The relative lack of buzz around ski area marketing this year is somewhat understandable. Our global society is experiencing distractions that hit differently than those we went through during the pandemic. A lot is changing. To their credit, ski areas tried to break through the noise as best they could—some with more success than others, as you’ll find when reading the following marketing reviews.

Speaking of changes, we’ve changed the “Print” category to “Other,” which will include the few print campaigns reviewed as well as efforts that don’t fit in the other buckets. This stung a bit. A sign of the times, sure. But nonetheless a shame. A lack of support from resorts is at least partially to blame for the demise of our industry’s consumer magazines. Gradually losing the unmatched depth, purity, and compellingly visual quality of stories told in this medium, especially for our sports and culture, is tough. 

But we digress. As always for this annual feature, we ask a group of ski area marketing consumers to keep tabs on your efforts throughout the year and write their entirely subjective reviews to share with you, our adoring readers. Our panelists are picky, pointed, positive, or good humored, depending on what they see. And they do it all to provide you with some entertainment, insights, and perhaps some inspiration.

 

 

GENERAL

Most Emotive Campaign

Big Sky, MT

Usually, when someone tells you to “come to your senses,” it’s because you’re being irrational or unhinged and they want you to dial it back. As an idiom, it doesn’t carry a positive connotation. But when used as Big Sky does as an emotive call to action and as the basis for a marketing campaign, it takes on an entirely different meaning. In this campaign, Big Sky builds on the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings one can experience on a trip to the resort. The accompanying videos are brilliantly calming and exciting all at once, and the word choices are excellent. “This may not be your home mountain. The snow isn’t actually bottomless. It just feels like it. Come to your senses.” Damn, that’s good. “Come to your senses” is versatile, memorable, and should have legs for years to come. — DM

 

Worst Case of Irony
Mad River Glen, VT

Even though Sugarbush didn’t ask for it, the resort received a boatload of earned media coverage during JD Vance’s visit in February. The resort did not release an official statement—Lucy Welch’s daring snow report was not exactly sanctioned—before or after the visit, nor did they attempt to capitalize on the exposure during the frenzied three days of social media and news coverage. Classy. Mad River Glen, on the other hand, did attempt to capitalize. Its main entrance sign, about seven miles away from the main event at Sugarbush, read “SORRY VP [,] SOLD OUT.” To put that in perspective: a mountain that excludes a large segment of snowsports participants, i.e., snowboarders, hastily jumped on a bandwagon to share an exclusionary message directed at a politician who supports exclusionary policies. Alanis Morissette once wrote a song about that, didn’t she? — LS

 

Most Accessible Snowboarding Showcase 

Loon Mountain, NH 

On February 22, more than 20,000 people crowded shoulder-to-shoulder in Boston’s City Hall Plaza for Red Bull Heavy Metal. While snowboarders Zeb Powell, Lucas Magoon, Jess Perlmutter, drew the crowd, it was the Loon Mountain park crew that ensured the riders had perfect take-offs and landings. Loon, working with Red Bull and Frankiebird Productions, trucked in approximately 300 tons of snow and spent days prepping the three contest zones. While Loon parks have long taken inspiration from street architecture, this was a big and bold opportunity to bring that flair to the streets, literally. The payoff? The cheers of an enormous crowd of diehard boarders and future riders. Extensive news coverage. Magazine features. And high-engagement social posts. The event resonated far beyond its endemic roots to a much broader audience, earning Loon plenty of deserved recognition. — MW

 

Best Community Fundraiser

Misery Mountain, AB

This campaign has been going on for several years, but the longevity, consistency, and success of this fundraiser absolutely deserves a callout. Looking to both raise funds for the nonprofit mountain and involve the whole community (not just skiers), Misery Mountain plays one card and one card only each fall: it gives away a brand-new pickup truck. Raffle tickets go for $50 each and the ski area sells out of all 3,000 tickets every year in this truck-loving corner of Alberta. Add in partnerships with many major businesses in town and a silent auction during the gala where the winner is announced, and Misery has a perfect formula that rallies the community around a fun, annual tradition and brings in tens of thousands of dollars for the ski area along the way. — GB

 

