So you scooped out a wildlife pond east of old Whippersnapper. You cut in a dozen drains to get rid of that parking lot runoff. You installed a waste-water monitoring program…bridged, rather than dammed, that stream at the base…built water bars and revegetated to solve that pesky erosion problem. And you finally replaced those styrofoam cafeteria cups with more “environmentally friendly” beverage containers.
Good moves. But is any of it worth crowing about? You suppose not—after all, it’s that new quad, that splendid job of trail glading on Banzai, the base lodge re-do and those four new snowgroomers that will get skiers talking about your area.
While telling the world about the environmental accomplishments at your area won’t, in all probability, double your skier-days, not telling the world that you’re proactive on the environment—not treating these enhancements to the same spin you’d put on other area developments—won’t double your skier-days, either. But if you do publicize it, you know what’s worse? Boring people while you do it.
Do skiers really care about the environment? Put another way, do skiers believe ski areas are doing anything positive about the environment? Yes. And no. Okay, make that maybe.
The yes part. Surveys by both Snow Country and Times Mirror Magazines, publisher of Ski and Skiing, show that skiers—and this shouldn’t be too surprising—do care about the environment. Last year, Snow Country surveyed 3,417 area operators, skiers and environmentalists and came to the conclusion that although skiers differed in their level of understanding of the environmental problems confronting ski areas, “we found a heartening amount of common ground, particularly when it comes to preserving the beauty of the high country. Across the board [it was considered] a top priority.” And Times Mirror Magazines’ Conservation Council, in its annual Roper-Starch poll of American environmental attitudes, found skiers—by far—to be the most environmentally conscious of all outdoor-user groups.
Now, the no (but maybe) part: Do skiers think ski areas are doing anything positive about the environment? According to the Snow Country survey, roughly half of the skiers who responded think ski area operators abide by environmental laws, but only because they have to. TMM’s Roper-Starch survey, though it didn’t ask the question directly (the survey went to a cross-section of American outdoor-users), did find that skiers, more than any other outdoor-interest group, believe: 1) the health of the environment is more important than the health of the economy, 2) greater efforts should be taken to protect natural areas and wildlife and 3) environmental regulations have not gone far enough (Snow Country in its most recent survey—see November SAM—found 53 percent of skiers also felt more federal regulations were needed).
What to make of all this? It’s time to change the public’s perception of skiing’s impact on the environment. Not surprisingly, the ski areas that have taken steps to demonstrate the responsibilities that come with mountain stewardship, and are proud enough of their initiatives to promote their accomplishments, are largely the same areas whose names seem to reappear every year when Snow Country‘s Ski Area Design Awards and The Skiing Company’s Golden Eagle Awards are handed out.
Which begs the question: Of nearly 600 ski areas operating in the U.S., why do only five percent (30 to 40 award nominees) make an effort to publicize their environmental efforts? Indifference? Ignorance? Apathy?
Telling the Story
It could be that, like those retail alpine specialists who tried (unsuccessfully) to ride the cross-country boom in the 70s, no one knows enough about the subject to know what to do about it.
There are, however, a few ski area managers and marketing people who have learned what to do about it. And their approach, and philosophy, is instructive.
At Snowbird, Ut., CEO Ray Gardiner, whose resort last year was named a Golden Eagle Award winner for its water conservation and wastewater management programs, approaches environmental publicity in two ways: telling his guests and his community what the resort is up to.
“First,” says Gardiner, “you’ve got to do a good job environmentally. Then create a public relations campaign that tells them about the area and the environment without their knowing they’re being told about it.”
To do this, Gardiner goes to meetings. Meetings with local civic clubs—the Rotary, the Kiwanis, the Lions Club. Meetings with county commissioners, the town newspaper and town trustees.
“I explain how our canyon and our mountain is better today than it was the day it was built,” says Gardiner. “I show before-and-after pictures of old mine dumps, the days when the mountain was stripped of trees. I show pictures of elk eating grass at the base of our lift and tell stories of the moose that used our swimming pool as a watering hole, of the wild goat that spends its summer beneath our tram.
“We have 900 hotel rooms in Snowbird and in every room we put a pamphlet that tells the story of Snowbird’s environmental achievements.”
Says Jerry Groswold of Winter Park, Colo., a 1995 Golden Eagle Award recipient for excellence in community outreach: “We promote our programs anywhere and everywhere we can. There’s really no secret to it. We just try to make our guests and employees conscious of our programs. Our message is that the environment in which you play is a fragile environment and you have the responsibility to help take care of it.
