A Frosty Relationship
“Call me cynical,” one ski industry veteran told us the other day, “but when TV weather guys warn people to stay home, who benefits? The TV stations, that’s who.”
Dire predictions of wind chill and carnage on snowy highways are proven resort revenue killers, and the impact isn’t limited to winter resorts. Car dealerships, movie theaters, even restaurants can count on slow business after bad forecasts.
Local meteorologists in tourism-dependent states are more sensitive to the impacts of their forecasts than national and down-country talent. “We’ve done fairly well here in Vermont,” says Ski Vermont executive director David Dillon. “Where we get killed is New York, Philadelphia, Boston.”
Dillon has a point. One chilly evening two winters ago, a Boston forecaster—a passionate skier, no less—did the weather via remote from Blue Hills Ski Area. According to Blue Hills marketing director Mark Pins, “he even did the live version without a hat.” Moments later, the now-hatted forecaster taped a report for the late edition. A producer back at the studio rejected the first take, insisting on the insertion of buzz words like bitter, wind chill and frostbite. “I saw the whole thing,” Pins says. “He just looked at me and shrugged.”
Just about every resort manager has called a TV station to complain about a forecast’s impact on business. It’s a tough sell. Tom Cottrill, president of Snow Country Mountain Reports (which collects and feeds ski condition reports to media outlets) notes that “when air talent moves from Dallas to Boston, they bring their perspective on desirable weather with them.”
Consider, too, that a primary source of weather information for skiers—The Weather Channel—is based in Atlanta, which nearly shuts down in a heavy frost. Like any media outlet, The Weather Channel loves to pump up interest. Until last year, its website featured a proprietary (and often misleading) “Skier Comfort Index.” The Index was based on algorithms incorporating observed conditions at remote weather stations, rather than what was actually occurring at the resorts themselves. Ultimately, the threat of legal action by a ski area that chronically got bad comfort ratings (due to its proximity to observation posts on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, infamous for its fierce weather), complaints by others like Cottrill and the departure of the employee who had championed the Index led to its retirement.
Score one for the good guys. But is there any way to soften the tone of forecasters, especially in down-market areas? Several U.S. ski areas take a soft approach, hosting weather summits and professional development seminars. But as yet, there has been little effort by resorts to coordinate with other, non-related businesses to bring awareness—and pressure—to the media. It’s an idea that we think should at least be explored. Resorts themselves don’t have enough clout, and most state ski associations we spoke with haven’t reached out to other impacted business groups.
Ski New Hampshire has, though, and its experience is interesting, though unsuccessful. “We learned that the shots are being called at the corporate level,” said executive director Alice Pearce. “The local outlets can’t be as responsive to local concerns as they were ten years ago.” Ski New Hampshire ultimately scrapped its fledgling coalition. But in other markets, combined effort from state chambers of commerce and other groups might have a positive effect.
The nature of today’s media environment ensures that the problem isn’t going to go away soon. And lacking any sort of combined effort, making sure that ski areas establish and maintain good relationships with weather jocks and news directors seems to be the only course of action.
Those efforts won’t necessarily fall on deaf ears. Dave Santoro, chief meteorologist at Portland, Maine’s WGME-TV, has learned how his forecasts impact businesses, and tries to ameliorate tough forecasts by adding detail. “I get specific,” he says. “I can explain what I mean by a chance of showers, tell people the duration of an event, localize it, and tell people not to cancel their plans.” Santoro knows that he’s not just forecasting the weather—he’s also forecasting the public’s reaction to it. If only all meteorologists—and media outlets—were as conscientious.
How to Promote Environmental Responsibility at Ski Areas
by Bryan Foster
When people decide where to ski this winter, they will likely consider location, terrain, nightlife, accommodations and prices…a few may even consider an area’s environmental record.
