The Question: I'm looking for an alternative to the beach this summer with my family, I have two kids and was wondering what sort of summer activities your mountain has to offer.

For this edition of Mountain Spy, our intern, Liz Eren, aka 007, once again called a random geographic mix of ski areas, as well as a mix of small, medium and large areas. Liz rated her experiences on a scale from one to ten with some commentary. Liz started her search on-line and then went to the phones. Were there any common themes? Yes. It appears that people who answer our phones are perfectly comfortable with dead air.

Mountain 1, California, Medium Area

Homepage summer graphics: no

One click to summer activities: no

First Contact: automated answering machine, pressed 0 to speak to live representative. Transferred once.

Answering phone: Women, friendly, attempted to be helpful.

SAM: stated question

Staff: Um, we actually don't offer anything at the ski area itself. As far the area though, there is camping, fishing, kayaking and hiking. There is enough that should be able to suit what you're looking for.

SAM: Well I do have two kids who are 5 and 12 so I'm wondering if there is anything specifically for families to do together.

Staff: Well it really depends on what you want to do or what you're interested in. There aren't like designated activities that are geared towards families. You know, we don't offer anything in the summer at the mountain so I'm not exactly sure. It's actually not a good idea to come to the mountain right now because we're doing a lot of construction and it's not the ideal place at the moment.

SAM: Well, OK, but you did say there are activities in the valley so would I be able to just come up and easily find something to do in the area around the mountain?

Staff: Well there is XX cross-country and I know they offer a lot of summer stuff. They're right in the village below us, there is a link from us at xxx.com. We don't list the details of the activities but we do post what local businesses offer. So if you go to our website you should be able to find something.

SAM: Thank you, that should hopefully lead me to somewhere, I'll give that a try.

Staff: No problem, have a nice day.

Rating: 4

Comment: The women tried to give me answers but seemed to get caught in the confusion of explaining to me that the valley offered activities but not the mountain itself. Helped as much as she could without knowing many details and sounded like she was caught off guard. Ultimately led me to the website as a last resort to let me do the investigating myself which didn't lead me very far.



Mountain 2: Midwest, Small Day Area

Home page summer graphics: Yes

One click to summer activities: Yes

Phone First Contact: automated machine, four options, chose summer activities.

Answering phone: Automated person (melancholy voice. . .sounded like his automated dog just died). Gave hours of all activities—mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding, alpine slide, mountain tram. Listed adventure center offerings of rock wall climbing, canoeing and kayaking.

Said that all activities are weather dependent and to please call the adventure center for more detailed information at 555-555-5555.

Very loud beep when the message was over and then hung up on me.

Rating: 4

Comment: A little odd that they didn’t give you an option right away of talking to a person about summer activities. Maybe you shouldn’t solely rely on automated machines as your first impression. Big turn off.

Mountain 3: New Jersey, Large Area

Home page summer graphics: Yes

One click to summer activities: Yes

First Contact: automated service, 6 options, chose guest services.

Answering phone: Young woman, very friendly, patient. Did not rush.

SAM: Stated question

Staff: Well we have the water park, um, there’s ya know a lot of farms in the area to go to and there’s hikes to go on. We have lots of state parks and beaches and horseback riding. Were you looking for something specific that you wanted to do?

SAM: Well, not particularly. I’m coming with my family and I have two kids who are 5 and 12. I was just wondering what you had in terms of maybe age-oriented activities or even anything for the whole family.

Staff: Oh well, yeah, it’s very family-oriented. All the activities can accommodate families, even the water park. There are certain slides and sections for different ages and so on.

SAM: All right, well it sounds like there’s enough to keep us busy.

(Silence. . .will any customer service rep ever understand not to just leave the customer hanging?!)

SAM: Sooo, is there further information on your website where I can get more details?

Staff: Yes, of course there is, you can log onto www.xxx.com and we have special lodging passes, if you choose to book online, that goes along with the special water park passes that you can get for the whole family, if and when you decide to come. It’s a big special combination.

SAM: Well, OK then, thank you.

Rating: 7

Comment: The women was very nice and did seem to try her hardest to tell me what I wanted/needed to hear. But, the silence at the end of the conversation where I had to ask about the website gets minus points.

Mountain 4: Michigan, Medium Area

Home page summer graphics: Yes

One click to summer activities: Yes

First Contact: Woman’s voice, “where may I direct your call.” It sounded so much like an automated voice that I waited a couple of seconds to let my confusion pass.
SAM: Uh, hi. Stated Question.

Staff: OK, I’ll transfer you over to the activities center.
Answering phone: Young male. Really sounded like he hated his job at this point.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: This coming weekend we’ll have the pool open, so it’ll be an outdoor water park. When were you planning on coming?

SAM: I’m not really sure yet. When I do though I was thinking for the day on Saturday, something like that.

Staff: Aright, after the 16th the outdoor program will begin, but before, we’ll have limited things. But after the 16th, the activity park is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., we have mountain biking that is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., there is a fitness center which is also open all day, a climbing wall that is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., we have movie rentals and we can setup canoes and kayaks if we have advance notice, (whoa buddy, take a breath) we have great hiking on the mountain, too.

SAM: OK great, that all sounds fabulous to me. Is all of this offered right at the mountain or are some of these local area activities?

