As wise as those words from America’s third president may sound, many businesses—including some ski areas—are choosing to engage with big social issues despite (or, perhaps, because of) today’s highly political climate.

Look to Florida for a prime example. The ongoing feud between Disney and the state’s governor is well documented. It began in 2022 when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. Disney, the largest single-site employer in the world, hasn’t been bashful in its public disapproval of the legislation since, drawing its fair share of both criticism and support.

Ski areas are wearing their support for issues such as climate change mitigation and DEI on their sleeves, too—and not just the traditional “Disney-sized” players like Aspen and Vail. Recently, more small- and mid-sized areas are speaking up about who they are and what they stand for when it comes to social and environmental topics. 

Ski area examples. Take Crystal Mountain, Mich. In November 2021, its CEO Jim MacInnes, along with Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher, co-penned an opinion piece in the Traverse City Record-Eagle calling for a federal carbon-tax and an accelerated switch to renewable energy. 

“This global issue affects families, communities and businesses,” led the piece. “In Michigan, ski resorts experience climate change impacts firsthand, which is why we advocate for transitioning to clean energy.”

It was a rally-cry to end the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation in a county that leans right.

In August 2022, leadership at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia, once a hotbed for the commercial coal industry, partnered with climate lobby Protect Our Winters (POW) to personally deliver a letter to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin calling for his vote in favor of the Inflation Reduction Act, considered the first comprehensive climate legislation in U.S. history. 

And just this summer, Solitude Mountain Resort staff teamed up with staff at nearby Brighton Resort to walk in the Utah Pride Festival parade alongside a float pulled by Brighton’s new eco-concious hybrid snowcat.

Solitude and Brighton staffers hitch a ride on Brighton’s hybrid snowcat at the 2023 Utah Pride Festival parade in Salt Lake City.

Despite the trend, an October 2023 Gallup poll reported that fewer Americans think businesses should speak out on current events. In fact, less than half of U.S. adults, 41 percent, believe businesses should take a public stance on current events, down 7 percentage points from 2022. 

Why, then, are some mountain resorts choosing to wade into these rough waters?  

Community-Driven Engagement

Of the ski areas SAM spoke with, all agreed the biggest benefit of taking a stance is that sharing their values publicly allows resorts to better cultivate a common culture among their employees and their guests.

For Solitude, “the choice to join last year’s pride festival stemmed from a desire to further show our commitment to supporting Salt Lake’s LGBTQ+ skiers and snowboarders,” says communications and PR manager Travis Holland. 

Solitude Mountain Resort staffers take part in the Utah Pride Festival 5K.

Staff participation was optional, Holland says, but turnout for the event was strong—a sign that employees are invested in showing up for Utah’s LGBTQ+ community. 

Still, the resort’s social media posts about the event did garner a few negative comments, with some suggesting that LGBTQ+ pride is “outside the purview” of a ski resort. 

It didn’t bother Holland. “The sport may not be exclusive to straight athletes, but it’s important to understand that members of Utah’s LGBTQ+ community have not always felt welcomed and accepted on the mountain,” he says. “We’re working to change that.” 

Great Expectations

Steve Wright, general manager of Vermont’s Jay Peak Resort, says that both consumers and employees—at least of a certain age—have higher expectations than they used to when it comes to seeing their favorite small- and medium-sized ski areas take a public stance.

 “More and more, companies are understanding that the teams that support them have different expectations of the places they work for and the places they frequent and are demanding these sorts of lines in the sand be drawn across important social issues,” he says. 

Age likely matters. Sustainability consultant Erika Kazi cites myriad studies that show younger generations prefer to work and shop at environmentally conscious and equitable organizations. In the Gallup poll, 53 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said they favor businesses taking a public stance on issues vs. 35 percent of participants aged 45+.

Size advantage. In terms of connecting with consumers on an ideological level, size matters, too, says Kazi. “It’s easier for larger brands to make a larger impact because their reach is far greater, but it’s harder for them to make [environmentally and socially conscious] changes because of the sheer number of cogs in their engines.” 

Smaller ski areas, she says, “have more intimate relationships with their guests. They have a smaller footprint to navigate and less complex business models to understand.” 

Wright agrees. “Smaller brands tend to have a more intimate connection to their various audiences and also tend to take a more personal approach to their brands,” he says. “As a result, those audiences likely have stronger expectations that the business take a stance on issues relating to DEI, sustainability, etc.” 

Thoughtful Approach

Industry marketing veteran Dave Tragethon says smaller ski areas have a unique opportunity to engage in local issues that directly affect their communities and resonate with their local customer base and team members.

“Rather than focusing on global or national issues, these ski areas may find it more impactful to lend their voice to local causes that are connected to broader concerns,” he says. 

