It´s Not Easy Being Green

The ski industry’s effort to improve sustainability and reduce its carbon footprint has been a collective movement for some time, but never more so than now. The foundation of that effort has recently been reinforced following the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Several industry leaders expressed disappointment with that decision, and pledged to move forward with initiatives set forth in the Agreement—and more.

Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz said, “Vail Resorts will redouble our efforts to find significant ways to minimize our carbon footprint through reducing our energy use to help address one of the most serious challenges facing our worldwide community.”

“Climate change matters to the ski industry, and many ski areas are more committed now than ever before to working on climate change solutions,” the National Ski Areas Association said in a statement. It encouraged resorts to “take this opportunity to increase action on reducing carbon emissions and engage in advocacy on climate change solutions.”

“Aspen Skiing Company isn’t just opposing withdrawal from Paris. We’re going to fight it to the ground, and we’re going to implement the Paris accords ourselves in our business, in Colorado and, as soon as possible, nationally,” said Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company.

Climate change advocacy is nothing new for the industry. Ski Magazine and NSAA have been supporting ski areas and individuals that excel in their green efforts since 1993, when the Golden Eagle Awards for Environmental Excellence were founded. This year, Berkshire East, Mass., Taos Ski Valley, N.M., and Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, Calif., were all recognized with the award in their respective resort categories. In addition, Onno Wieringa of Alta, Utah, was this year’s “Hero of Sustainability,” an award that recognizes individual green efforts.

Going green isn’t just good for the earth, it’s often good for business as well. Investing in energy-efficient technology is often supported through grants and rebates at the local and state level, and it frequently cuts costs: using less energy costs less money.


Cashing in on the Solar Eclipse

Seeing the Beatles in concert, catching a black marlin, scoring a hole-in-one—these are all potentially once-in-a-lifetime events. For anyone born after 1979, the forthcoming solar eclipse on August 21 will be, by definition, a once-in-a-lifetime event. Months in advance, skywatchers began making preparations to be in the “path of totality,” the 70-mile-wide path where the total eclipse will be visible, extending from Oregon all the way to South Carolina. Areas along the path of totality could see some of the worst traffic the country has ever experienced: 88 million people live within 200 miles of the POT, and many could try to fit inside its 70-mile width.

Sensing an opportunity, some resorts plan to make a party out of it, some are just opening a lift to get people closer to the action, most are profiting. Sun Valley, Idaho, which is in the POT, capitalized on its location and sold three different tickets, ranging in price from $175 to $195, that include a lift ride up and commemorative viewing glasses. Its “Black Diamond” package is $295, and also includes priority parking, a buffet, and a mimosas and bloody Mary bar. All four products sold out.

Snow Basin in Utah, Sun Valley’s sister resort, will see up to 93 percent solar coverage during the eclipse, and plans to spin its Needles gondola up to the Needles Lodge, where skywatchers can eat and drink while enjoying the celestial spectacular.

Another resort located in the POT is Jackson Hole, Wyo., where tram rides to view the eclipse sold out months in advance. In mid-June, there were still a few tickets to ride the Sweetwater gondola available for $50 each. Base area activities will open at noon following the eclipse.

Mt. Hood Meadows is about 19 minutes from the POT, and is making 200 parking spaces for RV and self-contained vehicles available for the Saturday and Sunday nights before the event. Cost is $50 for up to two nights, and the resort is throwing a wine-tasting event on Saturday to draw more folks to hang out for the weekend. It will spin a lift on the 21st to view the eclipse, about 97 percent coverage, from the mountain. Tickets are a modest $12 each. No commemorative viewing glasses, though.


Summer Snow Camps At Risk from Warming

Due to Whistler, B.C.’s shrinking Horstman Glacier, one of the longest running summer camps in the industry is calling it quits. Camp of Champions, founded 28 years ago by Ken Achenbach, will not be held this summer, and Achenbach says climate change is to blame.

