Man I love Nordic Valley.

It’s small, it’s close, it’s cheap, and it’s crazy fun. Their marketing budget is meager, but they’ve done some things that have been super helpful for a local like myself. Their clever Google Sheets trail status was one, their hello bar was another.

But this year, we’ve turned to one thing over and over and over again as a family: their live web cam that streams 24/7 on YouTube.

And to be clear about the value it has provided, let me explain three ways we use it.

#1) Check Conditions & Lines
This is the classic use case. We check to see if it’s snowing, if the hill is above the fog, if the lines are long. It’s been really helpful to figure out when the crowds will be there without having to always learn the hard way.

#2) Grandparents
My mom is a 3-time cancer survivor. Her immune system isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders. So while I’d love for her to come watch the kids ski, I also don’t feel great about her standing in a base area with a bunch of unmasked skiers shuffling to/from the lifts. So I texted my parents the link before we skied the other day and they got to watch us from their living room.

#3) Just…Watching
In the same way I may randomly turn on a TV fireplace, I’ve found myself pulling this up on the Roku to check conditions and then…well…leaving it going and just enjoying the ambiance of feeling (sorta) like you’re just hanging out in the base area watching lifts spin and skiers smile.

I would guess I’ve tuned into the live stream probably at least 1-2x daily for about 4-6 weeks.

A Trend?
There are a few other live cams out there right now that I’m sure are proving super valuable to locals:

• Brighton Parking Lot Cam
• Killington Snowshed Cam
• Snoqualmie’s Summit Central Cam

With more coming online lately, I’m curious to see where this trend goes. Live streaming cams have always existed, but this year feels like there’s a bit more momentum around them than usual.

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.