What single factor has had the biggest impact on the ski resort industry over the last 40 years? What will have the biggest impact over the course of the next five years? We posed these two questions to 18 resort managers and the responses are surprisingly varied. But before diving into our survey, we’ll start with a few words from Felix Kagi, president of Paoli Peaks, Ind.:
“The most significant factor in the ski resort industry in the last 40 years? Huh. Guess I’m going to give my age away now. Yeah, I too am one of those who refuses to get past his 50th birthday. The receding hairline and the wrinkles, however, are giving me away.
“Indeed, skiing has come a long way in the last 40 years.
“Let’s see . . . 1961? Oh yeah, we already had double-laced leather boots, Marker release toes and leather thongs wrapped all around those boots that would spin the skis backward if you hit the potato patch (but under no circumstance could you get free of the skis). Oh yeah, we could get up the hill on chairlifts, too. But snow out of pipes? No, that didn’t exist back then.
“Yes, we’ve come along way in 40 years, breakaway poles, high-speed detachable chairs, carving skis, electronic ticket checking, jumps and ski acrobatics we couldn’t have even dreamed of back then. Oh, then these one-piece wonders came along called snowboards. I took up that lunacy about 10 years ago and have never quite gotten away from it, though I did not get either an ear or nose ring, like some of the other boys. Every year I promise myself, ‘I’m gettin’ too old for that boardin’, I’m gonna get me a pair of them carvin’ skis and start skiing again.’ You know, I’ve tried it and didn’t have any fun, so I’m sticking to boarding for a while longer. Not bad for a guy who thinks he’s not yet old enough to take up golf.
“Candidly, I’d say that snowmaking has been the industry’s most significant development in the last 40 years.”
Kagi’s last sentiment was echoed by 12 of the 17 other respondents. “There is a very high correlation between the growth of the industry and snowmaking,” says Dick Kun, president of Snow Summit, Calif. Pam Murphy, vice president at Mammoth Mountain, Calif., agrees. “While [a good year] can be attributed to good marketing, new facilities, product development and guest service, none of these would have mattered if we weren’t able to cover our slopes with snow.” Indeed, clear across the country, snowmaking was given the nod as one of the most important aspects of running a ski resort. “I know of at least one Midwest resort that would likely be out of business today if it were not for snowmaking,” says Jim MacInnes, president of Crystal Mountain, Mich.
Coming in second on the list of biggest impacts since 1961 was grooming, with five votes. “For most skiers, it is no longer about conquering the mountain,” says Okemo Mountain, Vt., owners, Tim and Diane Mueller. “Rather it is about being pampered with an experience that allows them to totally relax. Consequently, they want trails…that are perfect and, for most skiers, not too challenging.” It seems the days of bumpy runs are long gone. “When I think back to the quality of the snow surface I learned to ski on and what we offer now, the difference is striking,” says Dennis Harmon, president of Heavenly Ski Resort, Calif.
But where would all this great snow and new grooming techniques be without people to slide on it? Four of our group named snowboarding as having had a major impact on our industry. Heavenly’s Harmon says, “Snowboarding has changed everything—the way we groom, terrain parks, retailing, rental operations, ski school, signage, special events, uniforms, risk management, and on.” Michael Murphy, VP and GM of Chestnut Mountain, Ill., says, “As a Midwest operator, I believe the biggest impact on our industry has to be snowmaking, although snowboarding may be equally as important.”
Continuing with the theme of customers, three respondents chose demographics, namely the baby boom generation, as a contributor to the success of the ski resort industry during the past four decades. “The ski industry has been joined at the hip with the boomers ever since they (actually we) came along,” says John Kirchner, GM at Wintergreen, Va. “The development, progress and well-being of the industry has followed, and continues to follow, the life cycle of baby boomers.”
