A really smart marketer I follow said recently that you should never look at certain data more than once a week. Or, at the least, smooth the curve so you’re looking at something closer to a seven-day average each time you check.

While he was referring to marketing analytics, I think the same is true of my mindset.

Every day as I look over what individual resorts are doing, how governments are handling COVID, the challenges one resort faces, and the opportunities another is uncovering, it’s easy to get lost in the ups and downs that come along with it.

After all, some resorts are going to have it really, really hard this year. And some likely won’t notice much of a difference.

But when I try to smooth that curve and see the trend things could be going?

Well, I’m surprised to find how optimistic I am.

• People are going outside in record numbers.
• Folks seem to be getting more used to the fact that life is different.
• Resorts are getting really good at adapting quickly.
• Season pass numbers are up significantly at many resorts.
• Multi-resort products are seeing huge surges in sales.
• Mountains are seeing ways to preserve the experience for their most loyal skiers.

Is there still a ton of uncertainty? Of course. Will some ski areas not make it to the other side? Possibly. Are the results going to lead to more pockets of layoffs? There’s a good chance.

But when I think about where I was a few months ago, even one month ago, and add up all these little pieces of the bigger picture? And when I compare that to my outlook today?

I’m getting more and more optimistic about how this season could go.

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.