And the revenue stream wore white.

Okay, so ski resort operators are way too classy to come right out and say it like that, but truth be known, more and more often today, “off season” revenue streams like weddings, corporate events and other large private parties are helping resorts do all they can for their winter guests. From seeding the funds for a gondola to justifying the building of an epic mountaintop lodge to, yes, even increasing staffing, weddings and other events are making it happen.

Look at Crystal Mountain, Wash., where, this coming winter, a state-of-the-art gondola premieres. The resort’s operators are not shy in admitting that gondola, while welcomed by skiers and riders, was built on a base of summer business.

Crystal has been actively marketing the summer event/wedding scene for three years now, after realizing through a few wedding requests here and there that they were sitting on something special: a one-of-a-kind view of Mount Rainier, a lovely top-of-the-mountain lodge called “Summer House,” and a built-in audience with an average of 1.7 million guests each year to the nearby national park.

Their goal was to bring in an added $1 million in revenue annually with the new gondola and summer business. So far, says resort spokesman Justus Hyatt, “We’re blowing it out of the water.”

A similar setting can be found at Mount Rose at Tahoe, where the Winter Creek Lodge debuted in the winter of 2009-2010. Located 4,000 feet above the nearby valley and with a lake view, the lodge was, as resort marketing director Mike Pierce says, “one of the big projects in our evolution.” In the winter months, the resort wanted the lodge to help guide skiers and riders over to the lesser-used side of the mountain, thus thinning out crowds and spreading out folks on the trails. But that in itself does not increase revenue.

And so, here come the bride(s). “Through summer business, this building is designed to pay for itself,” says Pierce. “And the profits will definitely benefit our winter business. Its primary purpose is as a winter day lodge. But if we can keep it busy and in business all year round, it’s only going to be a good thing.”

Mount Rose hosted about 12 weddings its first year running the Winter Creek Lodge, but as of fall 2010, it had already seen an increase in requests.

One reason might be the parties they hosted in the building for their loyal customers. Showing them just how the place can look in a party setting planted the seed for guests to consider using it for special events. “We expect to quadruple business soon,” says Pierce.

STAYING POWER
Not that this is a totally new concept. At Shanty Creek, Mich., summer business was at first the only business. In fact, it wasn’t until the resort owners purchased nearby Schuss Mountain in the 1960s that winter came into play. But from the start and until today, weddings and winters make a nice one-two punch. Shanty Creek spokesman Lindsay Southwell says the fond memories that people have from family events and weddings at Shanty Creek in the summer often lures them for ski days and ski trips there in the winter.

“They had such a nice experience here at a wedding or family event that they find they want to come back here in the winter,” she notes, meaning that summer wedding business might actually be creating new skiers and riders.

Shanty has long found that the summer base is a perfect fit logistically for a winter resort. In other words, it’s not just a summer reception hall doubling as a winter skier lodge. “Our driving range is our tubing hill,” she cites as an example. “It was designed as a driving range, but when we looked into putting in a tubing hill we realized the range made a great tubing area. So there it is.”

Tyrol Basin in Wisconsin has been in the summer wedding revenue stream since about 1989 (when the area reopened). But owner/manager Don McKay admits it was more happenstance then brilliant marketing strategy.

“When we reopened, one of our owners was a Swiss chef by trade and operated (a nearby) restaurant.” That chef had in mind to make the base lodge dining more like a Swiss experience than the usual American base lodge fare, and built the kitchen to allow that. But, says McKay, the chef did not “take into account the cuisine preferences of the day skier and kids under 20.” It wasn’t long before weinerschnitzel was replaced by more usual American fare. Left with a gourmet kitchen nonetheless, the ski area considered its options, and started offering weddings.

Now, Tyrol’s summer wedding and party business is thriving. And not just because of the local market. While the area is just a short distance from Madison, many of its summer event clients tend to be from far away. Like, California-far away. “Some are looking for an in-between place for two families. Others have some roots in this area and are looking to come back for a special event,” says McKay. “But we get them from all over.’

Which thrills the owners of hotels, nearby restaurants and even shuttles in the area. “That whole designated-driver thing,” says McKay. “The Holiday Inn Express down the road has a shuttle so we keep them quite busy.”

DOUBLE DUTY
Southwell also points out a great bonus to summer business on a winter mountain: long-term employment opportunities. Shanty Creek is the region’s largest employer, with more than 300 year-round employees. Because jobs can shift from summer to winter, and because summer weddings mean marketing people are needed year round, Shanty Creek is able to hold on to quality employees.

Sugar Bowl, Calif., also fell into the wedding business, with similar staff impact. With the area’s strong base of homeowners, says resort sales and marketing director John Monson, the wedding business took root and just grew, with little marketing effort on their part. Homeowners began hosting weddings at the mountain; “They’d invite their friends and family, who would see the great spot we have and how well weddings work out there, and then those guests became referrals,” Monson says.

Last summer, Sugar Bowl hosted 15 weddings, which Monson figures is close to the maximum they can comfortably host without interfering with other summer activities, such as kid’s camps and a summer dinner series.

And while the revenues won’t fund winter projects or capital improvements, the business boosts staff retention and general maintenance. “We are able to attract—and keep—quality staff that we may not be able to without this summer wedding business,” he says. One example: Sugar Bowl’s executive chef. “We could never attract talent like that were this position not year round,” Monson says.

The summer wedding schedule also makes it necessary to keep buildings and grounds in tip-top shape all year round. “It’s a real positive to have to keep our facilities humming and not boarded up,” he notes. “There is very little wrangling up to do before ski season starts. Things are in great shape.”

Out west at Crystal Mountain, increased summer business is still a new thing, but already the area is realizing it can shift people who were once seasonal (winter) employees into year-round staff. In fact, says Hyatt, some quality professionals who might have had to look elsewhere for full-time, year-round work are now able to stay. She knows what she speaks of: she’s one of them. Her once seasonal winter job is now year round. “I’m thrilled,” she says.

Which may mean a tiny bit of training and some shifts in responsibilities as the seasons change. Tyrol’s McKay says he can take a winter employee and teach them to be an expert mower for the summer, and keep him employed all year round. He himself stays busy since he not only runs the ski resort and the summer events with his wife, but he’s an ordained minister, too, should the need arise for one for an event.

And, echoing others, he appreciates the fact that summer business means keeping things ship-shape all year round. Sure, there’s a cost to that, but it also means better-funded maintenance, and that leads to longer-lasting buildings and grounds. “It’s just good to be running year round,” he says.

More and more, resorts will look to improve their summer offerings. Wedding settings don’t just give a bride and groom an incredibly cool place for vows and scenic wows, but also keep lifts running, lodges pristine and winter skiers living happily ever after.

That’s some party favor.