The advent of the real estate market registered on two radar screens in our survey. “One of the biggest impacts on skiing in the last 40 years is real estate and the growth of the second-home market,” says Jack Sibbach, marketing director at Sun Valley, Idaho. Expanding on the idea, Bill Jensen, senior VP and COO of Vail, Colo., stated, “With the expansion of their bed bases (starting with the condominiums of the 70s evolving to the trophy homes of the 90s) and all the ancillary services that have increased the sophistication of the experience, resorts redefined a sport with roots based in a primitive sense of adventure.”
But skiers still need to get up the hill, and two resort managers in our survey chose detachable lift technology as being very influential. “Detachable chairlifts greatly improved the experience for our guests,” says Harmon, “but they also greatly increased the capital cost and operating cost to provide that experience.” Going one step further, David Crowley, GM of Wachusett Mountain, Mass., says “Countless areas with good access and good terrain have fallen by the wayside because of a failure to reinvest and keep up with the technology.”
Rounding out the list of biggest impacts in the last 40 years were equipment for skiers, better transportation, the Internet (According to Jensen, “The Internet…has redefined the ski report.”), consolidation, the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley in 1960 (Michael Collins, president of Big Mountain, Mont., says “[They] created the North American consumer interest in skiing as a sport and for recreation as full TV coverage…was beamed across the U.S.”), and finally, good ’ole Mother Nature: “If there was a major shift in the weather pattern,” says Jeff Kohnstamm, president of Timberline Lodge, Ore., “there was one in our industry, as well.”
Having looked back, respondents were asked to predict what will influence the near future. First on the list was competition for the recreationalist’s time and money. “There is a tremendous diversity of choice for vacation dollars now that didn’t exist four decades ago,” says Brian Fairbank, president and CEO of Jiminy Peak and Brodie, Mass. Most industry personnel who chose competition as being a factor over the next five years, also added the need for ski areas to adapt and offer more. “Industry growth will depend on how fast we can convince guests and potential customers that we are ‘winter sports recreational areas’ and not just ski areas,” says Steven Showalter, GM at Massanutten, Va. Mammoth’s Murphy echoed Showalter: “The competition for this business is stronger than ever, and decisions we make regarding our facilities, products and services will be vital to our success.”
Weighing in with four votes for influence over the next five years were the echo boomers. “Since we have a split in our customer base between the aging baby boomers and a surge of echo boomers,” says David Riley, GM of Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore., “the ability of resort operators and marketing people to penetrate and retain both groups of customers will drive not only short-term performance, but set the stage for long-term performance.” Kirchner, however, cautions, “If snowboarders prove to have a much shorter life cycle than skiers traditionally have, then I am concerned that the future of the ski resort industry will remain connected to the baby boom generation much longer than … is healthy.”
Not surprisingly, environmental issues were recognized as having the ability to impact our future. Kohnstamm warns, “The black hat is off the timber industry and on the recreation industry. If initiatives such as ‘Sustainable Slopes’ do not resonate, we could have significant public relations challenges ahead.” Crowley agrees and states, “A big challenge for the ski industry … will be to regain the environmental high ground.”
Since Mother Nature isn’t going anywhere, it was also cited as a potential impact for the future, “if global warming is a reality,” says Scott Bender, president and COO, Seven Springs, Pa.
In the current climate of discounting, two area execs cited it as a major factor over the next five years. “Discounting hasn’t brought the new skiers and boarders we had hoped to attract to the industry,” claim the Muellers. “Instead, we steal market share from each other and create a customer expectation that they never pay full price.”
With two votes, shaped-ski technology might also have an impact on our future. “I don’t know anyone who skis on current ski technology who wouldn’t acknowledge that they are skiing better today than ever,” says Jensen. “As the existing skier market finally adopts this technology, it will extend the baby boom generation’s commitment to skiing for the next five years and provide broader athletic appeal to the next generation of skiers.”
Rounding out the choices were time poverty, over-pricing and the legal environment (“There are too many lawyers looking to make a buck,” says Kagi.).
In taking the responses as a whole, it might be safe to say that the past 40 years were spent getting people up and down the hill in a comfortable manner and the future will depend on getting more folks to come and enjoy all our hard work.
