Each year in the May issue, we invite resort marketers to extend kudos to their colleagues at other operations. These “Peer Reviews” highlight marketing and communications from 2024-25 that stuck with fellow marketers for reasons they explain here. Peers aren’t typically a marketing team’s target audience, but hopefully that makes this unexpected love all the more meaningful.
This year’s peer reviewers gravitated toward events, campaigns, and social posts that spoke with authenticity and showed a deep understanding of brand, audience, and community.
A Cool Collab with Deep Roots
Stratton, Vt., and East Street Archives
Dash Hegeman
Marketing Director
Holiday Valley, NY
From a cultural standpoint, it’s been very cool to see Stratton lean into its roots as one of the core resorts that helped pioneer snowboarding. Its collaboration with East Street Archives to host the 3rd annual Homesick, a three-day event with multiple snowboard competitions, speaks to that history and tradition.
When the Burton US Open moved to Stratton in 1985, it became the premier event to attend in the snowboard world. The legends who took part in the Open at Stratton helped put snowboarding on a meteoric rise in popularity and cultural significance. As a teenager in the mid-’90s, I didn’t have the foresight to realize that riders like Craig Kelly, Terje, Shaun Palmer, and Jeff Brushie were, in real time, shaping an entire industry. I just knew that their riding captivated me as they continued to up the bar.
Sadly, the momentum eventually fizzled. Gen X grew up, got jobs, started families, and snowboarded less. The culture changed, but the history was still there—and I was thrilled to see Stratton commit time and resources to host Homesick, which reengages an audience of nostalgic riders and honors the culture and people who helped write history.
East Street Archives does a great job, especially on social media, announcing participants and educating a brand-new audience about who they are using templated creative that includes a mix of black and white portraits with aggressively bright and bold “HOMESICK” letters at the top and the participant’s name in the bottom right corner. The write-ups are concise but informative, providing just enough to spark curiosity.
A Grand Opening with Grand Impact
Copper Mountain, Colo.
Loryn Roberson
Director of Marketing and PR
Loveland, CO
When marketing a new chairlift, it isn’t always easy to stand out. Upgrades happen all the time, and simply saying “it’s bigger or faster” doesn’t necessarily get people talking. But Copper Mountain nailed it with the grand opening of the new Timberline Express, blending creativity, brand storytelling, and a smart partnership to make this grand opening unique.
For the first chair shot, Copper loaded up six skiers in inflatable T-rex costumes, which was both a subtly clever play on the lift’s name and a conspicuous showcase of its increased capacity as a six-pack chair. The visuals were instantly shareable—perfect for social media and irresistible to media outlets covering the upgrade.
Also noted by this observer was Copper’s commitment to its brand identity and tagline as “The Athlete’s Mountain,” writing in the social post that the lift “now moves 6 athletes on each chair” rather than, say, “people” or “passengers.”
Then came the Thunder Lizard beer. In collaboration with Odell Brewing, Copper launched a limited-edition hoppy ale available exclusively at T-Rex Grill, the on-mountain restaurant next to the new lift. This was a brilliant way to extend the campaign beyond the lift’s grand opening and create something people would want to seek out, share, and talk about.
In the end, Copper’s marketing team checked all the right boxes: a fun, highly visual stunt; a brand-aligned message; and a strategic partnership that drove engagement. This campaign didn’t just announce a lift—it created a fun moment. And that’s what great ski area marketing is all about.
An Operational Update to Emulate
Jay Peak, Vt.
Austin Smith
Director of Innovation and Marketing
Bogus Basin, Id
Mountains often struggle with delivering bad news to their loyal guests, but Jay Peak turned a potentially negative full-parking announcement into an engaging viral win. On a powder-packed Sunday, its lots filled by 11 a.m., prompting a straightforward Instagram hard post: “Parking is full now as of 11am. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t park here.” A clever nod to Semisonic’s song “Closing Time” and the viral “You can’t park there, sir” memes, it was concise, relatable, and just the right amount of “you snooze, you lose” realness.
