To say that this season has been a challenge for Kimberley Alpine Resort is a definite understatement.  The day after opening up for the season, the top terminal of their Northstar Quad Chair was lit on fire, rendering the chair unusable for the season.  Being the main lift that allows guests to access the other two chairlifts, this act of arson was nothing short of devastating.

However, they have truly made the best of an incredibly difficult situation and have communicated out their complications and solutions in a positive, encouraging manner. The tools they are using to create seamless guest experiences aren’t fancy, expensive solutions but simple ones that could be used in a multitude of other ways too. From using Jotform to book spots for a cat ride to the next chair to honest, clear blog posts from the Kimberley leadership team to communicate what’s going on, they’ve done a top notch job dealing with this terrible situation.

It would have been easy to just post updates on the website about the process for taking a cat to the base of the other lifts and keep posting the usual resort marketing photos online but Kimberley took it up a notch with their #HiketoTammy challenge. 

Using Strava to mark times, they’ve been posting fastest time (male and female) as well as youngest hiker and most experienced. A fun way to celebrate what, at times, could be a long trek from A to B.  Strava offers a free version so this challenge doesn’t cost guests or the resort anything – just a little unique thinking to make fun of a tough problem. And who doesn’t love a challenge?

The prizes were an added bonus too, many coming from various community businesses no doubt affected by the loss of the major arterial lift at the ski area. This type of thinking might not make millions but in a season where every dollar counts, it might make the difference.

All in all, it’s no secret to anyone in the resort industry that the 2021/22 season might have been more difficult than 20/21. But it’s always the positive attitudes forward that make the difference at the end of the day, or better yet, at the end of a hike.

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.