USIA staffs up with seven appointments
Heading the list of important new staff appointments at USIA is Sid Roslund, who has been appointed director of membership/technical services, filling somewhat the same role as Chris Stoddard did at NSAA. He will coordinate all educational programs and publications and all aspects of USIA’s membership services. He will also serve as staff liaison to the USIA ANSI B77 Accredited Standards Committee. Roslund has previously served on that committee. Most recently he has been with Von Roll Tramway. Roslund’s new administrative assistant is Christine Bandis.
Appointed to the position of director of PR/Publicity is Mary Jo Tarallo, a columnist for the Baltimore Evening Sun and contributor to The Ski Industry Letter. Among other duties, she will be responsible for directing the efforts of Cone Communications, the ski industry’s public relations firm.
Also in the marketing department, Stacey O’Sullivan is promotional programs manager and Jeannie Jones is marketing coordinator. Two additions have been made to USIA’s accounting department, Suzanne Aboulhosn and Angela Feigley.
These additions bring USIA staffing to 34, compared to a total of 38 between the pre-merger staffs of NSAA and SIA.
A comparison of total payrolls was “not available” from USIA, but payroll for the current staffing is believed to be higher.
Area Expansion activity muted; new lifts down
Seen as a whole, investment in plant at North American ski resorts was muted. There were some exceptions, of course — Deer Valley in Utah moved more than a million yards of earth in the course of linking its new ski terrain to the existing system … Sunday River committed $2.1 million on a new summit lodge, a snowmaking expansion and six new grooming vehicles … Schweitzer Basin in Idaho is putting itself on the map as a major destination resort with the start of a huge expansion that includes a detachable quad in the 5,000-plus VTFH range … Sugarbush is installing two new quads, one a detachable … and in Canada, new lift construction ran proportionately ahead of the U.S.
However, the exceptions cited above do not change the total count of new lifts, which will be in the two dozen range for the U.S., with an additional 21 in Canada. To match these lows one would have to go back to the very early 1950s.
USIA marketing report
Both the USIA marketing committee and USIA’s marketing staff report that everything is on track for the industry’s promotions for the coming season, but at presstime there was little specific that had gelled.
The marketing committee has assigned itself into task forces, each with a specific program or project to be responsible for. Bill Stenger, the committee’s chairman, will monitor the activities of all the task forces. These task forces, Stenger says, will enable the committee to give guidance to the relatively new marketing team being assembled in McLean. “This close direction we can give will be important, I think,” said Stenger.
Much progress seems to have been made in organizing regional tie-ins with the national program, and the commitment for these efforts appears high.
The two biggest worries faced by the committee are, 1) making the best possible arrangements for sponsorship(s); and 2) getting the highest possible participation in industry contributions at a time of economic uncertainty, together with all the uncertainties occasioned by the Iraqi confrontation. It is the firm conviction of the marketing committee that, difficult though it may be, these are the times when it becomes doubly important to market hard and keep the promotional ball that was launched last year active and rolling.
With regard to sponsors, though many situations were reportedly in the negotiation stages, none had materialized by mid-August, and it was acknowledged that it would get increasingly difficult for a sponsor to get full involvement in, and identification with, promotional programs that had to be finalized very soon.
With regard to participation, especially by ski areas and suppliers, the “Ski It To Believe It!” program was still being viewed very favorably, but there was also a lot of wait-and-see when it came to dollar commitment. The marketing committee has specific levels of funding which must be covered by pledges before the major media buys are made. At presstime it was turning into a race to reach those minimums and not have to postpone the scheduled November launch until the January period. Such a postponement is, however, seen as an option. The early October meetings of the USIA executive committee and board are seen as forums for major marketing decisions for the industry.
Mixed reviews for Boston convention
Post-convention research has been released that studies the reaction of attendees and exhibitors at the USIA Convention and Trade Show this past May in Boston. The level of approval among ski area attendees was high on all scores, including site, speakers, topics, trade show. They also confirmed that their most important reason for attending was “education opportunities,” and their responses gave an enthusiastic endorsement to the programs provided.
Among the supplier members, however, most of whom were exhibitors, there was considerable dissatisfaction — more than was recorded for the previous year’s event at Anaheim. For instance, “cost/value to you to participate” was rated as good/excellent by only 9 percent of exhibitors, down from an already low 25 percent in 1989. Exhibitors did, however, approve of the changes in trade show scheduling this year.
The research, commissioned by USIA, was conducted by the Colorado-based Rosell Remmen Cares organization. Attitudes and reasons for not attending were also asked of areas and suppliers who did not participate at this year’s events.
Snowshoe Resort sold to Tokyo Tower Development
A Japanese company which specializes in the development of leisure and recreational facilities in Japan has purchased Snowshoe Mountain Resort, the largest and most popular ski area in West Virginia. The price was in the $20 million range. The seller was Ski Venture, Inc., a consortium of several financial institutions that had been operating it following earlier financial difficulties.