Camp of Champions has typically built bigger jumps and features to accommodate intermediate and advanced riders. At the end of May, Whistler Blackcomb informed Achenbach that the dry and airy snow that fell this season (as opposed to normal spring cement) will melt quickly once it’s moved around, so “regulating jump size is very important.” Unable to build the large-size features he’s been promising everyone all winter was enough for him to pull the plug, “The predicament I find myself in is nature’s fault, not Whistler Blackcomb’s,” Achenbach wrote in a letter on the camp’s website. “In 2015 alone the glacier lost 35 vertical feet of ice.”

The resort’s website notes that Treeline Ski and Snowboard Camps is also cancelled. Even so, Horstman Glacier continues to host several other summer snow camps, despite the rapid melting in recent years.


NSP Moving Ahead on Several Fronts

For the third or fourth time in a decade, the National Ski Patrol is seeking an executive director. But this time, and for a change, it’s operating from a position of relative stability.

Former executive director John McMahon brought some needed change during his short but effective three-year tenure. First, he redefined the NSP’s mission and vision and named resort operators as the NSP’s first customer, all part of a new strategic plan for the organization. Second, he brought order to the organization’s finances. And third, he vastly improved NSP’s data systems, a task that had bedeviled others before him.

While McMahon departed several months ago, NSP has been in no hurry to replace him. Partly, the leisurely search stems from stability. Interim director Rick Knight is a longtime NSP member and knows the organization well. Some committee chairmen have changed, and the organization has diverse regions represented. “Patrollers have the opportunity to be heard,” says Jim Wickram, the new NSP chair. “We feel very good about our relations with resorts, and John led that effort,” he adds. “We want to keep that relationship strong and current.”

Staying current means keeping the Outdoor Emergency Care manual in tune with changes in EMS and developing a program for summertime patrollers who can serve across a variety of summer activities.

That’s pretty much what McMahon set out to do. “My role was to make changes,” he says. “Now, the pieces are in place, it’s a matter of managing and refining. There’s less need for huge changes.”

One sign of success: Powderfall, the patrol’s biennial educational get-together, drew more than 800 participants to Aspen in April—the largest turnout ever. “It was pretty exciting to see that many people involved,” Wickram says. “That tells me the organization is healthy. Support from everyday patrollers is very strong. We’re on the right path, and it’s exciting times. Hold on, because we’re moving fast.”


Succession Time at NSAA

The ANSI B77 standard is due for one of its periodic revisions later this year, and will mark the end of Sid Roslund’s time as NSAA’s director of technical services, which involves stewardship of the B77 committee. After 27 years of managing the B77 standard and educating the industry on its rules and implications, Roslund plans to resign at the end of 2017, coinciding with NSAA president Michael Berry’s retirement. A search for Roslund’s replacement is currently underway.

His are tough shoes to fill. As longtime friend and colleague Maynard Russell told SAM, “Sid has made his life’s work around cableways. He’s the go-to guy for straightforward, accurate information on technical matters. Sid (above) has been all-in every day for 27 years.”

Indeed he has. Along with managing B77 issues, he’s been instrumental in shaping the educational curriculum for the various lift maintenance seminars around the country, from RMLA to LMS and the PNSAA. His knowledge of standards generally led to involvement with the ASTM F27 committee on skiing safety, which wrote the rental shop practices standard; the ASTM working group on terrain parks; and the ASTM committee F2959 on aerial adventure parks.

Roslund entered the indstry in the mid-’70s at Steamboat, working on the resort’s Von Roll gondola. That led to a role in Von Roll’s worldwide operations, including a stint in Indonesia. After SIA and NSAA combined in 1990, Sid joined USIA as technical services director. When the organization split in 1992, Sid was one of the first employees of the new NSAA, along with president Michael Berry. Roslund helped reconstitute the organization from the ground up.

Roslund will stay on through the end of this year, if needed, and may well remain involved in ANSI B77. In any case, the industry owes him a great deal of gratitude.

SUPPLIER NEWS

INNTOPIA, BOYNE PARTNERSHIP
Boyne Resorts is now in a partnership with Inntopia that will enable Boyne to offer its resorts’ many lodging and activity options in a single user-interface on its resorts’ websites. Boyne has been using Inntopia’s Marketing Cloud since 2008, and began installing the Inntopia Commerce platform last fall to sell lift tickets online, taking advantage of Inntopia’s API interface with RTP.

