March 2017

FEATURED STORY

Smart Cats: Grooming Tech 2017

Snow management systems are bringing a new level of sophistication and efficiency to grooming operations. Snow management is the new hot topic in the ski industry. Making, moving, saving, and building with snow are all parts of the management equation. Overproducing and misplacing snow can hurt your cause as badly as a heat wave in December. Managing snow efficiently can allow you to open earlier, stay open later, and save money. And today, there are many tools to help maximize your snow potential.GPS-based snow management systems are one of the newest. For groomers and ski area operators, this technology removes the guesswork about snow depth, and that can lead to savings on grooming, s...

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The PistenBully 400 4F with SNOWsat slope and fleet management and snow depth measurement, which can track what each vehicle does and also record the slope data.

Smart Cats: Grooming Tech 2017

Snow management systems are bringing a new level of sophistication and efficiency to grooming operations.

Bright Ideas

End-of-season planning is a key part of your year-round business operations. Here are six steps tohelp get the most from your efforts.

SIA Editor's Picks

SAM trolled the halls at the SIA Snow Show to find the newest, coolest products for resorts and their customers.

The Guest Experience is the New Marketing

Focus on raising your Net Promoter Scores and watch your profits grow.

Smugglers’ Notch, Vt., keeps smiles on kids’ faces with a variety of programs and activities off the slopes.

Family Values

A look at programs that keep kids happy, off snow as well as on, during the day and in the evenings, whether they ski or ride, or not.

Aspen Skiing Co., purchased six 500 sq. ft. “trailer coaches,” built by Sprout Tiny Homes, as an experiment for additional employee housing.

Gimme Shelter

Employee housing has become a pressing issue for resorts nationwide. Communities and areas are taking a variety of steps in response.

Publisher's Memo :: Grooming Our Future

As the ski industry’s leaders reach retirement age, preparing their successors for the next step is paramount. While succession planning sounds intimidating, it simply means putting a plan in place for choosing the new leaders in your organization and giving them the tools they need to excel.

Speak-Out :: Train Our Future Leaders in Finance 101

At last year’s NSAA annual convention, NSAA president Michael Berry said that 37 percent of ski industry GMs are now over the age of 60, and that within the next five years at least half of this group will retire, taking with them a collective total of almost 3,000 years of operating experience.