What Do ACLs, Bikes, Smoothies, and Sugarloaf Have in Common? Everything.
Gregg Blanchard /
Last year Seth Wescott took a hard spill on a heli-skiing trip and tore his ACL.
I’ve haven’t done either of those things myself, but word on the streets is that’s not a great thing to happen before an Olympic year. It means tight timelines and a recovery schedule with zero margin for error with the reward a potential spot on the podium on snowboard cross’s biggest stage.
In other words, it’s a really great story.
Rolling…
Most snowsports athletes live and die by being seeing. More people see you when you win and more people see you when you film, so it makes sense that both are priorities.
Lucky for both Sugarloaf and us viewers at home, Seth’s story is being told for all the world to see.
As I watched I was surprised by two things. First, how “into” the story I was. The 5+ minutes of each video flew by – the sign of a well told story.
Second, I was surprised by how little skiing I saw. But that, at least in my book, isn’t a bad thing.
Not a Requirement
I think there’s a misconception about ski content marketing that says if you don’t have some ski footy, you’re wasting the attention you just earned from your audience.
While that may be true in some circumstances, I don’t think it’s true in this case. The story is Seth. Seth is a Sugarloafer. Tell the story, his story, as best you can and the resort will naturally, and much more authentically, come onto the stage.
That’s what Sugarloaf did and I think it worked out beautifully.