DEPARTMENTS
PUBLISHER’S MEMO
8 NEWS AND VIEWS An interview with Killington GM Mike Solimano and new owner Phill Gross; thoughts from the MT2030 summit; a call to elevate safety on the slopes, and more. 20 NEW PRODUCTS A variety of new products and services for ski area operators to consider—from software to hardware and staffing help to safety.
No Time for Hibernation There is something poetic about the fact that just as the leaves start dying, our industry surges back to life. The natural world goes dormant as the weather cools, and ski area operators take on the mantle of Dr. Frankenstein, reanimating idle snow guns, lifts, and lodges with a spark of electricity. I know, I know, many of you have summer operations (something we’ve been championing for years), so perhaps that image of the dormant ski hill is a bit labored, but stick with me. While others succumb to the siren song of hibernation, we plug our ears against it. With the arrival of crisp autumn air, we slough off the molasses of summer and begin the sprint toward the first turns of winter. And autumn is most certainly a sprint. So much to do, so little time, as the idiom goes. At least, that’s how it has felt in the SAM offices this season. We’ve been on the road a lot—at regional shows for MSAA, NES, and SANY/PSAA, and at the Mountain Towns 2030 Climate Solutions Summit in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where we co-hosted a meet-and-greet for ski resort sustainability leaders (more on that on p. 14). We also kicked off our annual Summit Series leadership development program, with a bright crop of new mentees and seasoned mentors. And we launched a brand- new Ski Resort AI Bootcamp in partnership with self-admitted AI geek Mike Lannen from Eternity. And, of course, we’ve produced this issue of SAM , which reflects the general tenor of autumn in the ski industry— there’s a little looking back (at rad park builds and events from last season in the annual “Terrain Park Contest” on p. 42, and major capital projects from the off-season in “Construction Site” on p. 60), and there is a lot of looking ahead (at the impact of AI on the ski industry, p. 36; at uniform buying on p. 48; and at shifting attitudes toward the tourism economy in mountain towns on p. 56, to name but a few). Our industry is riddled with unpredictabilities, which is perhaps why we must be so future focused in our thinking. Like snowdrops, we are determined to bloom in, well, snow. But faced with the realities of changing communities, climate, and consumer expectations, it is imperative for us to put our heads together to envision solutions that will sustain the ski industry in the busy months and long years ahead. Speaking of busy months
26 MOUNTAIN SPY
The Spy asks: “We want to come ski for Thanksgiving. If condi- tions aren’t good, is there anything else to do?”
28 GUEST EXPERIENCE
Manage NPS by the numbers: increase promoters or decrease detractors?
30 ROUNDUP
Optimism reigns as ski areas plan for the 2024-25 winter season.
36 TECHNOLOGY
What does the growth of AI mean for the winter sports industry?
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TOM FOLEY is currently SVP of Business Intelligence at Inntopia. In 2005, he co-founded DestiMetrics (then MTRiP), and more recently served as president of the Insights Collective, a tourism think tank. Foley has spent the last 28 years researching and analyzing the destination travel industry and brings a macro-contextual angle to his work. » 52 JESS GOUCHER grew up in New England. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English, she headed west to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo., where she started on the park crew in 2017. Goucher then moved to Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore., as lead park groomer and is currently a terrain park groomer at The Summit at Snoqualmie, Wash. » 42 HELEN OLSSON is the editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury’s Peak magazine and author of “The Down & Dirty Guide to Camping with Kids.” Based in Boulder, Colo., Olsson has been an editor at Skiing , Snow Show Daily , Outdoor Retailer Daily , and Vail Resorts’ Epic Life. Her stories have appeared in the New York Times , SKI , and Elevation Outdoors , among others. » 48
and long years—our very own Jordyn Ossanna, née Bremer, got married at the end of September. Please join us in wishing her and her husband, Brett, many long years of happiness and a well- deserved respite from the busy months of wedding planning. Congratulations, you two!
Olivia Rowan, Publisher olivia@saminfo.com
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