Last season seems to have been the first year in at least a decade when no region in the U.S. had outstanding cross country returns, although a number of individual operations posted records. As a result, convention attendance dropped to slightly more than half of last year’s record 250 participants at Mt. Bachelor, Ore. The total attendance was 132 people from 20 states and 4 Canadian provinces, representing 44 areas (68 the year before), associate members, industry organizations and the press. The upper Midwest produced a respectable contingent (seven operations), as did Canada (five operations), but participation from both the Eastern and Western U.S. was down significantly. Low turnout may have been reinforced by an appreciable jump in registration fees.
Trade show attendance was also low (21 exhibitors vs. 36 at Mt. Bachelor), as suppliers felt the pinch of a slow season. However, the grooming suppliers were again out in force (Prinoth brought their entire North American sales team).
Highlights of the meetings included an outstanding four-part forum on mountain biking, revolving around marketing. Mountain biking is rapidly coming to the fore as a source of summer revenues from cross country operations (rentals, guide service, sales, etc., however, no one seems to have found a way to charge for independent trail use unless it is lift-served). Kristine Thomas of Nordic Group International discussed emerging markets, suggesting managers had best define desirable clientele rather than use the “something for everyone” promotion that has already proven ineffective in nordic marketing. Based on his pioneering operation in Jackson, Wy., Rob Woodson of Fat Tire Tours gave a hands-on talk on programming (“Clients have difficulties with hand and forearm muscles … when braking for a long time. It’s important to take numerous rest stops to relax hands and arms and shake them out.”). Don Portman of Sun Mountain Ski, Winthrop, Wash. discussed trail design as a reflection of market preferences (“We found a lot of visitors didn’t like much up or down for guided tours”). Don Hoffheins of Colorado’s Routt National Forest suggested that mountain biking’s environmental effects can be minimized through appropriate trail development (design, location and maintenance). Hoffheins also recommended operators and public lands managers learn more about potential users before developing trails and services.
Owner Steve Haims and consultant John Frado presented a case study of master planning for Galena Lodge (near Sun Valley), Id., where the Forest Service’s Sawtooth National Recreation Area is committed to working as a “partner” and probably funding the EIS. The SNRA serves as an example of public/private cooperation in other ways — promoting ski school via handouts, printing maps showing the location of commercial cross country operations and conducting a decade-long study of nordic use in the region.
At the suggestion of USIA’s Roger Lohr, Earth Day was recognized with an intriguing Environmental Forum made up of representatives from the Sierra Club, Save Our Canyons (a Salt Lake City area group), the Wasatch Mountain Club and Robert Redford’s Sundance ski area in Utah. (Sundance has extremely progressive systems for educating employees and the public, and serves as a model for recycling and litter programs.) The general feeling among panelists was that low-level cross country development is compatible with environmental trends, but design considerations will become more important for trails wide enough to handle snowcats.
For many operators, the Risk Management Potpourri, presented by Kendall Insurance’s LeRoy Schultz, was disappointing. While Schultz is an acknowledged expert on alpine skiing, many in the audience felt he cited inaccurate and outdated cross country accident statistics, based partly on backcountry rather than groomed trail usage, and he was clearly unfamiliar with the diversity of cross country operations. Cleverly, Kendall offered a 5 percent discount on next season’s insurance premium as incentive to attend.
Tom Lennon, USFS branch chief of Trails, Rivers and ORVs, took part in two sessions: a one-hour formal presentation on USFS policies and a three-hour informal discussion that broke off well after 11 p.m. There was a surprisingly low turnout for the latter, which centered on public-sector grooming. Lennon announced that the Forest Service will “coordinate trail activities with private businesses providing such trail services as nordic touring centers in order to complement their services. Appropriated funds will not be spent for grooming of nordic trail where such grooming will be competition for recreation service partners.”
This statement capped two years of CCSAA/ASF negotiations to persuade the USFS to remove itself from grooming in competition with the private sector. Now it remains for the regulation to be implemented on the district level, often a prolonged process.
Lennon reinforced the impression that a new cooperative era is evolving in public/ private relations, announcing that the term “permitee” has been replaced by “recreation service partner.” Again, it may take some time for the word to trickle down to old-guard non-recreation staff at the field level.
Jerry Schofield of Bear Mountain Ranch, Wash., succeeded Don Cochrane of Mountain Top, Vt., as CCSAA’s president. Reasoning that growth in Canadian membership requires a Canadian representative with substantial authority, Schofield promptly added a second vice president, newly elected Pierre Vezina of Parc du Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec. David Tuttle of Bearskin Lodge, Minn., is a co-equal vice president.
The “old blood” who founded CCSAA a decade ago are now in a minority among board and officers. Therese Dayton of Breckridge Nordic, Colo., is the new secretary, while Kelly Kahler of Timber Creek, Vt. (one of the “old-timers”), continues as treasurer. New associate members of the Board — with voting rights — are Kässbohrer’s Ken Barnaby and Bill Varney of Snow Products Supply.
Brighton ski area hosted a grooming demo when low snow at Solitude forced a change of venue. Most manufacturers are producing vehicles (and implements) designed for the cross country market, rather than trying to sell machinery on the theory that what works for alpine has universal application. The LMC 1800 and Prinoth’s T2, with a new cab configuration, seemed to make particular impressions, although the upgraded-horsepower Excel Hustler ST440 also received a lot of attention. Bombardier brought only large machinery, although a mid-range vehicle may be available next year. Kässbohrer, Tucker and Tidd Tech — a maker of implements for snowmobile grooming — completed the show.
The Board chose Jasper Park Lodge, Alberta, as site for next April’s convention. This will be the first CCSAA meeting of any kind in Canada. Site selection was based partly on the assumption that CCSAA should live up to its name (i.e., no longer serve merely as a U.S. trade organization) and in the process boost Canadian membership.
