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Hoodoo’s Anniversary: When Was the Last Time Your GM Moved a Rope Tow?

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GREGG
BLANCHARD
   

“As a lover of simplicity, I like to highlight resort marketing that is both effective but incredibly simple in execution. This is one of those examples.”

Hoodoo is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. There are many ways to combine the past and the present in your marketing – golden chairs, beer, and videos are three such ideas – but I love the simplicity in what Hoodoo is doing on their blog.

Ed Thurston, Hoodoo’s founder, kept a daily work diary for at least some of the early years on the mountain. No frills or drama added, Lief at Hoodoo is sharing some of these entries with their skiers.

It’s an amazing simple, but fascinating story how the founder honestly build much of the ski area. Stuff like:

“Wired Riblet for 4 more clips. Hauled 1×12 from Lundgrens, George and I Worked laying floor in morning and putting on siding on furnace room in afternoon. Cliff was there when I got there we cut and put up 2 poles for rope tow tightners and cut the third one – also moved plumbers table to alleyway. Cliff worked 4 hrs.”

…or…

“Moved tow from gulley to parking lot –Cable broking holding boom but didn’t seem to do any damage. Replaced – cable. Valve stuck in diesel and bent push rod – straightened push rod. Went to bend in evening.”

It won’t resonate with everyone, but it will for some. And I think that group will find a new found love of their mountain through Ed’s simple tale.


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.

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