Best Birthday Bash

Ragged Mountain, NH

To celebrate turning 60, Ragged Mountain invited its community to the White Mountains for a three-day-long birthday extravaganza that honored its roots. The party kicked off on a Friday with special $19.65 lift tickets, a nod to the year Ragged opened, and skiers were encouraged to wear their favorite vintage gear from any era. The weekend included decade-themed costume parties, live music, the Bump N’ Jump contest, an art installation, après events, and a group party ski with families that have been involved throughout the resort’s history. The festivities celebrated Ragged’s humble beginnings and continued evolution, while offering ample opportunities for memorable moments and social sharing. A thoughtful, short YouTube piece chronicling Ragged’s past, present, and future offered a glimpse into the resort’s rich and “ragged” history—and left me wanting an entire video series chronicling the people that have made the mountain what it is today. — MW

 

Best Early Season Photography

Sunday River, ME

Over the last decade, resorts have taken full advantage of giant leaps in camera technology to bring in-house, high-level photography to their websites, social feeds, and asset libraries. Sunday River, however, saw the level of photography at other resorts and said, “Hold my beer.” As the system fired up for the annual October snowmaking test and fall colors lingered on the trees, Sunday River’s photography game was perhaps the best I’ve ever seen. The angles, the colors, and the framing told beautiful stories of the first snow and the changing of seasons in ways no other resort was doing. The Rivah’s mid-winter images were amazing, too, but nothing beats sunny snowliage during fall and their talented team took full advantage. — GB

 

Best Recruiting Effort

Sugarbush, VT 

In early March, Sugarbush hosted Shaping Our Future, an educational event inspired by Take the Rake and designed for teenagers to explore creativity and career opportunities in the resort industry, specifically mountain ops. Sugarbush Parks’ Phillip Parrish and photographer Ashley Rosemeyer collaborated with nonprofits Hoods to Woods and Shred Foundation to give 12 young people the 101 on terrain park building, culminating in a community ride day where the participants could enjoy their hard work with friends (like pro snowboarder Zeb Powell, who swung by to shred). Sugarbush has been a freestyle hub in New England for years, and Shaping Our Future underlined the strength of the resort’s community by combining two things everyone loves—fun park builds, and on hill get-togethers with a community-led purpose. Photos and videos from the event spread across social, reaching far beyond the Green Mountains and further cementing Sugarbush’s parks program as one of the industry leaders. — MW

 

Best Winter Kickoff Event

SilverStar, BC 

I love a great email or social post, and new website designs are like Christmas morning, but doing something in-person, hands-on, and with the resort’s community is tough to beat. SilverStar worked this idea beautifully with a pre-season open house for pass holders at the resort just as the first storms were starting to build a base. With snow falling outside, beers and snacks being served inside, and a movie telling the story about their mountain community projected on the big screen, SilverStar poured fuel on the fire of early season anticipation and, thanks to an early opening just a week later, started the season with all sorts of good vibes. — GB

 

Worst Artistic Downgrade

Aspen Snowmass, CO

Aspen, my darlings, what happened here? You debuted the melting gondola, perhaps the most aesthetically impactful art installation in ski area history, to then go full Live, Laugh, Love? We’re talking a shift from Basel to TJ Maxx, and we just can’t let that slide. Long, Love, Aspen—a proclamation of admiration? More like an oversized tchotchke fit for the Airbnb interior design set. If you hadn’t done it so right before, we might not have noticed the downgrade, but you set the standard pretty high and we’re expecting you to keep hitting it. You’ve turned us into art critics, and we can’t walk away now. — CB

 

Biggest Backcountry Power Move

Whitewater, BC

Last March, the legendary Trash Chutes at Whitewater in British Columbia were host to one of the raddest things in backcountry snowboarding: Research and Development, an all-women’s contest and filming event aimed at upleveling snowboarding’s status quo. The brainchild of Robin Van Gyn, RnD aims to propel women riders forward through mentorship, exposure, and resources—and it doubles as a Natural Selection qualifier. This was the second installment, and the partnership with Whitewater was textbook: media savvy, content rich, and excitement-generating. Competitors, legends, brands, and nearly every endemic outlet (plus some non-endemics) shared the stoke online. Contest day drew in-person spectators and was broadcast live on Instagram. The content tail is long, too: multiple film projects shot during RnD will drop this fall. The hype is real, and it benefits everyone involved in this well-executed collaboration. — MW

