This was originally published in 2021, but a couple of these questions came up again recently so I figured I’d resurface it since I’d forgotten about too.

The other day Kevin Bell sought my infinite wisdom on the question in the screenshot above. And while infinite wisdom may be in short supply, I do have lots and lots of resort marketing data.

But it’s an interesting question, because our industry loves to combine some words to make new ones but not all words. The trick? There’s no dictionary to know which is which. But by looking across our industry as a whole, we might get a better idea of where each one stands.

So I dug in to find some answers.

NOTE: These numbers come from just over 25,000 social posts. emails, and videos shared by ski resorts during a span of roughly 3 years.

Pass Holder vs Passholder

The classic debate and the one where this all started. In this case, however, it’s almost a dead heat.

Slope Side vs Slopeside

Ah, yes, it appears that slopeside – one word – is our first clear winner.

Season Pass vs Seasonpass vs Seasons Pass

I’ve heard more than one strong opinion about the use of “seasons pass” (with an S at the end of season), but it appears that usage is in a very, very small minority with season pass – two words – the overwhelming winner.

Lift Line vs Liftline

Here’s where it gets fun, because lift line – two words – is the winner here…

Chair lift vs Charilift

…but chairlift – one word – is the clear winner.

Snow Maker vs Snowmaker

It seems folks agree that snowmaker is one word.

Snow Making vs Snowmaking

As is snowmaking.

Trail Map vs Trailmap

But trail map – two words – certainly appears to be the most common usage.

Snow Sports vs Snowsports

A classic, but it appears we’re leaning toward this being one word.

Others?

Have any others you want me to look at? Just let me know – contact@slopefillers.com – and while I’ve got you, one last thing.

While this is a fun analysis, these sorts of questions are probably the last thing any marketer needs to lose sleep over right now. In each case I found hundreds of instances of each usage in resort marketing and saw no difference in engagement rates. Say what you want to say, how you want to say it, and save the stress for bigger, more important things.

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.