Even a thousand miles away with only a thin connection to the resort, I’m still reeling a bit from the Sierra-at-Tahoe fire.

Seeing of snowmakers cranking out water to protect structures, glowing embers around lift towers, flames dancing between the trees lining trails, and following updates on the aftermath created an eerie sight that served as a reminder that the same thing could literally happen to any resort in the west based on the luck of the draw and little more.

At the time, I was impressed with how they handled telling their story. And as time goes on, that sentiment is growing.

Different

Trees are a huge part of what creates boundaries and shape and depth at a resort. Which means skiing at Sierra-at-Tahoe will never be the same. It just won’t. But instead of tiptoeing around the changes, they’re embracing them. They’re making them part of their story.

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A post shared by Sierra-at-Tahoe (@sierra_at_tahoe)

Instead of a simple before-vs-after comparison for skiers to face when the mountain reopens, videos like this take the Sierra-at-Tahoe community on a hero’s journey of overcoming odds even if those odds leave them much different than they began.

The fire didn’t win, Sierra is.

The Power of Stories

That’s the power of stories in your marketing.

Stories can make your resort the triumphant underdog or they can make you the backdrop to another’s moment of overcoming odds, but in both cases they bring your audience into the experience in a way that gives every turn and every lift ride richer, deeper meaning.

Those lift rides are about to start again and, through these stories, Sierra-at-Tahoe is getting their audience ready.

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.