 

Most Awkward Apology 

Homewood, CA

Trust is earned. Apologizing is hard. And when a resort has lost the trust of its base, it’s waaaay harder. For Homewood, public unrest about its future plans—including the idea of it becoming a members-only resort—and financial viability were exacerbated by opaque messaging leading up to the October 2024 news that the resort wouldn’t open this winter. After bungling communications with its loyal community for too long, Homewood’s message from early November aimed to make good, sharing a heartfelt apology for lacking transparency and letting its fans down. But the opening line —“Here it is loud and clear: HOMEWOOD WILL ALWAYS BE PUBLIC”—struck a different tone. Try saying that out loud. Not a great intro for an attempted mea culpa. To me, it says, “Trust us, dammit!” Of course, not every commenter was ready to do so. Kudos to Homewood for owning its mistakes, but forgiveness takes time. Build trust, don’t demand it. — SW

 

 

DIGITAL

Best Calm in the Internet Storm 

Sugarbush, VT

While time in the mountains can offer a welcome escape from the stressors of everyday life, skiing and snowboarding don’t exist in a vacuum. Climate change, lift ticket prices, the cost of living, and the state of the economy all impact our industry—and they’re politically polarizing. So, props to Sugarbush Resort for its response during a February moment when politics and skiing collided in a big way in northern Vermont. When a certain high-profile politician came to ski, young snow reporter Lucy Welch used her corner of the internet—Sugarbush’s snow conditions page—to voice concern over government initiatives that imperil the mountains we love, acknowledging the post could get her fired. It was taken down fairly quickly, but not before going viral. Sugarbush stayed calm, kept Lucy aboard, and told The New York Times it respected employee opinions but the snow report wasn’t the place. The metered response defused the situation, calmed the internet, and kept customers happy. — MW

 

Best Multi-Resort Flex

Ikon Pass

When you’re a conglomerate conglomerating, you need to toe the line of providing a lot of ski/ride options while still making sure each destination exudes its own magic. This social post highlighting beautiful sunrises at multiple destinations did just that. Oh look, mountains majesty and the start to yet another beautiful day—you’ve caught my attention. Oh, look at all the different places my Ikon Pass could take me if I wasn’t stuck in front of my computer right now—wish I were there. Look at this lovely carousel of mornings rather than continuing my doomscrolling—thanks Ikon Pass! — CB

 

Worst Multi-Resort Flex

Vail Resorts

Vail, why are you so obsessed with my inbox? I get it, you like me, and you want me to visit all the destinations and have all the epic experiences I possibly can, but this multi-resort, multi-source email assault is like asking ALL your friends to ask me out on a ski date at the exact. same. time. It’s just, too much. And it happens too often. Pass holders know we’ve sold our souls, data, and inbox to you, but you don’t have to be so obvious about it. Geez, it’s almost like you’ve consolidated all your marketing and forgotten how to keep us interested… Take a little note from the Ikon Pass team, keep it subtle when you flex. — CB

 

Best Pre-Arrival Email for Beginners

Nordic Valley, UT

By the standards of the mountain’s larger neighbors, Nordic Valley is not a complicated resort. But by the standards of the thousands of beginner skiers you’ll see at the mountain on a holiday weekend, navigating parking and lodges and rentals can be a daunting task. This is especially true after the resort’s lodge burned down and left the ski area’s once centralized operations scattered across temporary offices and yurts. To help with wayfinding—a major source of frustration for newcomers—Nordic Valley incorporated an aerial view of its entire base area right at the top of its pre-arrival email for day-ticket skiers. The image shows every location a guest might need—tickets, rentals, overflow parting, etc.—neatly labeled. It’s incredibly simple and incredibly effective. — GB

