If it were a major league baseball player, Ski Snowstar, Ill., would be Dustin Pedroia. Were it an NBA basketball player, Snow Trails, Ohio, would be Spud Webb. And Boreal, Calif.? If it were a racehorse, it would surely be Seabiscuit.

These highly successful ski resorts are proving—just like those aforementioned athletes—you don’t always have to be the biggest to be the best. Rather, like those athletes, you have to focus on your strengths, hone your natural-born skills, and work darn hard on the rest. Do that, and you’ll come out on top. Just watch Pedroia swing for the rafters in one of his Fenway Park “laser shows.” Big isn’t everything. Sometimes, being smaller can let you become just plain great.

Jody Churich, president and general manager of Boreal, knows this well. Each day she arrives to work, in the shadow of much bigger resorts like Alpine Meadows, Heavenly and other big Tahoe area resorts, she remembers one important goal: Know who you are.


BOREAL: EDGY
“When you are in the company of mega resorts like we are, you have to not just know who you are, but embrace it,” says Churich. “There is no point in trying to be something you are not. The better choice is to focus on who you are and what you can do, and then do that the best you can.”

For Boreal, she says, that has always been about innovation. The area was one of the first to embrace snowboarding back in the early 1980s. That was not a big surprise; Boreal long ago realized it could serve not just as an active learn-to location, but as a sort of cool-stuff Petri dish for winter sports.

If it’s new, vibrant, exciting and just finding its way, it’s bound to turn up at Boreal first. “We are the early adopters who are not afraid to try new things,” says Churich. “Because we are small, we can adopt something new, see how it works and make adjustments quickly.”

Case in point: the giant bag jump Boreal installed last season. “The company came to us, we discussed the benefits and decided we had to do it,” says Churich of the giant bag that big-air lovers can use to train with—they launch confidently, knowing the bag provides a soft, low-impact landing as they practice new tricks. “It’s a cutting-edge tool and it speaks to our core (progression parks and free skiing and riding).”

As with any innovation, she says, there were quirks, and Boreal’s crews improvised as they learned how the bag reacts to things like weather, snowfall and placement. But because Boreal is not a mega-resort, staff were able to focus, fine-tune the installation, and make it work. “I think that really sets us apart from the others,” she says.


SKI SNOWSTAR: THRIFTY
At Ski Snowstar, president and GM Ed Meyer has been working the slopes—and the crowds—for more 30 years now. And while Snowstar is a tiny bump compared to some resorts, its profits keep climbing.

“I don’t know if there is anything magical we do,” says Meyer. “We face the same budget issues our families (customers) do. We must spend wisely.”

In that vein, Meyer approached his board of directors with what was a novel line item proposal five seasons ago: thrash the advertising budget.

“Three percent of our budget was advertising, and I always found that a difficult expense,” he says. Because the area is so weather-dependent, an entire ad campaign could be wiped out by a spell of rain or balmy temperatures. “So we’ve pulled the plug on our advertising,” he says, slashing it by more than 90 percent. “We took it all and plugged it into customer service. Things like a valet wagon from the parking lot, more staff in the rental area, and more staff ready to simply go where they were needed.

“The bottom line? It’s been unbelievable,” he says. “You know, if you make someone feel special, you’ve just created a marketing person. And that’s just what we’ve been doing.” Since making the budget/operations changes, Snow Trails has seen impressive increases in revenue.

Some of that, Meyer admits, comes from a couple of excellent weather winters in a row. But he believes that something like offering a valet wagon makes a small resort special in a way that advertising can’t. “It was nerve-wracking to do, but we did it and it worked out well. How about that?”

He also believes in that age-old mantra of making your employees believe in what they’re representing. And in some ways, he said, this is easier at a smaller resort where the GM can work side by side with, say, a boot fitter in the rental shop on any given day.

“I cannot expect a teenage staffer to put on someone’s boot with a smile if I don’t do it myself from time to time,” he says. “It’s so important to get out there and be part of it all. You cannot get your front-line people to respond if you don’t. And that kind of spirit, up front, makes a big difference.