The National Ski Areas Association’s Sustainable Slopes charter has for the last four years provided environmental guidance for ski areas in planning, operations and outreach. Recent research by Peter de Leon and George Rivera in the Policy Studies Journal questions the credibility of the program. Although their research was based on a faulty comparison of Sustainable Slopes with the Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition Environmental Scorecard, it illuminated the need for an accurate, impartial accounting of environmental performance.
The ski industry can learn from other industries how to improve Sustainable Slopes while maintaining the flexible structure that has attracted a third of the nation’s ski areas.
Sustainable Slopes should assist ski resorts in developing environmental management systems (EMSs), in addition to encouraging the adoption of energy conservation programs such as lighting retrofits and wind power purchases. Many forestry companies, along with numerous other industries, now use EMSs to convert environmental issues from external, social concerns into internal, business challenges of reducing costs and minimizing risks. EMSs can also be audited independently to insure their integrity. Sustainable Slopes should provide consulting assistance to ski areas trying to develop EMSs for their various departments, from lodging to food service and vehicle maintenance to lift operations.
In addition, Sustainable Slopes should provide templates for each ski area to publish its own, brief, annual public report on environmental performance, following guidelines for small businesses such as those from the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES). These reports could have both quantitative information and qualitative explanation, because the environmental significance of any specific decision varies with context. For example, developing an old pasture is often less ecologically damaging than developing contiguous forestland. But filling in a two-acre pothole wetland in the pasture could reduce water filtration and eliminate a duck stop-over, while thinning a 50-acre ponderosa pine-Douglas fir forest could simultaneously reduce wildfire hazard, spur forage for wildlife, and create a gladed ski run. Overall, public reporting makes companies take their EMSs seriously.
Many voluntary environmental programs for businesses have degraded into battles between strict rules from environmentalists and loose guidelines from industry (e.g. the Forest Stewardship Council’s forest certification program endorsed by Rainforest Alliance, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative sponsored by the American Forest and Paper Association). In helping ski areas develop environmental management systems and individual environmental reports, Sustainable Slopes could become both substantive and practical.
Bryan Foster, author of the book Wild Logging, is a PhD student in forestry and natural resources at the University of Vermont.
Skiing Hits Primetime
by Roger Lohr
The WB television network show “The Mountain” brings the ski world, after a fashion, to the general public. The show is similar in attitude to the popular “The O.C.” which in turn is an updated take on Melrose Place, Dallas or Peyton Place. This show format has the potential to be a success, in other words. And if not, at least it will get our sports in front of millions of viewers—the scenery and action scenes have almost unanimously met with great reviews, even if the show itself hasn’t. The WB is committed to air 13 episodes, which were shot in Vancouver and will likely showcase British Columbia’s Grouse Mountain and Whistler this winter.
“The Mountain,” in case you haven’t seen it, is an internecine family drama wherein the legendary patriarch of fictitious Boundary Mountain unexpectedly dies, leaving his free-spirited motocross rider grandson to run the resort. The heir’s brother feels he more deserves to take over the family empire, and they both must fight off a takeover bid by a rival family. Of course, as with real-life area operations, the plot hinges on rampant backstabbing and multiple love triangles.
As a promotional vehicle, the show has potential. There is talk of using well-known extreme sports athletes. Currently, stunt doubles handle the action scenes, though according to the PR people, most of the actors can ski or snowboard themselves.
In New England, a trilateral promotion is already in the development in which Boston’s WB56, which will air “The Mountain” in Boston, will run a viewer giveaway sweepstakes on its website, with prizes including a Ford Explorer and a trip to The Canyons in Park City, Utah.
Will the show drive more area visits? Susan DuPlessis of Sunday River in Bethel, Maine, declares, “Anything that promotes the sport is a good thing, and this show appeals to the group of younger viewers that we need to target.” Perhaps. Or does it perpetuate the view of a decadent, snobby ski world that is simply an escapist playground for rich white people? Maybe.
While we wait to see if “The Mountain” becomes a hit, it looks like we will still be relying on a sound economy, good weather, and better marketing to assure growth.
