RACE PROGRAMS_>>
Culture and Responsibility Okemo Mountain in central Vermont hosts a race program that is managed mainly in-house, although it is support- ed by the Okemo Mountain Area Racing Association (OMARA), which operates primarily as a fundraising organization. The competition and training program is run by Okemo’s race department, manned by paid staff and coaches. The resort hosts more than 20 com- petitive events a year—races along with freestyle and terrain-park events, both for skiing and snowboarding—as well as reg- ular race training. Race training is limited to one of the mountain’s 121 trails, mini- mizing potential hill-space conflicts. “I’m not going to say that we don’t get any (negative) guest feedback,” says Okemo GM Bruce Schmidt, mostly regarding the on-mountain behavior of young racers. If, however, a race program conjures images of small armies of Lycra- clad kids bombing down the mountain and crashing into lift lines, “having full- time coaches who know and enforce the responsibility code” is an effective way of addressing the issue. Okemo also has the ski patrol speak to race groups from time to time about safety. Racing and training at Okemo bring in more than just race- and training-re- lated fees. They also “bring a lot of vibe and energy to the resort,” says Schmidt. “It helps develop the sport and inspire future generations of skiers.” The Marketing Piece Jake Ingle at Steamboat resort in Colora- do agrees that racing enhances the cul- ture of the resort. Ingle says the ski area doesn’t look at racing “as a huge reve- nue generator,” but “when skiers riding up the lift see racing, it creates a buzz around the mountain. That’s the mar- keting piece.” That said, the racing culture runs deeper in Steamboat than the marketing clout it provides. Competitive winter sports are a key component of the com- munity’s heritage; over the years, 100 local athletes have gone on to the Win- ter Olympics. The resort, working in conjunction with the local Steamboat Springs Win- ter Sports Club, has one of the largest and most active race programs in the coun-
try, overseeing race and freestyle training for kids as young as 3 years old as well as numerous competitive events. Also in the mix are training camps both for alpine racers and freestyle competitors. To manage it all, the resort employs what Ingle calls “a dedicated race crew” of six to eight full-time staffers, supple- mented by additional staff for bigger events. (For example, Steamboat hosted the NCAA alpine championships last spring.) The resort has “a long-term con- tract with the sports club,” says Ingle, that sorts out who is responsible for everything from equipment to hill main- tenance to the distribution of ticket-sale revenues. Lessons To Be Learned There are a few lessons about managing a race program to be learned from resort representatives. For starters, keep the rac- ing and training activities as separate as possible from the general skiing traffic. That applies to creating space not only on-mountain but in base facilities as well. If possible, schedule racing activi- ties at times of the day or season when general skiing traffic tends to be low. Anticipate the potential stress that an event might put on resort personnel and logistics. For example, Sugar Bowl in California brings in extra staff for ticket sales on days when a race is scheduled, not unlike adding staff for the anticipat- ed rush on a powder day, according to the resort’s executive director of sport and experience, Toby Arnott. If the management of a program is shared between a resort and a local club or other organization, be clear about who is responsible for what. Establish through coaches, resort staff, and club personnel an enforceable code of con- duct, based on Your Responsibility Code. Racing can be a revenue generator, not only through proceeds from a race program itself but also through ancillary revenues from season-pass sales for race families, food-and-beverage sales to race spectators, and so on. But racing can also boost a resort’s public image, creating an aura of excitement and the public per- ception of a resort to be taken seriously. Finally, a racing program can be stepping stone to the sport’s future, an early stage in the development of lifelong skiers.
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