Best Use of Dinosaurs 

Rusutsu Resort, Japan

Rusutsu Resort in Hokkaido, Japan, is known for its powder-stacked terrain, family-friendly amenities, and whimsy (see: a life-sized animatronic bear band in the lodge). Even so, the Instagram marketing for the resort’s Tyrannosaurus Race—a snowy foot race in inflatable dinosaur suits (you know the ones)—stopped me mid-scroll. The promotional post featured frolicking T. rexes and playful emoji-laden captions. The event has nothing to do with skiing or snowboarding, but the post promised a deliriously dinosaur-tastic day of outdoor winter fun for visiting families. And a few dozen dinos running around in the snow is the kind of thing both the internet and the local news eat up, so the potential for digital sharing with this one is high. Sometimes not taking things too seriously is a great way to get more people involved. — MW

 

Most Fun Opening Day Messages

Whaleback, NH

When you’re a nonprofit ski hill, it might feel a bit daunting to attempt to capture some opening day attention when there are lots of other opening days happening. But Whaleback, mighty Whaleback, rose to the challenge. The “Hard Open” announcement on social media, with subtle choose-your-own-adventure-type prompts and excuse-to-skip-work-and-join-them-for-opening-day-this-December messaging not only caught but kept my attention. I scrolled the entire carousel of seven options twice before I picked my favorite. Ultimately, it was the classic “Will provide a doctor’s note” that won me over. (“Snow is hot // Beer is cold” was a close second). — CB

Best Recap of the Mountain Experience

Aspen Snowmass, CO

Powder shots are glorious, and the experience of floating on snow down a mountainside is amazing. I get it. That said, it’s not the only experience that brings people to ski areas. Aspen Snowmass’s 2023-24 season recap video reminded us of the bigger story of mountain resorts. They are a place for gathering, sports, music, and making memories. This video encompassed the many sides of the mountain experience with live music, adaptive skiing, races, backcountry, pride festivals, families, and yes, even powder runs. I appreciate the effort to include it all in one video, celebrating what makes the community and resort a top ski destination. It isn’t just the skiing. It’s the community programs, the celebrations, the memories people make from the beginner slope to the bowls, on the hill and off. Let’s not forget that when we’re speaking to our customers. Aspen Snowmass didn’t. — SW

 

Best Mom-Focused Marketing

Winter Park, CO

Resorts are generally failing to speak to middle-aged ski moms (like me) on Instagram. We’re a core group of planners and major money-spenders that spend time on this platform, but I’m not seeing much family-focused content or targeted ads like I get from other businesses that often succeed in taking my money. Winter Park is the exception, setting the standard via social media partnerships with family influencer partners @2traveldads and @brook.froelich. These folks are pros at creating eye-catching and informative content. Winter Park seems to be well-engaged with them, collaborating on posts and sharing them on its channels—or they at least picked stellar partners that know what needs to be done. — SW

 

Best Show of Solidarity

Mammoth Mountain, CA

Simple. Poignant. Effective. When tragedy strikes, it’s difficult to find a way to express your empathy without coming off a bit tone deaf. However, if you can find a way to do it, it’s like sending a virtual hug when someone needs it most. Sometimes, we need marketing to make us feel like someone is watching, and that they care. During the LA wildfires this year, Mammoth Mountain did just that, and with a simple post wrapped its arms around a city that while far away, is very much a part of its community fabric. While I’m certain this was in no way an attempt to “win” at marketing, when marketing does the right thing in the right way, it can’t go unnoticed. A simple we love you, a nod to a city in need. Well done, Mammoth. We love LA (and you) too. — CB

 

Best Off-Brand Ad

Bromley, VT

I love it when a brand can remain true to itself while exploring new messaging and demographics. Bromley, a southern Vermont gem, is well-known for its chill terrain, single base area, great lessons, and overall family vibe. This offshoot campaign was a fun tongue-in-cheek way to showcase the family hill’s rad side, the East Side Steeps, and make it feel like you’re in on a locals-only secret. Plus, it probably caught the eye of steeps seekers who think Bromley is just for cruising. As someone who loves finding the off-the-beaten-path terrain at smaller ski areas, I get the lure. And Bromley isn’t lying. The East Side Steeps aren’t talked about much outside of the local community, and they are fun as hell. Thanks for reminding the ski world that smaller mountains can still be formidable. — SW

 

