RACE PROGRAMS_>>
Left: Mount Southington isn’t just a junior racing mecca, it also hosts race events for adults who still have the need for speed.
conducts races. The resort is responsible for snowmaking, grooming, and other trail maintenance as well as ski patrol. Yet, because these services are part of a resort’s duties in managing the moun- tain for the general skiing public, they don’t represent an extra expense. The ski area doesn’t charge the club for hill space but instead splits race revenues with the club—fees for entering the race program, race registration fees, etc.—50/50. The resort requires the club to carry its own insurance, “so that we’re on the same page as far as liability is concerned,” says Meyer. Such shared liability is common in resort-club part- nerships, so that racing generally does not impact a resort’s insurance premi- um. And because most of the training and racing at Caberfae Peaks is sched- uled during midweek, there is “not a lot of conflict,” says Meyer, between the race program and general skiing. Again, tim- ing is everything. » continued
Even with timely scheduling, how- ever, the resort has learned that a good thing—revenue from racing—can also produce unintended consequences. A couple of years ago, registration for a race rocketed to about 300 entrants, over- whelming resort facilities with racers and their families. Lesson learned: Gran- ite Peak now puts a cap on registration (about 150 racers) to keep order from morphing into chaos. Club Partnerships Caberfae Peaks Ski Resort in Michigan outsources virtually all the administra- tion of the race and training program, relying on the local Cadillac Area Ski Club to “manage and orchestrate” it, according to GM Pete Meyer. The club owns the racing hardware, provides coaches and other race personnel, and
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Instead, it covers much of the racing and training expense through the sale of sea- son passes to members of the club’s ski team. The resort also generates revenue from “other clubs that pay a nominal fee to train on our course.” As at Mount Southington, timing is key when it comes to scheduling races. “[Racing] fills a void after the holiday,” says Fisher.
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