Staff: They’re all right here at the mountain base.

(Waited to be directed to the website or given some sort of lead. Really long pause. . .really long. Tried to see if I could win this time. Nope.)

SAM: Alrighty then, is there a website I can go to to find out more?

Staff: Yeah, there is. (Silence. . .no kidding.)

SAM: (Laughing) Good to know, is there an address?

Staff: Uhh yeah. . .it’s xxx.com. (The silence returns.)

SAM: OK, thanks then, bye.

Rating: 5.5

Comment: I decided right then that customer service reps should be out-of-work children’s entertainers so there’s always some color to the conversation, or some sense of interest in the customer. This guy obviously failed, I would say miserably but he did give me a decent run down of what they had and when it was open. But that is all I’m giving him a little bit of credit for. I got the feeling he was suffering through this job to get a free pass next season. . .cry about it dude.

Mountain 5: Vermont, Large Area

Home page summer graphics: Yes

One click to summer activities: Yes

First Contact: Automated service, waited for customer service rep.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: Right now the only thing that is open is the toll road where you drive your car up and take a hike. Summer attractions open June 24.

SAM: OK. Well can I talk to someone who can give me some information on them?

Staff: Sure, hold on.

Answered: Woman, very nice and patient. Caught her a little off guard but handled it well.

Staff: Well, we have an Alpine slide (silence—not a bad first answer, but a little funny).

SAM: OK, what exactly is that?

Staff: (Silence at first), Um what I would recommend is going to our website. The website is www.xxx.com and it’ll give you a better understanding of what that is specifically, along with all our other activities.

SAM: Oh, OK, I can do that.

Staff: OK good—once you get to our website, click on “Summer at xxx” and then click into mountain activities. It’ll give you detailed information about what we offer, including ticket prices and it also has pictures so you’ll be able to see everything.

Rating: 7.5

Comment: She knew right away it would save us both time if I went to the website. I liked it best that she advised the website before I asked, even gave me directions through the website. Quick phone call. . .but the women was kind, patient and kept it short and sweet.

Mountain 6: New York, Medium Area

Home page summer graphics: Yes

One click to summer activities: Links to regional activities, but it’s a dead end—no following link.

First Contact: Automated machine that talked about next year’s ski pass deadline and then droned on and on and I stopped listening. I was then transferred two times by the automated machine after choosing options which seemed to be appropriate. Eventually told to leave a message. Gave up and hung up.

Rating: 1—just because I feel badly giving a 0.

Comment: It was so annoying that I had to hang out on the phone for 10 minutes and, ultimately, get nothing out of the phone call.

Mountain 7: Colorado, Large Area

Home page summer graphics: Yes

One click to summer activities: Yes

First Contact: Automated machine, chose activity information option.

Answering phone: Younger girl, very polite, enthusiastic.

SAM: Stated question.

Staff: Uhhhh, let’s see here, are you coming this weekend?

SAM: Well I’m not sure yet. I just wanted to see what activities you had to offer.

Staff: Well, your best bet would be to come up later on this month. The mountain actually opens everything on the 27th. As far as activities go we have hiking, mountain biking and we also have things for the kids, let’s see if I can find everything (short pause. . .wondering exactly where she is looking). Right, so we have one of those bunchy uh. . . I’m trying to figure out exactly what they are called, we have the paddle boats and we’re also going to be offering go-carts. Another cool thing that we have is called XXX. I’m guessing you’re familiar with the mountain?

SAM: I’ve skied there a couple times but I’ve never come during the summer.

Staff: All right, well we also have horseback riding and we have a climbing wall just for the kids. Oh right, here it is. . .it’s called the power jump—that’s the bungy thing. We have a mini-golf course as well for the kids.

SAM: Oh yeah great. I was going to say, my two kids are 5 and 12 so I wanted to see what activities they could participate in but it sounds as though you have lots.

Staff: Oh yeah, you have almost everything for the kids. Then there is an everyday pass for $49 with unlimited access to just about everything. Oh yeah! We have a Diggler which is a mountain scooter, which is really awesome. So the kids can take that all over the mountain on the trails and really have a blast. So the passes have unlimited access to the boats, climbing wall, and free equipment if they wanted to take a bike and ride it down mountain on the soft course.

SAM: Oh, great, that pass sounds like a good deal.

Staff: Oh yeah, it’s definitely worth it. Then it’s also really nice if you stay later into the night when you can lay under the stars and watch a movie on the big screen. It’s really awesome for the family. That’s the XX outdoor activity that I was telling you about.

SAM: Well OK then, all sounds wonderful. . .Can I go to your website to find all the details and potentially book something?

Staff: Oh, of course, that’s actually where I’ve been looking this whole time.

SAM: Thanks very much.

Staff: Any time, I hope you come visit us.

Rating: 9.5

Comment: Minus .5 for leaving me to ask about the website, but I got off the phone ready to pack the kids. The girl’s enthusiasm really was the icing on the cake. She wanted to be as helpful as she could and cover as much as she could, and she took her time. She really seemed excited for me to come and visit. Real point booster: She was looking at the website the whole time—it gave me evidence that I could follow up on all of the activities she mentioned to really give me some good details.

Identity Revealed: Copper Mountain