Best Late Season Incentive Program

Eldora, CO

It’s an annual challenge for many resorts to keep skiers engaged as the golf courses and trails in town melt off. Eldora, however, turned this challenge into opportunity by incentivizing skiers to visit and applying email automation to great effect. First, the team chose perks, like branded Yeti tumblers, that skiers could unlock by racking up days in March. Second, they created email campaigns triggered by the number of days a skier visited to both push each person toward the next reward and deliver the perks when tiers were reached. Once everything was ready, they pushed out a big campaign to get the whole ball rolling. The result, bolstered by a solid string of storms, was some of Eldora’s strongest March visitation ever and thousands of skiers who, thanks to a few extra days on the mountain than usual, were now much more likely to renew their passes next season. — GB

 

Best Resort Updates

Sierra-at-Tahoe, CA

Many ski areas wisely name their recurring guest communications. That consistency helps recipients recognize something they (hopefully) want to read when it arrives in their overloaded inboxes. Some monikers speak directly to the content, which builds trust. Others, which get deleted, are called “newsletters” but only contain “buy now” links and no news. Of all the resort comms I receive each week, Sierra-at-Tahoe’s The Vibe Check stands out among the rest. It’s not an update. Not a newsletter. Not tales from the resort. To keep us up on what’s going down at the resort, Sierra shares its current vibe via email and same-named video edits with a distinct voice and pertinent info, packaged in a fun design. I read and watch nearly all of them—and I live in freaking Vermont. Do what Sierra does: Create brand fans by being real. — DM

 

Best Pre-Event Coverage

McIntyre, NH

While Park Affair’s Grand in Your Hand event at McIntyre Ski Area itself was worth celebrating, I was psyched to see the solid lead-up coverage on the McIntyre and McIntyre Parks social channels sharing images and stories about the women that participate. Grand in Your Hand is a park contest for women in a park designed and built by women. Leading up to the event, McIntyre shared photos of the design-build process from the prior year, highlighted the ski area’s only female park crew member, and showcased the women on the slopes working on the park. It was fun to see it all come together in the edit from the competition, with talented ladies of all ages killing it in the custom-built park. Kudos to the mountain for supporting this event and sharing its depth on its social channels. — SW

 

Worst Genericness 

Mount Snow, VT

It’s probably unfair to point the finger at Mount Snow for this one since the boots on the ground there likely don’t place Facebook ads, but you wear it, you own it. First, the only thing Mount Snow about this ad is the logo. In the image above, follow me from the top down: “Our tube park is BACK …”? It never went anywhere. “Book your tubing tickets …” wait, no, “try skiing and snowboarding too!” I thought this was about tubing? For chrissake, when promoting an activity (or three?) for a particular resort, use a photo from that resort—not one from the other side of the country—depicting what’s doable at that resort (single lanes at Mount Snow don’t allow for a group tube train). “Friends take friends skiing.” Isn’t this about tubing? Ugh. I’m still rooting for you, VR, but people notice these details, and details are important in ski area marketing. The point is: Every mountain is unique. Please treat them that way. — DM  

 

VIDEO 

Best Rope Drop

Magic Mountain, VT

It’s exciting when trails open during the season, but, of course, it’s also very common. And like many common things, marketers can sometimes get into a rut and have trouble conjuring creative tactics to announce that ropes are dropping. Magic Mountain bucked that trend with a clever, Western-themed video announcing the opening of the west side of the mountain. A cowboy-hat-wearing patroller was quick on the draw to shoot one closed sign down (with a drill as his pistol) then whipped out his lasso to wrangle the other down before giving them a nudge with his boot to ensure they were goners. Great idea, sharp edit. The video earned more than 3,300 likes on Instagram alone and comment after comment filled with nothing but praise for the idea and execution. — GB

 

Best On-Screen Duo

Trollhaugen, WI

With just enough regularity, Wisconsin’s Trollhaugen shares videos of an indispensable mountain operations duo on its park-centric Instagram account, @trollhaugentroll. The twosome portray snow scientists with discerning music and fashion tastes, who engage in snowy adventures like searching for a harvested snow pile (for the resort’s annual fall rail jam, Open Haugen) and snow dancing to Sean Paul’s 2005 hit Temperature. Physical comedy can easily veer into cringey territory—but Troll’s snow scientists hit the right notes. These videos may not have the scientific clout of Bill Nye’s, but they are fun, memorable, and reinforce Trollhaugen’s reputation as a resort with a serious park that doesn’t take itself too seriously. — MW

