegetables/fruits to ever go from 50 degrees to 60 degrees to 45 degrees,鈥� Bill Donnelly said.

So when the trucks come by to either pick up or drop off produce, they are given a specific room to back into, ensuring that when the workers unload or load the fruits and vegetables, the goods stay exactly the same temperature.

The temperatures of these rooms depend on the kind of produce being housed. For example, mangoes are kept in 50-degree rooms while grapes need to be at 32 degrees.

C and V Warehouse, where Bill Donnelly works, is just one of many on the Arizona side of the Nogales border. It鈥檚 owned by the Ciruli Brothers.

There鈥檚 a sign outside the door saying no one in shorts, tank tops and sandals is allowed.

Once you enter, you understand why there鈥檚 a sign: A cold wave of air instantly hits you as you step foot inside. Workers pass you in zipped-up coats and hats.

Jamie was greeted by Humberto Peralta, one of the warehouse workers and her dad鈥檚 co-worker, who took her through the chilly rooms on a visit.

Walking into the grape room was like being transported into an icy tundra. Workers in big puffer jackets and ski masks drive around on machinery, unloading pallets of grapes onto the warehouse floor. Jamie鈥檚 teeth were chattering as Peralta showed her the mountains of grapes.

Peralta mentioned getting weird looks from people when he goes out to get lunch, forgetting he鈥檚 still bundled up from working at C and V.

One of the workers, who goes by the name Smiley, said it鈥檚 nice to work in the freezing temperatures instead of having the sun beat down on you throughout the day. As Bill Donnelly said about working in the cold, it鈥檚 easier to put clothes on than take them off.

When the tour was over and Jamie was back out in the heat, all she could think about was how happy she was that she followed her dad鈥檚 advice and made the change from shorts to pants.

Creating art from ice

In summertime Tucson, when the July temperature is more likely than not to top the century mark, you鈥檒l find some artists toiling in small spaces while the evaporative cooler spews and sputters a hint of cool-ish air.

But the artists at don power tools and ski masks, heavy gloves and even heavier coats.

The scarfs around their faces are not for fashion; they鈥檙e for function.

If you鈥檝e ever wanted to experience an Arctic winter in the middle of 大象APPsummer, take up ice sculpting and hope that Sam Agrawal has an opening.

Chances are, he won鈥檛.

Who would give up the chance to escape 100 degrees outside for 15 to 20 degrees in a freezer?

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why it鈥檚 the coolest job to have in the summer because you don鈥檛 realize it鈥檚 summer until you step out of the freezer,鈥� said Agrawal, owner of Arizona Ice Art.

Agrawal鈥檚 two senior master ice artisans, Rodney Timm and Brian Quarles, spend their days working with 300-pound blocks of crystal clear ice created in the shop鈥檚 six Clinebell ice makers, an industry leader when it comes to transparent ice. The machines freeze the water from the bottom up, which removes air bubbles that create the cloudiness you find in your home-freezer ice.

鈥淔reezing from the bottom up, we鈥檙e only freezing the water from one direction so it鈥檚 freezing an eighth of an inch at a time, 16th of an inch at a time,鈥� Agrawal explained. 鈥淭he ice gets slowly thicker and thicker and thicker. And we have a pump on top that鈥檚 agitating the water the whole time, encouraging the air to rise to the top. So what鈥檚 happening is the air is escaping, and then we鈥檙e freezing water with no air in it, no air bubbles.鈥�

Timm and Quarles and Arizona Ice Art鈥檚 production support staff 鈥� Jason Figueroa and Alicia Suarez 鈥� turn these 300-pound blocks into icy works of art, from giant wedding rings atop a pedestal, to a Santa Claus, to a fire and ice sculpture Rialto Theatre commissioned for its 100th anniversary gala in 2020.

Agrawal, who has owned Arizona Ice Art for seven of its 30 years, said it鈥檚 inevitable that his icy artworks are no match for the blistering 大象APPsun.

鈥淏ut that is part of the beauty of an ice sculpture,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 peaceful to watch the water drip, to watch how it not only drips off the sculpture, but how it travels on the sculpture as it鈥檚 melting. It鈥檚 just mesmerizing and relaxing. And obviously, it鈥檚 art in motion. It鈥檚 alive. It鈥檚 actually transforming.鈥�

Arizona Ice Art, 2555 N. Coyote Drive off West Grant Road, also sells square ice cubes and ice orbs that you find in fancy cocktails.

Falling down a rabbit hole

For park rangers at Kartchner Caverns State Park, escaping Arizona鈥檚 summer heat means going deep underground.

Jaye Millett is one of the rangers who leads tours for park visitors deep into the cave, where temperatures can be 30 degrees cooler than the scorching summer temperatures above.

While the caverns stay a cool 70 degrees, the water inside of the cave system pushes the humidity to 99%. Still more preferable to the extreme heat above ground.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very comfortable,鈥� Millett said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not baking.鈥�

Millett鈥檚 interest in caves started almost two decades ago when they first visited Colossal Cave near Tucson.

鈥淚鈥檇 always heard about everything you can do in outer space, but you don鈥檛 hear about the wonder that is 鈥榠nner space.鈥� I just fell down a rabbit hole, literally,鈥� Millett said. 鈥淚t became a passion real quick.鈥�

To Millett, the draw of cave exploration is experiencing an entirely new environment with its own unique history and ecosystem.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a completely different world,鈥� they said. 鈥淓verything in a cave tells a story, whether that鈥檚 the story of how that particular area was created through geology, or how things changed over time.

鈥淚n our desert, for example, this used to be a transient sea, and it鈥檚 crazy to go from a sea with sea life swimming around it, and then now it鈥檚 a desert with cacti. Going underground, caves, tell us that story.鈥�

As a park ranger, Millett spends their days leading tours into the cave, as well as performing necessary conservation tasks such as cleaning debris and buildup from tour routes, monitoring bat populations, and ensuring the health of the cave environment.

鈥淚 absolutely love being a part of conserving this cave system,鈥� Millett said.

The cooler climate is simply a plus.