The wise and reasonable men in the ski industry wouldn’t let the guy next door perform a frontal lobotomy just because he’s watched “Ben Casey” every week for two years. Nor would they choose the town drunk for an attorney even though he’d been in and out of court many times. Yet, these reasonable men might sink a six-figure sum into a ski area without one iota of professional help.
For the ski area operators with less derring-do, however, there is competent help available in the personages of some dozen or so experts who make their living as ski area consultants. They include such men and firms as Royce Asher, Crystal Mt., Michigan; Sno-Engineering, Laconia N. H.; Skip Voorhees, American Resort Consultants, Inc., Renton, Wash.; Vollmer Associates, New York City; Don Cutter Hanover, N. H.; Nelson Bennett, Yakima, Wash.; and Kinney-Turner Associates, West Trenton, N. J.
What is a ski area consultant? What does he do? How much does he charge for doing it? Ski Area Management asked Curtis Casewit to interview Willy Schaeffler, international racing official, ski school director at Arapahoe Basin, Colorado and well-known ski area designer.
S.A.M.: Just what does a consultant do, Willy?
Schaeffler: He finds out if a new area is really possible. He looks into the market potential, lays out trails, suggests the right lift and advises on other details.
He should be called in before any money is invested. One promoter called me after he’d spent $300,000—did everything on his own, and the money was just about down the drain. He’d picked the wrong mountain: it had such wind exposure that the snow was constantly blown off. He bought a high-capacity gondola where a chairlift would have done just as well, and at less cost. He made no provision for parking. The area was so far away from a big city that it could have only survived by skiers staying all week—yet their layout didn’t include hotel or motel space. In fact, there wasn’t even enough land.
S.A.M.: Can a consultant help with land problems?
Schaeffler: If he’s called in time, yes. I know one promoter who spent a lot of his capital in planning an area when he only owned the lower portion of the mountain. It so happened that the upper portion wasn’t for sale. Not at any price. So the deal fell through. A quick visit with a consultant beforehand would have saved months of work.
S.A.M.: How about established areas, Willy? I see that one of your competitors—Sno-Engineering—is a permanent consultant to Stratton Mountain, Vermont; Sugar Hills, Minnesota and a lot of spots in New Hampshire and Canada.
Schaeffler: This makes sense. The area operator is usually too close to the forest to see the trees. He’s blind to the faults of his own facilities. As an Arapahoe Basin director, I’m guilty of this, too. I’ve seen the same runs too often. I’m too familiar with them.
S.A.M.: How long does it take you to evaluate the small area? The one-hill, one-tow operation?
Schaeffler: Often only a day. I surveyed Broadmoor, in Colorado Springs, in one morning. By evening, we worked out the basic layout. Two weeks later, they started constructing.
S.A.M.: How much do you charge for your consulting services?
Schaeffler: $150 a day. In surveys that take over five days the fee goes down to $100 per day. The client also pays for my flight to the area, the hotel and other expenses. And he pays for the planes and helicopters for the aerial survey.
One piece of good advice can be worth ten times our fee. To illustrate: an established operator keeps losing money. He calls a consultant, who immediately suggests the addition of a night-time operation. Simple; but it never occurred to the man. Mostly, consultants can help avoid costly mistakes. I recall one farmer who owned a mountain. He built a lift, put up a warming house, the works. He didn’t talk to an expert. In fact, he didn’t ski himself. He was out of business before he knew it.
He never even checked the snow data. It turned out that he didn’t have the minimum of four inches. Yet, it was too warm for snow-making equipment. So the snow surface wore off every weekend. The other slope was south. The snow just melted away. He lost about $50,000. I know an area where half a million went out of the window. Again, no consultant.
S.A.M.: But who’s expert? An ex-racer like you?
Schaeffler: Not at all. Some of the trails laid out by crack racers had to be changed altogether. The trails were too fast for even the most advanced skiers. The racer often doesn’t understand the needs of the beginners or intermediates. Besides, the consultant has knowledge of topography, weather science and other factors. Some consulting firms even have engineers on their staff. You can’t beat that kind of know-how. Other experts are superlative at trail layouts.
S.A.M.: Would you say that one consultant is enough for a proposed project?
Schaeffler: Two are better, and they should make independent reports. Hire both, have both make a study and don’t tell one what the other has found. Sometimes the two reports differ. I remember one Western area where a colleague felt that they had a good thing. I looked over the mountain and found that the area just didn’t warrent the investment. The management accepted my opinion. I could have been wrong, but I looked the place over as if I were putting in my own money.
S.A.M.: When you survey a new area, just how do you proceed?