 

 

Best Love Letter to a Park

Ruka Ski Resort, Finland  

To mark its terrain park’s 30th anniversary, Ruka Ski Resort in Finland released Decades: Thirty Years of Ruka Park, a documentary celebrating the resort’s commitment to its fabled park. In the mid-‘90s, investing in terrain parks was still a fringe idea, but Ruka doubled down, incubating snowboarding talent like Eero Ettala and Enni Rukajärvi. The film, made by Petrus Koskinen, is a beautiful love letter to this incredibly special place. Featuring in-depth interviews and engrossing archival footage, it tells the story of the park’s development and the riders who have called it home—and illuminates larger themes in snowboarding’s history such as the creativity of park building and riding and the sense of belonging that these on hill arenas provide. Beautifully made, not unlike Ruka Park itself, Decades is highly recommended viewing for anyone that has ever had fun taking park laps. — MW

 

Best Trail Map Release

Deer Valley, UT

There is often a great story behind many of the things we take for granted. Hand-painted trail maps might be the ultimate example of this as every run is outlined by hundreds of trees, carefully and painstakingly painted by an artist. Deer Valley’s amazing marketing around its massive terrain expansion continued by telling the tale of the man behind the resort’s new map, Rad Smith. Smith’s fascinating, inspiring story, as documented in a well-produced video, gives all those trees and shadows and trails on Deer Valley’s new map a deeper layer of meaning. Even more, it tells the story of the expansion through the lens that only an artist, mapmaker, and skier like Smith could tell. — GB

 

Best Workday Distraction Tool

Stratton Mountain, VT

When webcams first started popping up on resort websites back when Blackberries were a hot item, their Flash-based video players were pixelated and had an extremely low framerate. Like an Encarta CD-ROM, live webcams were relegated to the proverbial back-of-the-drawer in my consciousness. So, imagine my delight when I accidentally stumbled on Stratton’s live streams on YouTube early this season. Crisp HD footage! Zero latency! Multiple cams spread across the mountain! Stratton is my home mountain, so I keep the stream open in the corner of my work monitor for hours at a time. The base area and summit cams change angles every 6 seconds, creating the ultimate workday distraction as I assess crowds and conditions. Now, I can make educated decisions about playing hooky to sneak in a few midday runs. — LS

 

Most Ominous Opening Day Edit

Grouse Mountain, BC

Atmospheric music: check. Dark ominous clips: check. Storm warning: check. Grouse Mountain’s opening day video is set up like a trailer to a Twin Peaks-style horror film. And I’m here for it. The cinematic style is a surprise, and while the video might not resonate with everyone, I give Grouse a high five for creativity and taking a risk. Does it say, “Let’s go skiing!”? Not quite. But it’s certainly a video I will remember. One that might even haunt me for years. My feedback for Grouse: Keep up the creativity and drama. But also take time to define the objective of your videos and make sure they still deliver on it at completion. This video succeeds at standing out. If the goal was to get folks psyched for skiing, I think that message got a little lost. — SW

 

Best Video Planning

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, WY 

This video brings perhaps the highest production value to the story of snowmaking that I’ve ever seen. The footage of Jackson Hole and its snowmaking team doing their work is, quite simply, stunning. But the thing I love most about this video is that it dropped just before they started making snow. Which means that the team at Jackson Hole had the foresight to capture all this footage during the lead up to and in the early days of the 2023-24 season. Which means they also had the patience to sit on that footage while it was being made into a short film for a full year and only release it at the very moment when it would have its greatest impact. That moment was Sept. 24, 2024, and that impact was racking up nearly 60,000 views on YouTube. Jackson Hole continues to lead the way in video storytelling. — GB

 