This summer, Boyne Resorts will go live with an expanded installation, cross-selling lodging and a variety of summer activities by interfacing with the SMS | Host property management system from Springer- Miller Systems.

“The primary selling point for us was the prospect of a more streamlined, more enjoyable shopping experience for guests using our resorts’ websites, which I expect to lead to a significant increase in the percentage of bookings happening online, as well as in the dollar spend per booking,” said Boyne Resorts CMO Ian Arthur.

Inntopia also welcomed Amber Pacheco to the software development team as product owner. Pacheco will work out of the Burlington, Vt., office.

PRO ACADEMY FOR GROOMERS
Kässbohrer All Terrain Vehicles, Inc., has launched a new training program, called Pro Academy. Introduced at the NSAA Convention in May, the Academy provides professional training for grooming machine drivers, with a focus on professional training for efficient and economical snow management. Industry veteran Chris Perkins has been appointed consultant/trainer for the Academy.

Separately, Kässbohrer has hired Michael Taft as service manager for the Rocky Mountain Region.

ACCESSO PROVIDES POS SYSTEM FOR MEGA RESORT
Experiencias Xcaret, a network of seven tourism experiences, parks and tours near Cancun, Mexico, will utilize accesso Siriusware in its operations and streamline guest transactions. On-site ticketing, e-commerce, point-of-sale, and guest management software will operate across more than 400 workstations throughout the network. Software modules include retail, food and beverage, access control, rentals, reservations, and gift cards. Once implemented, accesso’s technology will be fully integrated and linked across the Xcaret properties, including hotels and transportation, which host more than 3.5 million guests annually.

BLIZZARD TECNICA welcomed Justin Heanue as national sales coordinator.

THE INTERNATIONAL SKIING HISTORY ASSOCIATION welcomed three new board members: Jeff Blumenfeld, Chris Diamond, and Mike Hundert.

TREE-MENDOUS AERIAL ADVENTURES earned the Annual Award for Excellence in Design from the Public Design Commission of New York City for the Treetop Adventure Zip Line and Nature Trek at the Bronx Zoo.

BOA TECHNOLOGY has appointed Shawn Neville as chief executive officer.

WINTERSTEIGER NORTH AMERICA is expanding the Easyrent support team in North America with the addition of Trish Morrissey as Easyrent specialist.

KOALA EQUIPMENT is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

ECOSIGN has appointed Paul Matthews as chairman and chief executive officer. Ryley Thiessen has accepted the role of president, and Eric Callender is now vice president.

ACTION BEARING is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

PEOPLE

In the East, Mike Pratt is now president of the Olympic Regional Development Authority, N.Y., which manages the three state-owned ski areas—Whiteface, Gore, and Belleayre—as well as several Olympic venues. … Bobby Murphy, former vice president of guest service and ski and snowboard school at Vail Mountain, Colo., has taken over for Barry Pius as the new vice president and general manager of Stowe Mountain Resort, Vt. … Okemo, Vt., welcomed Ashley Elicker as its new director of culinary services.

­Attitash and Wildcat, N.H., welcomed two new directors: Jack Fagone is the new marketing director, and Kerry O’Leary is the new director of sales. … Karolyn Castaldo is now the communications and marketing manager for Ski NH.

In the Midwest, Chris MacInnes has become president of Crystal Enterprises Inc., which operates Crystal Mountain, Mich. John Melcher succeeds MacInnes as COO.

In the Rockies, Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., hired Michael Keller as general manager. … Dana Kent Edwards was named president of the Intermountain Ski Areas Association. … Dan Barnett is now chief commercial officer of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association.

In the West, Tracy Harper has joined Sun Valley Resort, Idaho, as spa director. … Onno Wieringa will be retiring from his position as president and general manager of Alta, Utah, after 29 years. Michael Maughan will be his successor. … Lisa Nigon has been promoted to marketing director of Homewood Mountain Resort, Calif. … Dave Brownlie has stepped down as chief operating officer of Whistler Blackcomb Resort, B.C. Pete Sonntag, until recently the senior VP for Vail Resorts’ Tahoe properties, will replace Brownlie.