Resort Marketers Should Probably Follow Advice From a Book I’ve Never Read

I sometimes feel I do too much critiquing and too little suggesting. Like, somehow, I’m the 400 pound, mullet-sporting guy on his 3rd beer at the baseball game yelling at the 2nd baseman to hustle. So, every once in a while on a Wednesday I’ll try to balance the scales a bit and put my [...]

Yet Another Reason EpicMix is a Really, Really Brilliant Marketing Tool

I sometimes ask myself if EpicMix came at the perfect time. Tracking your runs and vert is nothing new. I remember being offered the same with with my RFID pass at Solitude more than 15 years ago. But today’s skier seems to be in a perfect storm of situations that set up this resort tech [...]

Today is the Day I Become the Trickiest Past Skier You’ll Ever Market To

If all goes as planned (which it never does), today is the day i’ll become a past-skier in your database that resides within a puzzle very few marketers have been able to crack. I’ll go from a young skier with time, money, and the ability to travel in one moment, to exactly the opposite in [...]

Why a Marketer Like Myself Has a Picture of Larry Bird at His Desk

When i was young I played a lot of basketball. When we moved to a new house that had a gravel driveway, a hoop went up long before the surface was ever paved. If you want to learn ball-handling, dribble on rocks for a few months. Though I loved the sport, I often felt like [...]

The One Word I’d Love to See Die a Fast and Painful Death in Ski Culture

Chew on this. “We want everyone to come skiing and enjoy the sport that we all know and love.” That’s what we say with one breath. “But if you enjoy the sport without dressing like us core skiers do, we’ll secretly mock and laugh at you behind your back.” That’s what we say with the [...]

Tom Wallisch vs Me or Kobe Bryant vs Me: Where’s the Bigger Gap in Skill?

A couple months ago I wrote about what I’m starting to call “the gap” in skiing: the different between a beginner (or even intermediate) skier and the best of the best. The concept that after a week playing football, I can feel more like a pro than I could after a decade of skiing. I [...]

TwoTwo Tuesdays: Should Your Resort Sponsor Skiers & Using OTAs for Lodging

A big thank you to all that took the time to answer the previous question. Before we get to today’s question, let’s take a peek at the results from last round. Round 5 – RESULTS: Does your resort sponsor athletes? YES: 67% NO: 33% Only a few of those that responded to the question provided [...]

MTS Recap: Are These the Three Solutions to Grow the Ski Industry?

A couple weeks ago I cruised over to Aspen for a quick, 36 hour Mountain Travel Symposium whirlwind. Now that the lessons have sunk in a bit more, here are my thoughts on what was shared. How do we grow skiing? It’s a question asked a least once in every conversation about the ski industry. [...]