Instead of complaining, the audience played along. “Plenty of parking still available in Mass, CT, and NY,” one user joked. Another pointed out the obvious: “Ah, wonder if it’s because of all the snow.” Some criticized the resort, but several loyalists shut them down, claiming, “If you didn’t get there before 11 o’clock, you really didn’t wanna be there!” and so forth. The community had Jay Peak’s back and appreciated the realness the post brought.
This post wasn’t just an operational update—it was engagement gold. Instagram racked up more than 154,000 views, 4,547 likes, and 601 shares. Facebook added another 54,000+ views and 507 likes. The numbers spoke for themselves.
As someone who markets for a nonprofit ski area with its own peak-hour parking challenges, I admire the execution. At Bogus Basin, we tend to communicate parking updates practically, sometimes even apologetically, on our social channels. Note taken, Jay Peak; you all flipped the script. No over-explaining, sugarcoating, or apologizing—just humor, confidence, and a solid reality check to those slow on the draw.
Great marketing in 2025 doesn’t need to be polished. Social media marketing is about knowing your audience and speaking their language. Very well played, Jay Peak. We see you!
A Strong Brand, Sans Gimmicks
Magic Mountain, Vt.
Rachel Wyckoff
Marketing Director
Shawnee Mountain, PA
When it comes to independent ski areas that truly get the soul of skiing, Magic Mountain in Vermont nails it. The ski area doesn’t need flashy campaigns or overproduced content—it’s just all about the skiing and riding, communicated with simple, honest, and fun messaging.
Magic’s social media hooks me every time. It’s raw, real, and speaks straight to the heart of the ski community. No fluff or gimmicks, just pure passion. Magic’s marketing isn’t trying to present the ski area as something it’s not, and that’s exactly why it works.
One of my favorite Instagram posts this season was a Dec. 13 video of a couple of bearded snowmakers standing by the snowmaking pond after a major rain event. One of them says, “Well, at least the pond’s full. Let’s drain it.” The caption: “There’s always a silver lining.”
That post alone speaks volumes about the grit, humor, and heart of independent ski areas. It didn’t try to sell anything. It was a feeling, and a reminder of the challenges we all face, which is part of why we all love this industry.
Magic Mountain is the epitome of an indie resort that stays true to its roots. It makes me believe there’s still magic in skiing, and for that, hats off to Magic.
A Collective Effort to Invite Kids In
Abenaki Ski Area, The Kanc Rec Center, and Whaleback, N.H.
Luke Boutin
Marketing and Park Manager
McIntyre Ski Area, NH
This winter, New Hampshire’s Abenaki Mountain, The Kanc Rec Center, and Whaleback Mountain collaborated on a four-stop rail jam series for kids ages 6-18, working together for a greater cause—to give back to their community.
Let’s face it, our jobs as ski area employees are hard, but what we do is kickass. We get to create memories for tons of people. We get to shape ideas, foster community, and form our industry’s future. And we even get to ski and ride for free, sometimes. We are the “cool older kids” who prospective skiers and riders look up to (Remember them? I’ll never forget the day they looked over at me and gave me my first fist bump of approval.), so it’s our job to do what we can to help them to love our sports—growing loyalty in the process.
Knowing that, I’d like to commend the work of everyone who has been a part of this year’s “Small Mountain Series”—Nathan Jenkins, Rob Dresser, Konrad Mitchell, and Abenaki, The Kanc, and Whaleback. This rail jam program is a whole new way of competing and has lowered the barriers for entry, helping kids to showcase their skills (with some of us “cool older kids” there to cheer them on) while also highlighting small rope-tow ski areas in New England.
This event, and ones like it, are the future. We no longer have space in our already small world for exclusivity. More mountains should take note and start “bumping knuckles” in an effort to never forget where we started. And from a marketing lens, there’s no better story to tell than one about inclusion, access, and authentic grassroots stoke.