For example, a resort where Tragethon once worked implemented an environmental impact reduction program after employees asked about how much electricity the resort was wasting. He says it was also questions from staff about whether the ski area planned to take a position on racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody that prompted mountain leadership to come up with an appropriate and meaningful response.

“Rather than knee-jerking with a response,” Tragethon explains, “the executive team felt it needed to make a stronger effort to improve in the areas of DEI in our own company versus just expressing support for the efforts of other companies.” 

Subsequently, a committee was formed, which, over several months, developed a strategic plan that outlined an objective, goals, and guiding principles related to DEI. 

Honesty and Action

It’s not only what a company chooses to support, but also the way in which it demonstrates that support that matters to employees and the public, suggests Wright.

“I think there are always two minds operating with this stuff: [there is] supporting something because it’s the right thing to do versus doing those same things with an eye toward leveraging the positive PR it engenders,” he explains. “If brands are taking a stance solely for the PR, it’s almost never sustainable because it doesn’t connect back to something authentic.”

Last season, North Carolina’s Beech Mountain showed support through measurable action when it dedicated the bulk of its marketing efforts to its “just do one thing” sustainability campaign, which included strong imagery and a point-blank message (see above). 

Through the campaign, Beech asked guests to commit to one sustainable practice as part of their daily winter routine, like bringing a reusable water bottle to the mountain, for example. Participating guests were encouraged to upload photos of their sustainability efforts to the resort website for a chance to win a sweepstakes drawing of nearly $1,500 in gift cards to local businesses. 

Relevant action. For Beech, it was a bit of a gamble. “On the sustainability front, we are still starting from a very different space in the Southeast,” explains Beech marketing and sales director Talia Freeman. “Our primary issue here is trash and littering. We are still working with our clientele to get them to recycle, not litter.”

Beech “doesn’t just make statements,” adds Freeman. “We lead with honesty and action. Ski areas should speak out on topics that are relevant to them and speak with honesty and through action, regardless of the issue. What is the point if you don’t have action behind it?” 

Staff education events helped Beech Mountain to ingrain a sustainability culture.

The Why

Like Kazi, Wright acknowledges that smaller brands have an opportunity to be nimbler without the check and balance system of the bigger players, “but there’s risk in getting things wrong if they go too fast,” he says. “Just like the bigger players, smaller brands can look like opportunists if their guests and followers and fans haven’t seen them take a stand on an issue before, especially with DEI.”

“Can you position the brand as supporting a divisive topic without alienating those carrying a counter viewpoint in your orbit? It’s not easy, but it’s doable,” he says.

Focus on the why. One key is not to get caught up in polarized vocabulary, says Kazi. “I learned that people hear phrases or see certain representatives and immediately put up their defensive barriers,” she says. “Terms like ‘climate change,’ ‘DEI,’ and ‘LGBTQ+’ are politicized to the point that people don’t even hear the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of the steps that are being taken. This is where storytelling comes into play—find ways to use language that doesn’t automatically cause barriers to certain groups.”

Put another way, it’s important for a business to be able to articulate why it supports a particular cause or issue. 

Associated Risks

Asserting a political stance, no matter the issue, comes with associated risks. 

“Reactionary stances on political issues provide way more risks and pitfalls to your brand than not reacting to an issue,” Kazi notes. “If you do want to take a stance on an issue, just know that you may lose customers.”

A strong product. Former ski area marketer Dave Amirault, recent founder of marketing and tech agency Figure 11, notes that polarizing certain market segments is less of a concern for big brands because their products are so strong. 

For instance, he says that while not everyone may agree with the issues Apple supports, people will still buy the company’s products. The same is true for the most renowned ski areas: people may not agree with the area’s message, but they will still seek out the on-mountain experiences it offers. 

Build a Foundation

“Smaller brands may want to sand the edges off of their message and train their audience over time about what it is that your business stands for,” Amirault suggests. “This allows you to learn, figure out what resonates, and then lean-in harder over time.” 

And that audience might grow from within, says Kazi. “It’s necessary to build a culture within a department and then allow that department to inspire others to do the same,” she says. “This is the type of grassroots effort that is worthwhile.” 

Amirault agrees: a resort’s biggest advocates are its staff. He cites an example from a former employer that developed an environmental program and highly encouraged staff involvement. 

“Our goal was to make it something that we could all be proud of,” he says. “If you develop a program that your staff is proud of, they will share that message with their friends and followers. As it turns out, when a brand shares their story, people are less apt to believe in it, but when the employees are part of the effort and proud to share the information, it has a more impactful way of resonating.” 

And employees should be invited to the table for an open dialogue, says Beech’s Freeman. “Your role as an employee of a company is to look at issues facing your company and work with your leadership team to intertwine their values into action,” she says. “An approach to creating any change begins with an honest conversation.” 

“The more we can get young and diverse voices into the rooms where decisions are made,” adds Kazi, “the more diverse and applicable your ideas will be.”