Best One-of-a-Kind Offseason Video 

Stratton Mountain, VT

I’m going to tell you a secret. I mute most ski industry related social over the offseason. As someone who works in the industry, when the snow melts, I set my sights on waves and avoiding all things winter for a few months. So, rarely does anything “ski area” offseason get more than a moment of my time. However, I must give it to Stratton: the trail crew’s Harvest Fest video brought me back into the ski algorithm early. Equal parts Bob Ross Happy Trees and hard-working trail crew love with a brief resort executive cameo, this video was funny and creative. My only criticism is Stratton’s feed doesn’t have enough of this kind of content. Let the kids have some fun! — CB

 

OTHER

Best Use of Star Power (in a Swimsuit)

Palisades Tahoe, CA 

There are lots of reasons skiing or riding in a swimsuit is a bad idea: frostbite, snowburn, sunburn, to name but a few. Regardless, Palisades Tahoe hosted an event in March to attempt the world’s “largest swimsuit ski run.” To help convince people to hit the slopes in their swim skivvies, Palisades partnered with comedian Chelsea Handler, whose favorite birthday tradition is to ski sans snow gear (or any clothes at all). To celebrate turning 50, Handler collaborated with Palisades and Gold Bond to bring the event to life, spreading the word on her popular podcast and among her 5.2 million Instagram followers. Palisades may not have broken the world-record (1,500 at the Remarkables in New Zealand), but this was a celebrity partnership done right. Media pickup was strong, and working with an individual with a real passion for the mountains (Handler is a dedicated schusser) is a meaningful move. — MW 

 

Best Diplomacy Lesson 

Whaleback, NH, and Mont Edouard, QC

 

The words "tariff" and “51st state” have surely been haunting GMs at U.S.-based resorts near the Canadian border. Jay Peak issued a public love letter to its northern neighbors, wishing it “had more to offer than just empathy.” But two mountains—Whaleback in New Hampshire and Mont Edouard in Quebec—created their own offer: pass holders at either mountain have unlimited reciprocal access, for free. The cross-border handshake gives pass holders a unique perk, sure, but grassroots diplomacy is arguably the winner here— because the partnership also includes a promise from each mountain, both community-owned, to share their operational knowledge with each other. Thank you, Whaleback and Edouard, for reminding us that, between friends, a border is nothing more than an imaginary dotted line. — LS

 

Best Earned Media Coverage

Sunday River, Maine

There are certain events that mainstream media just can’t resist covering. For many, many, many years, Sunday River has held two such events, which always earn the resort worldwide coverage on major news outlets: the North American Wife Carrying Championship, an aptly named extravaganza first held in 1999, and Santa Sunday, a fundraising event of skiing and riding Santas that just celebrated its 24^th year. Neither have changed much over the years—nor has the media pickup. Scroll through your AP News app in early December and you’ll surely catch a headline that reads something like, “300 Santas Hit the Slopes at Sunday River.” This past October, a video of the Wife Carrying Championship dropped on the ABC News Instagram feed not long after the participating wives finally, mercifully set their feet on the ground. It’s an earned media goldmine for Sunday River. Find yours, don’t mess with it, reap the rewards. — DM

 

Most Almost Excellent Ad

Sugarbush, VT 

I applaud Sugarbush for its “Descent to Rise Above” campaign, which encouraged guests to download the Sugarbush or Ikon Pass app and track their vertical skied throughout the season at Sugarbush, with the goal to accumulate one billion total feet of vertical by season’s end to raise $50,000 for mental wellness and resilience in partnership with a New England nonprofit. Getting your broader ski community involved throughout the season to raise the funds—and awareness of the cause that the money supports—is more impactful than a single event. The investment in placing an ad on the back cover of Vermont Ski + Ride magazine is impactful, too. The creative, however, was underwhelming. A fine design at its core, but the messaging is scattered, the layers are busy, and the fundraising info is buried at the bottom. Sooo close to being an overall best. — SW

 

