SAM Magazine—Scottsdale, Ariz., May 9, 2017—At last weekend's National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) annual convention in Scottsdale, the organization presented 2017 Lifetime Achievement Awards to NSAA president Michael Berry and The Fairbank Group's founder and chairman, Brian Fairbank.

Michael Berry
Berry is retiring from his role as NSAA president at the end of this year after 25 years leading the organization. He has successfully shepherded NSAA and the industry through unparalleled challenges, growth, and consolidation; assaults from climate change as well as demographic and economic forces; and an intensified legal and regulatory environment.

Berry has been involved in the ski industry for nearly 60 years. He began at Hunter Mountain at age 13, helping to clear ski trails with dynamite from the back of a pickup at Hunter. Subsequently, Berry worked at Keystone and Vail, Colo., and Sun Valley Resort, Idaho. In 1980, at age 32, Berry was named vice president of Kirkwood Ski Resort and became the resort's president five years later, while also serving two terms as the chairman of the California Ski Industry Association Board of Directors.

NSAA hired Berry in 1992 to right the organization's ship following the disbanding of the United Ski Industries Association, the short-lived organization that combined the Snowsports Industry Association and NSAA. In his role as president, Berry also served on the National Forest Foundation, the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association, the FIS World Alpine Ski Championships Committee, and the board for the Colorado State University's Master of Tourism Program.

Berry's ability to articulate pro-industry positions with the media has been one of his most important achievements. Following the back-to-back skiing fatalities of Michael Kennedy at Aspen, Colo., and Sonny Bono at Heavenly Resort, Calif., during the 1997-98 New Year's holiday, for example, Berry handled intense media scrutiny on industry safety, appearing in several media outlets while his team at NSAA faxed more than 600 press releases and skier safety information packets to ski areas, state associations, and scores of media organizations. NSAA had created a collection of industry “fact sheets” that, even to this day, provide at-the-ready industry statistics, context, and information for the media, answering common inquiries about the sport.

In 2000, Berry began promoting NSAA's Growth Model, urging ski areas to improve guest engagement and expand marketing incentives and pass options. His emphasis on resort trial and conversion initiatives has kept the industry focused on this essential aspect of business.

Equally important, Berry and his team developed safety and educational programs and elevated the organization's regional and national conferences and tradeshows. He emphasized state and federal advocacy programs to positively influence public policy on industry concerns, including federal lands, water and environmental regulations, labor and employment issues, risk management and tort reform, and aerial tramway guidelines.

For all his contributions, Berry was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame this year.

Brian Fairbank
Brian has been a ski area developer, owner, and founder of The Fairbank Group—a regional resort operation company with three New England ski areas, a renewable energy company, and a snowmaking manufacturing venture. His approach to life and career is celebrated for his enthusiasm for the sport, his passion and commitment to the growth of the industry, and his overall zest and infectious good humor.

Fairbank has led Jiminy Peak, Mass., for nearly five decades. He grew up visiting ski areas throughout the Northeast, predominantly in western New York at Kissing Bridge and Holiday Valley. He became a PSIA-certified ski instructor in his teens, and by the age of 23, in 1969, was general manager of Jiminy Peak, which thrived under his leadership.

Fairbank maintained his ski teaching credentials, serving as a PSIA examiner from 1971 to 1986, and serving as a member of the PSIA Demo Team. He became co-owner of Jiminy Peak in 1985 with Joe O'Donnell of Boston Culinary Group. In 2008, he launched The Fairbank Group with his son, Tyler. They added Cranmore Mountain Resort, N.H., in 2010, and Bromley Mountain, Vt., in 2011.

In 1997, Fairbank was the driving force and chief architect of Mountains of Distinction, an affiliation of 21 ski resorts in the Midwest and East that provided a means for its members to gain many of the same benefits and efficiencies as larger multi-area companies, including increased purchasing power, inter-resort season pass benefits, and sharing of business growth initiatives and best practices.

He served on the NSAA Board of Directors from 1990 to 2004, and as board chairman from 2000 to 2002. He received NSAA's Sherman Adams Award for an Eastern resort operator in 2005.
Fairbank is also recognized as a ski industry pioneer in green energy and sustainability. In 2007, Jiminy Peak installed a 1.5MW wind turbine—and was received the Golden Eagle Award for sustainability in 2008. In 2016, the Fairbank Group constructed a 2.3MW solar facility, making Jiminy 100 percent powered by renewable energy.

Now 71, Fairbank is still developing industry-leading initiatives. He launched Snowgun Technologies in 2015 with son Tyler and partner Joe O'Donnell. The company has produced an energy-efficient snowgun and, prior to the 2016-17 season, converted all three Fairbank Group resorts entirely to the new technology.

Fairbank has also been one of the industry's leaders in growing the sport. During his lengthy tenure on the NSAA board, Fairbank helped develop and launch NSAA's Model for Growth in 1999, which was designed to increase participation in the sport of skiing. Jiminy Peak was selected as a demonstration resort for advancing new skier retention initiatives through the adoption of Beginner Learning Centers, which became the model adopted by many resorts. More recently, the Fairbank Group has been among the first to adopt Snow Operating's Terrain Based Learning program.

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