The acquisition is this Japanese company’s first investment in the United States. According to Hiroshi Kojima, senior director of the company’s development division, “Snowshoe is somewhat unique in the winter resort community in that its corporate operations are vertically integrated. This gives management the ability to positively influence, package and market the complete vacation experience.”
The purchasers indicated they will retain the resort’s current management team headed by Danny Seme, who will be Snowshoe’s new president. Spencer Videon, formerly CEO of the Aspen Resort Association, is the new chairman of the board.
From Australia: a daring snowmaker for all seasons
From downunder in Sydney, Australia, comes news that could turn an already turbulent snowmaking scene completely upside down. Andrew French has been making snow at ambient temperatures of up to 90 degrees F.
Secret of French’s Polar Technologies system is compressed liquid air to produce snow. The air liquifies at -297 degrees F and is used in a specially designed gun which mixes water with the liquified air. “When we release it into the air,” French says, “it thinks it should be a snowflake so it turns into one.”
French demonstrated his invention by making snow on a ramp at the edge of Sydney harbor (roughly the equivalent of Los Angeles) and skiing down it into the water. Obviously possessed with a flair for publicity, French also made snow at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo for the benefit of their snow leopards. There was wide press pick-up of both events.
French sees enormous potential for his invention, not only at existing ski areas through retrofitting with a third line, but also for teaching slopes in metropolitan centers. He has taken out more than 40 patents on his technology.
Terminal collapse
What is being described as a “freak accident,” happened mid-August at Gunstock, NH when the top terminal of their triple broke away, sliding 28 feet downhill. It happened sometime between closing on a Friday and when it was discovered the next morning. The path the terminal took suggests it must have been airborne at one point.
The pinning was standard rebar and grout into granite ledge. No immediate answers were forthcoming and the investigation was continuing at presstime. General Manager Dick Tapply said Doppelmayr was proceeding with repairs and the lift would be in operation for the coming season.
Ski Area rankings and ratings are announced
The autumnal delivery by the consumer ski press of their rankings of ski resorts has already become a tradition. Both Snow Country and Ski Magazine tinkered with their methodologies, and the results are in their respective September and October issues.
The one reality that is a given is that Vail ends up on top no matter how you measure. After that it’s a scramble, and each magazine has enough categories so that very few areas are left without something to crow about.
Comparisons between the results are inevitable, but should be done knowing that different methodologies and sampling methods make it a game without much meaning. Below we show Ski‘s top ten out of the “Top 40” their readers chose. Next to it we show Snow Country‘s appraisals by readers, which is the most comparable to Ski‘s methodology. Then we show Snow Country‘s overall rankings, which combine their readers’ appraisals with their own dimension index.
| Ski | Snow Country Readers | Snow Country Combined |
|---|---|---|
| Vail | Deer Valley | Vail |
| Whistler/Blackcomb | Aspen Mountain | Park City |
| Aspen Mt. | Vail | Squaw Valley |
| Deer Valley | Sugarloaf | Mt. Bachelor |
| Mt. Bachelor | Steamboat | Steamboat |
| Steamboat | = Mt. Bachelor | Mammoth Mt. |
| Mt. Ste. Anne | = Park City | Breckenridge |
| Snowbird | Keystone | Jackson Hole |
| Park City | Sun Valley | Snowmass |
| Snowmass | Sugarbush | Keystone |
Geier heads Stratton
Hans Geier, a 30-year veteran of the ski industry, and most recently CEO at Steamboat, has been named senior vice president and general manager of the Stratton Corporation, according to Kaz Sakaguchi, president of Victoria U.S.A., Inc., Stratton’s parent company. Geier will report directly to Sakaguchi.
During his nine-year tenure at Steamboat he guided the resort through a $43 million capital expansion, featuring seven new lifts, two on-mountain restaurants and an extensive snowmaking system.
Geier has served on the boards of NSAA, CSCUSA and USIA; he served two years as chairman of Colorado Ski Country.