Best Summer Print Ad

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, WY

Yes, the moniker for this one is sort of like calling my only sister “my favorite sister,” but that doesn’t make it, or she, less cool. JHMR invested in this spread in the spring 2024 issue of Mountain Gazette, which, of course, is sensible timing to promote summer. What stands out here is JHMR invested in a print spread to promote summer. That said, JHMR has invested a lot in its summertime operations, so it should also invest in marketing it. The ad itself is attractive and notably promotes only outdoor, adrenaline and/or at-height activities—there isn’t a luxury hotel or fancy steak dinner in sight, which speaks to the preferences of Mountain Gazette readers. This is called targeting, and it can be very effective in the print medium. Let this be a lesson to all of you that have pulled your print marketing budgets in favor of jumping into the noisy, crowded online marketplace with everyone else. — DM

 

Best Print Ad Photo

Sundance, UT

I love the photographs that pull back and capture the expansive, wide views of a resort from edge to edge and ridge to base. Sundance could have done the same and still had a beautiful image to use for this print campaign, but it didn’t—the resort zoomed out even further and included the stunning lines of Mount Timpanogos, elegantly silhouetted by the rich purples of a winter sunset. Is this famous peak part of the resort? No. Is anyone with a Sundance pass skiing its slopes? No. But is it part of every skier's experience at the resort? Absolutely. And the team at Sundance did a fantastic job of recognizing that and leaned into that idea with this stunning campaign. — GB

 

Coziest Tradeshow Booth

Cranmore, NH

Cranmore has a long list of great marketing tools at its disposal: a beautiful mountain, a fantastic color palette, and a strong brand. At last year’s Snowbound Expo in Boston, its booth neatly combined all these elements into a display that instantly became one of my favorites. A big, curving backdrop with nothing but a wide shot of the resort was nestled beside a cozy fireplace scene. Even more, the Cranmore team was decked out in classy, vintage-style ski sweaters with the resort’s name printed across the chest. I’ve never seen a booth take the cozy vibe of New England skiing and bring it into a tradeshow hall as well as this one from Cranmore. It was simple, perfectly on brand, and caught the attention of passersby without resorting to a bright and aggressive vibe. — GB

 

Most Endearing Promo

Kissing Bridge, NY

Spend any amount of time in western New York and you’ll learn that the Buffalo Bills are a very, very big deal. On the flip side, mention the Kansas City Chiefs and you’ll instantly discover how reviled another football team can be. After the Chiefs knocked the Bills out of the playoffs for the second year in a row this January, Kissing Bridge in Glenwood, N.Y., came up with a brilliant ploy: offer player-priced lift tickets to celebrate the Bills, and snowballs to deprecate the Chiefs. Every day for a week, starting with quarterback Josh Allen at $17, lift tickets were discounted to match a beloved Bills player’s jersey number. Guests were then offered snowballs to throw at life-sized cutouts of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight-end Travis Kelce while they rode the chairlift. Kissing Bridge clearly understands its audience. — LS

 

Best Plea at the Potty 

Antelope Butte, WY 

There is nothing like a captive audience. And at a ski area they can be found in the loo, hence the many promotions you’ve viewed while gracing the porcelain throne (and read about here in these annual reviews). Nonprofit Antelope Butte used this age-old tactic to drive a not-so-subtle point home this season. Its message: We can’t grow the sport without your financial support. While some may find this message a little too direct, I think it’s genius. It didn’t require a marketing firm to pull together or flashy graphics to resonate. It’s a simple message to an on-site audience. Simple, clean (presumably), effective, and cheap. What’s not to love? — SW

 

Biggest Print-Nerd Heartbreak

Industry-wide

A few years ago, we lamented the dwindling of resort print ads—and we’re here to do it again. While digital ads and paid social offer an immediate, measurable way to connect with audiences (algorithms notwithstanding), there is a beauty to a well-designed print ad. Yes, there are fewer print magazines every year, which means fewer opportunities to place print ads—but some still exist, so it was with a heavy sigh that I flipped magazine pages this winter and found nothing. Seriously, nothing. In the issues of one very popular outdoor magazine, I found only resort-adjacent ads from local tourism boards. (Kudos to Visit Jackson Hole for its multichannel “The Mountain of Youth” campaign celebrating older-and-wiser locals.) There are lots of reasons a mountain may decide not to pay for print—budget is at the top of the list—but I’d like to argue this in favor: print ads support endemic publications, and thus, help preserve our industry’s stories. So, this is a hopeful plea for the continuation of print media. — MW