Schaeffler: First of all, I get weather data for 10 full years. In one case—Banff, Alberta—we even made a 37-year meteorological survey. After I have all the information from weather bureaus, water boards and conservation departments, I hire a plane and fly over the mountains. This is standard procedure. If the job is large enough, I use a helicopter and take photographs. This gives me a more detailed impression.
S.A.M.: Do you have certain steepness rules?
Schaeffler: Yes. A 12 per cent slope is the maximum for a beginner; 18 per cent to 20 per cent will do for the intermediate. Over that, it’s for advanced skiers.
S.A.M.: How about the mountain? Where do you prefer the slopes?
Schaeffler: North is always best. Or northeast, or northwest, in that order. Over 8,000 or 10,000 feet, a southern slope can be okay during certain winter months, but that depends on latitudes.
S.A.M.: Do you make surveys in winter or in the summer?
Schaeffler: During both seasons is always best. You actually want to see the snow concentrations. You have to take a look at the snow layers. In some areas, I found better snow at lower elevations. That’s how we determine the exact location of an area’s facilities.
S.A.M.: Any advise you can pass along, Willy? How about chairlifts?
Schaeffler: I like a chair only if the ride is no longer than eight or 10 minutes. Otherwise, the skier just gets too cold. Some areas don’t mind; they figure that the hamburger and coffee business is more important than the skier. A double chair is best because they’re much more economical. They have twice the capacity. Also, double chairlifts are warmer; people sit together. I recommend them for chilly areas and long rides. They’re also good for scenic rides and summer tourists.
S.A.M.: Do you get a commission from lift firms or other suppliers?
Schaeffler: No. A few consultants, though, build lifts themselves. I generally name several companies from which the client can choose.
S.A.M.: What else do you provide as a consultant?
Schaeffler: A feasibility report. It’s an important part of my job. Some of those reports can be grim. I’ll state bluntly that one area will be far too costly, or that there aren’t enough customers for it, or that it’s too windy or too inaccessible. The ski industry is better off if a new operator doesn’t fold. Areas that have to close up shop just leave a bad taste in the public’s mouth.
S.A.M.: To get back to the do-it-yourself promoter—what’s his biggest mistake?
Schaeffler: Error number one—they build without having enough potential customers. As a consultant, I check population density first. I also check with the local highway departments to see if there will be enough roads. My projection is often for 30 years ahead.
Secondly, they forget the beginning skier. I could talk for hours on the importance of the novice. He is the future ski population! The biggest slice of an area should go to him. I can give you a dozen illustrations. Take Squaw Valley where no consultant came in. I’m not talking about the Olympics, I’m referring to Squaw as a ski resort. No one gave much thought to include the beginner. There was just no foresight. It had to be changed eventually at a tremendous cost. And even now, Squaw has only limited facilities for beginners and long liftlines on weekends.
Or, take Arapahoe Basin, Colorado. When we opened it, 90 per cent of the trails were for experts. Through the years we changed that ratio. Now, only 20 per cent of the trails are for the advanced skier, 30 per cent for intermediates and 50 per cent for beginners. This shifting wouldn’t have been necessary if we’d known the ropes in 1948. Incidentally, I’ve seen a substantial business increase after one of the most beautiful advanced areas — Alta, Utah — finally devoted space to the non-expert skier. Taos, New Mexico, is thinking of the intermediate skier; Sun Valley has done it for 26 years.
In our surveys now, we think of the non-advanced skier from the start. At Gore Mountain—about four hours out of New York City—we laid out 14 trails, mostly beginner and intermediate trails. We catered to the recreational skier. This will produce much more dollar volume for the area in the long run.
S.A.M.: Does a consultant ordinarily do the actual contracting?
Schaeffler: Sometimes, and usually more economically than the promoter. At Squaw Valley, for instance, I built two roads for $7,000 and $9,500 respectively. Contractors said it couldn’t be done for less than $14,000 and $27,000.
S.A.M.: How about rental shops, restaurants, warming huts? Do these fall into your province?
Schaeffler: I only point out the best locations. On the other hand, firms like Sno-Engineering will go further.
S.A.M.: What if an area has trouble in getting a Forest Service permit? Can a consultant be of use?
Schaeffler: Yes! The agencies listen to the experts. They’re more apt to give the green light if we write a favorable report. In some states, consultants and Forest Service employees work extremely well together. On the other hand, you often have strong anti-ski area movements from conservationists. These are hard to buck. Consultants have little influence in the face of conservation pressure.
I believe in the pristine beauty of the mountains, and I hate to lose a fine tree. But can you stand still when thousands of people clamor for development of a ski area? They have a voice, too.
S.A.M.: Don’t you remake nature when you lay out a trail?
Schaeffler: On the contrary. I fit the trail to the natural contours of the mountain. That’s the consultant’s challenge, and that’s his art.
