Selling, informing, booking, motivating, entertaining—you name it—ski areas are doing it on the web.

“Our business aligns very well with Internet users,” says Rob Megnin, marketing director at Hunter Mountain, N.Y. “It makes more and more sense to have a greater presence in that medium.”

“The Internet is the number one way we communicate with our guests and customers,” says Krista Perry, marketing director at Park City, Utah.

“We do everything through the web,” echoes Jeff Kiehle, marketing manager at Mad River Mountain, Ohio. “It’s the foundation of everything we do.”

“We have a very complicated product we’re selling,” explains Ian Arthur, vice president of sales and marketing at Vail/Beaver Creek. “We’re selling vacations. There are many elements that go into the decision—lodging, lifts, lessons, equipment, dining, how to get there. Where to play at the resort. There’s a lot of information you need to provide. The web is the most effective and efficient way to do that. It’s our number one tool.”

The numbers help explain why. Perry said Park City’s research shows that more than 80 percent of its visitors plan their vacations online. John McColly, marketing director at Mountain High, Calif., said the ski area’s website receives 150,000 visitors who view several million pages every month. And with simple web tools, ski areas can get detailed information on each and every visitor and their preferences. They can use the web to move skiers to come to the area as little as one to two days out. The possibilities are endless. No wonder ski areas are putting more and more resources online. Here’s a look at a few of them:


It’s Content, Stupid
“A website has two main purposes,” Arthur says. “The first is commerce, to actually do business, educate people about the resort. The second is entertainment. A website needs to be a place people want to come back to.”

Debbie Moore, marketing director at Waterville Valley, N.H., calls this second purpose “making the web sticky.” “We’re spending a lot of money sending people to the web,” Moore says. “Now we need to make it sticky, keep them coming back.”

Waterville, in fact, is hiring a new web content provider to do just that. “We have a position to fill and instead of hiring a person to handle traditional press relations, this person will be responsible for all new media,” Moore says. Things like providing content on MySpace.com, the popular web hangout for teenagers, writing blogs and e-mail broadcasts, filming video at different spots around the mountain several times a day and posting it on Waterville’s website.

“There’s so much out there for people to look at,” Moore says. “It’s all about content, and this person will provide that content. We want to be more targeted, more focused on what we send out.”

Moore says Waterville will also appeal to users for content. “We want to find a way to make sure communication from us is very relevant, that people will take the time to look at it.”

Park City is also working to make its website more interactive and sticky. The area has started a blog—“it’s a great way to let people know what’s going on at the mountain,” Perry says—and has opened a MySpace.com account. “That demographic [teens] goes there to communicate with their friends. This is a way for them to add Park City as a friend.”

Park City is also unveiling a personal mountain planner that allows visitors to type in their ability level, terrain preferences, and other information and receive a personalized day tour printout of the mountain. “A lot of customers weren’t experiencing the entire mountain,” Perry says. “This lets them get a detailed tour based on their ability level, the type of day they want (easy or hard), terrain preferences and so forth.” The planner also gives skiers and snowboarders quantitative data such as vertical feet they can cover on the tour. “It’s a more personal way to communicate with our guests,” Perry says.

Like Waterville, Park City has realigned its marketing department and hired a new director of interactive media to manage all of its web content.

Keeping websites fresh is the big challenge. Webcams are one popular way to do that. Mad River Mountain has three. Mountain High had four, and is adding two more. Mission Ridge, Wash., is adding a second one that will double as a summer weather cam for a Seattle TV station. “It’ll help keep Mission Ridge’s name out there during the summer,” says Jerri Barkley, marketing manager.

Some areas, however, pass on webcams. Snowshoe, W.V., has taken its out; Hunter never had them. “We have a different philosophy about webcams,” Megnin said: the real-time view of the mountain can also show real-time crowds. There is such a thing as providing too much information.

In addition to webcams, many areas are putting streaming video and interactive mountain maps on their sites, although Park City is the first with a mountain planner.
Where Are the Brochures?

Not surprisingly, the emergence of the web as the number one communication tool has come at the expense of other media. Vail has stopped printing a brochure. (Beaver Creek still does one, but only because the local lodges wanted—and paid—for it.)

“The web is a much more effective and efficient way to do a brochure,” Arthur says, noting that 30 percent more online brochures were downloaded last year than were distributed in hard copy two years ago.

Mountain High prints 100,000 fewer brochures than 10 years ago. “We used to do an all-encompassing, every-bit-of-information brochure,” McColly says. “Now it’s more of an emotional piece.”

Areas are also cutting back on traditional print, radio and TV ads. “Radio, even TV, is so fragmented it’s really difficult to reach people even if you go after a certain demographic,” says Bill Henne, marketing director at Ascutney, Vt.

Most areas still do traditional advertising, just less of it—and most of it aims to drive people to the web. “It’s important to reach an audience that has not heard of you,” says Andrea Smith, communications director at Snowshoe, W.V. “If they’re going to your website they’ve already heard of you.”

“Radio and TV are still important for telling people about your website,” Kiehle agrees. But so is the web, and more and more areas are advertising their websites online.

The Internet is also drastically affecting ski show attendance, where the audience has been flat for several years. “We’ve cut back on ski shows,” Megnin says. “It’s too easy for people to call up a website and get the information they want. Ski shows have been the main information gathering point and sales point, but I think the shows have to change their paradigm. They have to entertain.”

But the web may have that one covered, too.

The SAMMY Guest Editor’s Take
Great comments and insight by all.

But what’s missing from this picture? (Hint: Think small.)

I’ll bet the average nine-year-old surfs the web better than 50 percent of SAM readers and that kids can play online games better than 95 percent of you. And kids make up 100 percent of your future customers.

The Internet has made it efficient and effective to talk to all your customers, including those who aren’t old enough to drive. But, your brain will have to shift another few degrees to understand kids and the Internet. Little guys use the web in ways unlike teenagers and adults. Kids don’t shop or plan vacations. Basically, they goof off and have fun. Here are a few other tips that we and our resort partners have learned from the Snow Monsters and Next Snow Search programs.

1. Don’t confuse “Mom” content with kids’ content. Kids have no interest in the details about ski school, childcare, etc. In fact, don’t use the words “children,” “safety,” “family,” or “school” in your kids content even if you have messages about those concepts. You gotta be sneaky.

2. Fun, Funny, Fun, Funny, Fun, Funny. Add a burp on occasion; you can never go wrong with bodily gasses to get a kid’s attention. If this makes you squeamish, close your eyes and let someone else handle the content.

3. Games. Use ’em. If you think downloading a page to color at home is cool, go to the back of the class.

4. Use kid graphics, fonts, and photos. It’s a must to get their attention. Young friends don’t let friends do Arial and Times New Roman.

5. Don’t send e-mail to kids. It’s unnecessary, rude, and potentially dangerous. Comply with COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) even though the Supreme Court says you don’t have to.

6. And make sure that kids don’t have to dig through your website to find their activities and content—they won’t. Put their button on your front page AND make it a fun graphic that lets everyone know it’s for kids. Don’t let the marketing VP or webmaster declare that the Kids’ Button must be graphically consistent with the rest of your design.

This a long-term effort. The ROI types may challenge spending on kids’ online content. But the kids who visit your website are the most likely prospects to be dedicated, lifelong snow addicts. Do you want to give Nintendo, Disney, and the NFL a head start on reaching your customers? If you think I’m kidding, check out the NFL homepage and click on “kids” or link directly to www.NFLrush.com. The time to court your future big spenders is now. —Jack Turner