One of my favorite pieces of marketing last season was the was Gunstock “rolled out the red carpet” (remember that phrase) for Freeskier’s Roadtrip Challenge crew and reaped a solid chunk of priceless PR from it.

If I had to sum up the whole story in one soundbite lesson, it’d be:

Gunstock showed us all what happens when you go above and beyond in the way you treat people with reach and influence.

On that same note, Seven Springs is already seeing huge results from a similar idea.

The Story
Tom Wallisch is one of the most popular, influential, beloved freeskiers on the planet. Tom is also from Pittsburg. And, so being, in his own words, “Seven Springs was the closest resort to me growing up.”

Then he went west. Utah, specifically, Park City, more specifically. But somewhere between riding for Park City and today, an opportunitiy arose for him to find a new resort partner. Whether that was Vail Resorts’ decision on otherwise, it’s not certain, but the chance came and Seven Springs was ready.

In a Q&A with Freeskier, Tom didn’t specify whether the video below came before or after he had signed on with Seven Springs:

But listen to how he describes the scene:

It was amazing. Seven Springs rolled out the red carpet for us. They built us some really sick features and were always down to shape and help with anything we needed. I think the whole crew had a blast and it was awesome to end the season on such a high.

There’s that phrase again, “rolled out the red carpet.” It’s almost as if that’s how people – successful or not – want to be treated. Crazy.

But whether that came before or after, Tom sees the perfect fit that this partnership blossomed into:

Seven Springs and Pennsylvania in general have played a huge part in my career and growth as a skier. What Seven Springs has been doing as a resort is amazing. Promoting and building such a huge park scene on the east coast is so cool. I really wanted to be a part of that movement and help bring some exposure to PA and where I grew up…Almost everyone I’ve met at Seven Springs is so excited and pumped on the park scene. It’s amazing. Alex Moser, Joel Rerko, Joe Genovese, and all the boys on park crew at Springs are awesome.

The Marketing Side
Speaking of Alex Moser, Seven Springs’ Marketing Director, he’s not exactly bummed about the whole thing either. I asked him for his thoughts on it:

Tom Wallisch is a beloved figure at Seven Springs and we couldn’t be more honored to have him represent our incredible resort. He is an amazing skier and an even better person. This partnership will help us grow the sport in the area and inspire a new generation of freeskiers to discover a lifelong passion.

And more than just Tom, this is an extension of the work Seven Springs has been doing on their brand and, more specificaly, their terrain park focus.

We put a ton of hard work into making our parks part of the elite few that really stand out in the industry. Tom is an elite freeskier who learned his trade in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Forging a partnership with him tells the world how serious we are about being the best of the best and it tells our local skiers that being from the East Coast won’t stop them from becoming the next big thing.

To us [this partnership] means that all of our dedication and hard work is really paying off. We have every intention of being one of the “big dogs” in the terrain park world and we look at this partnership as a huge step toward achieving that.”

Match Made in Heaven
The video above (only a behind-the-scenes clip of a larger project, his last one has 250,000 views) has 11,000 views and shines a personal, human light on both the resort but also the athletes and their families.

Tom is excited to “come back home” and show his family and roots the sport he loves, Seven Springs gets the be the enablers of this circle, and everybody wins.

An awesome partnership. Perhaps the best I’ve ever seen. Great work Alex, Joe, and Joel.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.