As promised a year ago, the emphasis is going to be on seminars and workshops of special interest to the smaller ski area. The big issues will be discussed, but frequently from the point of view of the medium-to-small operator.
Social highlight of the four days will be the banquet on Wednesday evening, where the guest speaker is John R. McGuire, Chief of the U.S Forest Service.
The Trade Show is open for two full days: Tuesday and Wednesday. The cocktail parties on both days are in the vicinity of the exhibit areas.
In an apparent move to hold the convention together Thursday morning (the morning after the banquet the night before … and also departure day) the programmers have scheduled two free-wheeling panel sessions on juicy topics: “Free style skiing — good or bad?” And “The Ski Area in Court — Where do we stand?”
Visitors to the Convention and Trade Show at the Playboy Club will also find much of interest at the nearby ski areas of Great Gorge and Vernon Valley. At the former is the unique Curtiss-Wright J-65 jet engine which is used as an air compressor for the snow making system at “The Gorge.” The turbine engine provides 30,000 CFM of air, and should be of interest to area operators with large snowmaking capacities. Also of interest at Great Gorge is the innovative and inexpensive building that is their Alpine Center and racing department. Great Gorge has one of the most active racing programs of any area in the country, and this building has been designed to process the whole thing.
Nearby Vernon Valley, which boasts some 21 miles of ski trails, has a million-dollar snowmaking system that, they claim, can place between 18 and 24 inches of snow on several thousand feet of ski trails overnight.
The whole system has about 60 miles of piping, 400 snow gun locations and three Ingersoll-Rand compressors requiring a total of 7,500 H.P.
On the lighter side of the Convention will be the amenities of the Playboy Club itself, to say nothing of the brutal touch football game that has been scheduled as an East-West contest.
Following is the program at press-time. It is, of course, subject to change.
Monday, May 14, 1973
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 9:00 | NSAA Board Meeting – Branchville Room |
| 9:30 | ARTA Meeting – Newton Room |
| 12:00 to 8:00 | Registration – Main Lobby |
| 2:00 to 4:00 | Pro-am tennis with Arthur Ashe, Pancho Gonzales, Dennis Ralston and others |
| 4:00 to 6:30 | Poolside cocktail party |
| Evening | Open-Dining, dancing, Playmate bar etc. |
| 8:30 p.m. | (Despite above item) ESAOA Board Meeting – Branchville Room |
Tuesday, May 15, 1973
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 7:30 a.m. | Registration – Main Lobby |
| 8:00 a.m. | Trade Show opens |
| 9:00 to 10:30 | General Meeting – Welcome … Reports from officers … Committee reports … Washington report by Max Edwards |
| 10:30 to 11:15 | Committee meetings: Condominium … Economic Study … Operations Manual … Forest Service |
| 11:15 to 12:00 | Committee meetings: Convention … NSAA-USSA … Ski Safety … Tax |
| 12:00 to 1:30 | Lunch – Visit Trade Show in Duke of York Room |
| 1:30 to 3:00 | “What to do when you can’t ski” – A seminar in the Trenton Room |
| 3:00 to 4:00 | Ski Area Operational – Engineering – Liability. A Seminar moderated by Richard Garis, probing our most serious problems: how to make ski areas safer, more enjoyable; how to reduce down time. Panelists: Dick Williams, Bob Kinney |
| 4:00 to 5:00 | Visit trade show exhibits |
| 5:00 to 6:00 | East-West touch football championships (Location to be announced) |
| 6:00 to 7:30 | Exhibitors’ Cocktail party & Buffet in the exhibit area |
| 7:30 to 12:00 | Open house night – Exhibitor hospitality suites posted in lobby |
Wednesday, May 16, 1973
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 7:30 | NYSAOA Breakfast meeting (location to be announced) |
| 8:00 to 8:30 | Continental breakfast |
All day in Trenton I, on concurrent seminars as follows:
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:30 to 9:00 | Small area accounting – “How to find out what’s going on in time to do something about it” |
| 9:00 to 9:45 | Ski Schools – Jerry Muth, PSIA; Court McDermott, Bousquet Ski area; discuss “Can ski schools make money?” Emphasis on smaller areas. |
| 9:45 to 10:45 | Small Ski Area Financing – Bank financing … venture capital … SBA loans |
| 10:45 to 11:30 | Mountain Managers Forum – Preventive maintenance and summer programs |
| 11:30 to 2:30 | Visit trade show – Beverages and sandwiches in trade show area … Board of Directors reconvenes (location to be announced) |
| 2:30 to 3:45 | Employee Relations – Dick Moore, Mountain States Employers Council on the hiring, training, promoting and discharging of employees, motivating, benefits, etc. |
| 3:45 to 4:30 | Small Area Publicity – Ski Editor Jerry Kenny, Ski reporter Stan Bernard and Paul Bousquet, area owner discuss “How to promote your area on a minimum budget.” |
| 4:30 to 5:30 | Visit with exhibitors |
| 5:30 to 6:30 | Cocktails … Trade show closing … Trade show area |
| 7:00 | Annual Banquet – The Penthouse … Guest Speaker, John R. McGuire, Chief, U.S. Forest Service |
Thursday, May 17, 1973
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 9:00 to 10:30 | Free Style Skiing – Good or bad? … A round-table with speakers Doug Pfeiffer, Susan Chaffee and John Clendenon — The Trenton room |
| 10:30 to 12:00 | The Ski Area in Court – Where do we stand? Panelists will be lawyers and claims adjusters offering new insights into the nuts and bolts of ski area litigation |
| 12:00 to 2:00 | Lunch and Business Meeting (location to be announced) … Election of Directors |
| 2:00 | NSAA 1973 Convention closes |
