Why go to Vail?
One of the hallmarks of a thriving industry is a strong association that can represent the collective viewpoint of its members to the public and government. The way an association achieves this strength is through member participation which creates the financial resources necessary for successful growth. The National Ski Areas Assn. has chalked up a remarkable record, especially since last year’s annual meeting at Stratton Mt. in Vermont, despite the fact it operates with a budget about equal to that of the Professional Ski Instructors Assn. and about 1/5 that of Ski Industries America. In 1968-69 the NSAA budget was $46,000, which climbed to $60,000 in 1969-70. The number of area members jumped 23 per cent to 287 from 235 and sponsor members increased to 85 from 49. At Stratton Mt., there were 50 exhibitors in the trade show, at this year’s Vail meeting, 88 are expected.
The only way this rapid growth can continue is with new support and participation. So plan to attend the annual meeting in Vail, May 26-28. It’s your industry, it’s your association and what you learn there can only help your business.
For a program preview, see page 44. If you have a product to sell the industry and want exhibit space, contact NSAA headquarters.
The Nastar record
SKI Magazine’s National Standard Race, originally designed to relieve areas of the onerous task of running races for recreational skiers, has turned into a money-maker for member areas. Only 10 of the 40 Nastar areas failed to recoup their $1,000 franchise fee by running 500 racers at $2 and 16 areas recovered the cost of timing equipment in addition. At the end of March, the areas had run 559 races, handling 25,509 people for 30,678 runs (you can have a re-run for another $2 so actually the total runs is probably somewhat higher than indicated because areas only report the best run). In the medal department, 1,051 skiers won gold, 3,444 silver and 5,452 bronze, a total of 9,947 medals. On top of the financial revenue, the areas get untold dollars worth of publicity through free advertising and editorial coverage in SKI, SKI BUSINESS and SKI AREA MANAGEMENT. Many of the areas also used Nastar to build promotions such as press races, a governor’s cup race at Mt. Snow in Vermont or events in combo with one the four sponsors—Schlitz, Bonne Bell, Hertz or TWA. SKI AREA MANAGEMENT has a bundle of entries in a contest for the best Nastar promotion—first prize a page of publicity in SKI. The winner and how they did it will be published in the Summer ’70 issue of SAM.