“The most important thing: claim credit for your environmental accomplishments at every opportunity. The ski industry and the resorts take a lot of heat over environmental issues and yet most people involved in the industry are environmentally sensitive. We just don’t claim credit for what we do.”
The lesson from all this: The more you tell your story, the more likely it’s to be accepted and believed. But as important as telling your guests about your environmental achievements is showing them what you’ve accomplished and what you’re currently up to.
Getting Publicity
What experts, and all who’ve done it well, further agree on is this: The ski-area-and-the-environment story is better told through news channels and publicity than through advertising.
Says Bob Launey, a veteran ski advertising expert and partner with Launey, Hachmann & Harris Advertising in New York: “Never underestimate the value of a well-crafted press release. If strategically placed—and your story’s a good one—your chances of pickup are better than 50 percent. Offer it as an exclusive and your chances are even better.”
Adds Launey PR specialist Mark Rutman: “Why you’re doing something positive about the environment is more important than what you’re doing. You need to connect through human interest, by conveying a sense of social consciousness—the ‘why’ of what you’re doing. Hit the hot buttons through graphics. Technical data can be addressed in text, but what grabs the reader—pictures of endangered animals, fish and wildlife in their native habitat—are the things that tug at the emotions. It makes the technical stuff a lot more interesting.”
Paul Biklin, formerly with Oglivy & Mather and an expert who’s contributed his ideas to SAM in the past, suggests, “An environmental story is a communications challenge, not an advertising challenge. Good publicity is far more effective than doing a second-rate job of advertising—and advertising can get pretty expensive. Whatever the subject, you need to dramatize it and make it important. Picture and caption stories usually work best. Use lots of photos, but don’t lose sight of the story you’re trying to tell: why what you’re doing is needed, how it was done and, most important, what the benefit is.”
Working with People
No amount of publicity will work, of course, unless you’ve got your people behind you, unless your staff believes in and supports what you’re doing.
Groswold: “There’s absolutely no question about the value of getting your employees conscious of what you’re doing to protect the environment. Do that and the word spreads fast.
“All of our programs have come out of our Idea Forum, basically a group of people—and it includes anybody who’s interested—that we fund to foster creative thinking. It was this group that got us into recycling in a major way.”
Adds Risk/Administration Manager Alison Stark of Sierra at Tahoe, Calif., an area trendsetter in environmental education: “You need to get people behind you who are interested and excited about what you’re doing. Kids especially are a blast. The more you do with them, the more your projects catch on.”
Susan Little, Sierra’s environmental coordinator, agrees. “Develop partnerships—with the Forest Service, with community groups,” she says. “The more synergy you can develop, the more energy your programs will have.”
Synergy means more than working with friends and allies. The most effective synergy, the biggest bang for your environmental buck, often comes in working with your neighbors, your competitors.
Mark Rutman: “If all resorts in a geographic region kick in—if you don’t have the funds and wherewithal to do it on your own—you can develop a cooperative brochure with dramatic pictures and an important environmental statement, then point to specific initiatives taken by individual areas in the region.”
“Or create a ‘Ski Areas for a Better Environment’ logo,” adds Bob Launey. “This is something you can then feature in your advertising. Like a seal of approval, it confers status, it serves to remind people of your environmental commitment. Without explaining what you do, it says ‘We do.’”
Doing a Good Job
Finally, and most important, since it drives everything else you do, do a good environmental job in the first place.
“You set a positive example,” says Alison Stark, “by doing it right the first time. Then reach out aggressively with education programs and publicity that describe what you’ve done. Finally, continue to be outspoken any chance you can get. Do this, the word will snowball.”
“Once you’ve got a good environmental program in place,” says Jerry Groswold, “take credit for it. Because if you don’t take credit, no one’s going to do it for you. You’ve got to step up and say ‘We do good things!’ If you don’t, no one’s going to know what you’ve done and they’re going to continue to beat up on you. And you don’t have to be creative telling people what you’re doing. Just make sure people know what you’re doing.”
As Snow Country‘s John Fry put it in these pages in the last issue: “Inflammatory arguments over development in the mountains won’t disappear unless ski town residents, environmental protectionists, skiers and area operators better understand the environmental and economic facts….”
A good environmental program, backed by your staff, your community and—yes—even your competitors and publicized effectively and often, will go a long way toward achieving that understanding—and support.