“You know, we don’t have a mountain. We don’t have a big hill. But we do have the ability to make everyone feel special.”

Meyer also helped his management realize that the usual approach to having a “captive audience,” when it comes to slopeside pricing, is not the best way to instill a sense of customer service in guests. “We price everything, from a burger to a beer to hand warmers, at the same price as the place down the road,” he says. “Our customers respond to that. They appreciate it. They don’t feel like they are getting gouged, and they feel like we respect them. I mean, $6 for a burger? How family-friendly is that?”


SNOW TRAILS: GOOD TIMES
At Snow Trails, president Dave Carto says they are, at their core, sure of who exactly they are, and who their market is.

“We are not competing with Colorado and with the East in the total experience of a ski week or vacation,” he says. Instead, Snow Trails is dedicated to providing a quality Ohio experience to folks on skis and boards.

The resort realized it had a chance to compete, not with huge Colorado resorts, but with other winter activities. It has been promoting a kind of “winter is fun!” experience by increasing their tubing capabilities and making learning to ski and ride less stressful. And they’ve increased their visits each winter.

To make the experience simple, easy and stress-free, or at least as stress-free as possible, Snow Trails revamped its rental system. The area gets large crowds on weekends and week nights—including many customers who have yet to make the commitment of purchasing equipment—and staff heard complaints from their customers that rental lines could last as long as 40 minutes. Realizing they could improve on that and improve the experience, especially for first-timers, the area devised a new “self serve” rental system, one in which those familiar with the system can get right to what they need, and those who need help can get someone by their side in a few moments.

“The first and last place people visit is rentals,” says Carto. “It’s very important that you make a good impression at both those times.”

Tubing plays a key role in expanding the winter sports experience. “The great thing about tubing,” he says, “is it brings in a whole new group of people who can afford to do it and don’t need lessons. We get them out on snow and having fun. In the winter, in Ohio. That’s something.”

Carto says they realized, too, that success requires delivery on the basics. “It all goes back to snowmaking,” he notes. Snow Trails, one of the more southerly of Midwestern ski areas, was one of the first to be completely covered with snowmaking. And since it is in the central highlands of Ohio (yes, there is such a thing), the area experiences lower temperatures than urban areas and can blast the guns more often, assuring folks who might feel rain on their heads in Columbus that there is snow at Snow Trails. “People recognize that when they come here, they are going to find great snow,” Carto says.

Carto also finds that, as a smaller resort, Snow Trails can be more flexible. Say a newbie arrives and signs up for ski lessons. An hour in, the tyro realizes she may just be a snowboarder at heart. When that happens, “we just take them in, get them the other gear, and get them into a lesson on what they want,” Carto says.

The area also offers a unique “all day coaching” program. Once skiers and riders are done with a lesson, they have instructors at their disposal all day long. Instructors are placed at strategic spots where graduates can find them to ask more questions or work something out.

“We’re trying to support them as they learn,” Carto says. “We don’t want to just teach them to ski or ride; we want to help them become skiers and riders. There’s a difference.”


THE PERSONAL TOUCH
That sort of personal connection is one of the greatest strengths of small areas. Back at Boreal, Churich says she loves being able to get out and on the front line (although she admits that even at a small resort, a president cannot do that all day every day). The kind of interaction that leaders at smaller resorts can have may just lead to breakthroughs that all resorts can cash in on, she says.

“My background is in marketing,” she explains. “But I park cars, sell tickets, work in rental, help in lines. I know who the people are who come here every day. Because when it comes to knowing your customer, it’s not one you pick out and focus on; it’s the long line of them you see time after time. That’s how you come to know your customer and what they like and want. It’s as simple—or as challenging—as that.”

So in the end, like the champion horse that has to do extra sprints or the 150-pound baseball player who has to add more workouts, more swagger and more determination to come out ahead, small resorts can be leaders by focusing on what makes them tick.

That’s why small areas are such a fount of ideas and lessons for other areas, even bigger ones. And such a breeding ground for lifetime skiers and riders. That’s what makes so many small areas—like undersized, overachieving athletes and racehorses—champions in their own right.