People
At Kirkwood, Calif., Jack Wolf moves out of his marketing seat to go entrepreneurial with a PR firm in his home town of Santa Rosa … Mark Lowenstern, a veteran sales and marketing coordinator in the Sierra ski industry, takes over as Marketing Director at Sierra Ski Ranch … At Breckenridge, Art Bowles has been named Senior VP/GM. He has been with the resort for 12 years … Vince Scott, formerly at Diamond Peak, Nev., has joined Alpine Meadows as Director of Sales; moving in behind him to Diamond Peak at Ski Incline is Eric Severance, who previously was at Mount Ashland, Oreg. … Intermountain Ski Area Association’s annual “Golden Wrench” award went this year to Kent Matthews, Mountain Manager at Snowbasin, Utah. He has been with the resort for 25 years … At Beaver Creek, Michasel Beckley is promoted to Director of Mountain Operations, a new position … At Sunday River, Me., Bob Harkins has been appointed Director of Skiing. He has had double duty as Trail Maintenance Supervisor and coordinating racing events … New Chief Financial Officer at Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho is Brian Kruk … Promotions at Vail Associates went to long-tenured executives Dave Larson, Paul Testwuide and Chris Ryman, who became VA’s Managing Directors for, respectively, lift operations, mountain operations and the ski schools at Vail and Beaver Creek … Fabled gold medal downhiller and “bad boy” of the 1984 Olympics, Bill Johnson, has joined Crested Butte as ski ambassador … David Shields is named Sales/Special Events Assistant at Park City … At Loon Mt., N.H., Thomas Haas has been appointed Ski School Director — a return home for him. Also at Loon, Ruth F. Berkeley was named Personnel Manager … Ralph DiGisco is new Lodge Maintenance Supervisor at Ski Windham. Also at Windham, Kurt Messerschmidt, a Cornell Hotel School graduate, is the new Food and Beverage Director.
Workshop on mountain resort design, development
Pete Seibert and Alex Cushing, founders of Vail and Squaw Valley, respectively, will be among the speakers at a four-day workshop September 29 to October 3 at the Whistler Centre for Business and the Arts. The workshop title is “Mountain Resort Design and Development.”
The subject matter ranges from Mountain Use Planning (resort villages of the world, recreational carrying capacity, computer-assisted modelling) to Managing Growth — a case study of the city of Aspen. Marketing, design and real estate are also covered.
Speakers include prominent consultants (Jim Branch, Bill Kane, Paul Matthews) as well as many people with distinguished records in resort community planning, development and management, together with designers and architects.
Tuition is $975 (Can.), accommodations not included. For more information, call (604) 932-8310, or fax a request to (604) 932-4461.
Also scheduled for the Whistler Centre for Business and the Arts is a two-day forum on Employee Housing in Resort Communities. Case studies will be presented, and round-table discussions will focus on such topics as models of authority, political and legal processes, feasibility studies, incentive schemes and control mechanisms.
Stoddard returns to industry training
It was back to the future this summer for Chris Stoddard, NSAA’s training and education specialist, who had built up NSAA’s education and training role during his tenure there. He was re-constituting his old Mountain Management Services (MMS) to serve the training needs of the ski area industry.
For starters, Stoddard has released a new video that highlights many of the changes in the 1990 edition of the ANSI B77.1 Standard. This “how-to” video is part of the new MMS Technical Subjects Series.
MMS is also releasing a Ski Rental Mechanic’s Basic Handbook and a Ski Lift Operations Basic Handbook.
For information on these and other MMS products and services, write Chris Stoddard at Mountain Management Services, 1313 Karth Lake Circle, Arden Hills, Minn. 55112.
Industry Alert: Hang on to your aluminum parts
Larry Wollum, of Von Roll Transport Systems, reports that thieves are moving in on aluminum lift parts.
“We know of two instances in the last six months,” Wollum wrots SAM, “where ski areas have had a large quantity of sheaves and T-bars stolen. Both instances resulted in losses of over $10,000. In one case the sheaves were removed from a lift during a rehabilitation project. The other situation involved storage of a lift pending relocation, along with some aluminum T-bars similarly stored for the summer. The thief in the latter instance actually removed the wooden seats and other hardware at the site, presumably to keep as high a percentage of aluminum as possible.
“We suspect that in both cases the ultimate destination for the aluminum was a distant recycling center. Neither case has been solved as of now, and they probably won’t be.”
In closing, Wollum reminded everyone, “These things are expensive to replace!”
Leewood moves
Leewood Incorporated, formerly Leewood Corporation, which among other activities distributes Semperit ropeway products, has relocated at 6918 Remington Road, Brooksville, Fla., 34602. Telephone is (904) 754-800; FAX is (904) 799-6650.
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 11-13 | Interalpin 90 (Trade show/Seminar) | Kongresshaus, Innsbruck, Austria |
| Nov. 2 | CCSAA Central Regional Meeting | Chicago, Il. |
| Nov. 7-8 | CCSAA Eastern Conference | Trapp Lodge, Stowe, Vt. |
| Jan. 8-10 | USIA Eastern Regional Trade Show | Stratton Mt., Vt. |
| Jan. 16-17 | Midwest Regional Trade Show | Schuss Mt., Mich. |
| Jan. 28-30 | Western Regional Trade Show | Park City, Utah |
| March 18-23 | SIA Show (USIA) | Las Vegas Convention Center |
| April 12-15 | CCSAA Annual Convention | Jasper Park Lodge, Alberta, Canada |
| May 12-17 | USIA (NSAA) Trade Show & Convention | Bally Reno, Reno, Nev. |
