HIGHLIGHTS OF THE Winter Conferences Educational Programs: Killington

The Next Generation of Terrain Parks

We have asked the industry’s best minds on terrain parks to lead this roundtable forum on what the future holds for the next generation of parks at ski resorts, from park managers and designers with years of on-mountain, day-to-day park expertise. As the ASTM F-27’s Committee embarks on its review of jumping features in parks, our forum will focus on a broad range of issues impacting overall terrain park operations, including the latest in park innovation, signage, science, education, and guest responsibility – with an emphasis on improving overall safety while also appealing to the younger, critical demographic of park users.

The Back Story: Management Challenges for Back & Side Country Skiing

As skiers and riders seek out more aggressive, back- and sidecountry terrain — and ski and snowboard manufacturers provide them the tools to get there — resorts are both promoting and providing lift access for skiers to reach beyond ski area boundaries. This new found access presents a host of challenges for resorts which our panel will dissect including the role of ski patrol in the backcountry, SAR responsibilities, guest education, resort marketing considerations, closure and signage issues, and risk management.

Ski NEPA Workshops
Featuring Loren Kroenke, National Winter Sports Program Manager, USDA Forest Service and Geraldine Link, Public Policy Director, National Ski Areas Association

Let’s face it: planning is essential to short-term and long-term success for ski areas, and missteps in the planning process can make, break, or significantly delay a ski area improvement project or expansion. This is a must-attend session for all resorts operating on National Forest System lands and the agency personnel who administer ski area permits. Led by co-presenters Loren Kroenke of the Forest Service and Geraldine Link of NSAA, these back-to-back sessions will thoroughly review how the Master Development Planning (MDP), front loading and Special Uses Screening processes are designed work in the field. Here we will focus on all that occurs before the NEPA process starts, in furtherance of the agency’s and the industry’s mutual goal of not allowing these earlier processes to grow overly complicated. This forum offers a venue for ski areas to provide feedback to agency personnel in attendance on how the processes actually unfold in the trenches with an opportunity to voice areas of needed improvement for the future.

Lesson Plans: Compliance and Risk Mitigation for Ski Schools
David Clark, In-House Counsel, Aspen Skiing Company, Craig Albright, Sports School Managing Director, Mammoth, Mike Allen, Skier Services Director, Heavenly Mountain Resort, John Maas, In-House Counsel, Steamboat Ski Resort(pending)

Ski schools and learning centers have some of the largest employee departments and staffs on the mountain, subject to all manner of regulations and resort exposure. Our panel surveys some of the recent risk challenges involving ski school operations, including significant labor and pay disputes, rising worker comp costs, proliferating underground private lessons, and headline-grabbing accidents involving disabled students. Shortages of certified instructors continue to plague some resorts, with immigrant visas tied up by politics. Risk mitigation best practices, from class size, lift loading and unloading, class hours, and so on, will also addressed by this industry-leading panel of experts.

Operational Challenges in the Face of Disaster
Moderator: Tony Hirsch, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Special Risks, Chris Nyberg, President / General Manager, Killington Resort,Chip Seamans, President / General Manager, Windham Mountain, Kelly Pawlak, General Manager, Mount Snow Resort, Walter Elander, Operations Manager, Jay Peak

True disasters rarely hit the ski industry – but when they do, they can pack an unexpected punch. Hurricane Irene is a perfect example. We have asked resort managers to break down effective pre-planning efforts, but also the clean up and post-disaster realities, from cleanup challenges, insurance claims, guest relations and cancelations, labor considerations, power outages, and the resulting public relations and marketing headaches. But there takeaways apply across disaster scenarios – flood, fires, even the loss of a resort’s sole electrical power generating plant. Our esteemed panel – moderated by Wells Fargo’s Tony Hirsch, who has dealt with multitudes of storm-related problems at resorts in his careers – share their creative solutions, insights, and lessons learned.

Case Studies for Cat Drivers

In this session, we aim to raise awareness for cat drivers on all levels of risk management as our panel of risk and legal experts assess and review a number of past grooming incidents as they unfolded at resorts around the world. Here we will highlight best practices from the employee and guest safety perspective, including everything from operational considerations for winch cats to minimizing resort property damage. Concluding our session we will present the 2012 Phatcat Challenge award. (Find more about the Phatcat Challenge (opposite page).

Fitness Screening and Pre-Employment Testing

The issue of pre-employment screening and fitness testing and employee training has become a hot topic in the industry. With an aging workforce, rising workers compensation costs, and the upcoming employer mandate under Health Care Reform, the issue of overall employee health and injury prevention is critical. Bronwyn Pepple, an in-house employment law attorney with Vail Resorts, will explain the goals of this ambitious initiative, with their focus on fitness testing, functional movement screening, and employee wellness. Also, we have teamed her up with Mark Patterson, the HR Director for Snowbird and Kathy Chan, who is the VP of Human Resources for Homewood and Red Lodge ski areas and President of the Sierra Human Resources Association, to provide industry context on the broader challenges of screening and fitness testing.

Mountain Travel Update: Review/Preview
Featuring: Ralf Garrison, Director, MTRIP, Dave Belin, Director, RRC, Trevor Crist, President, Inntopia

This mid-season market update will take a 360 look at the pulse of destination mountain travel and the ramifications for Eastern mountain resorts. An initial overview of the economic and market conditions impacting destination travel will be followed by a profile of season-to-date performance and finally offer an outlook as to the balance of the 2011-12 season, and featuring a new Pilot Program for eastern destinations powered by MTRIP, the Mountain Travel Research Program. Plentiful data, expert interpretation and lots of audience participation makes this a “Must-Attend” for those responsible for top line performance in what promises to be an “interesting” season.

NSAA's Conversion Cup Challenge: Best Practices Highlighted

Last season, NSAA launched its newest industry competition, the Conversion Cup Challenge. The Conversion Cup recognizes resort efforts to create lifelong enthusiasts based on specific industry metrics including beginner lesson volumes, repeat visitation, sales and repeat sales figures and data collection capabilities. Led by RRC’s Nate Fristoe, this session will explore industry best practices as revealed by last year’s field of applicants. If you’re looking to bring home The Cup in 2012, you won’t want to miss this session as we detail the parameters our judges look for when crowning the Conversion Cup winner.

For the Record: Tips for Effective Lift Operations Documentation

Now is the time for lift departments to review their current documentation process to assure compliance with the new ANSI B77.1-2011 standard. In this session, our panel of experts will outline and discuss industry best practices including a variety of forms, checklists, and procedures that help ski areas effectively track and document the operation and maintenance of chairlifts. Our experts will also outline requirements for document requests that may be made in the event of an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection.

Higher Learning: Integrating Snowsports School into the Broader Resort Framework

With an emphasis on overall guest experience and a focus on increasing lesson sales and conversion, snowsports school directors lie at the crossroads of a number of critical resort initiatives. The work of a director goes far beyond offering progressive lessons. A snowsports director’s job also entails guest service, rental, marketing, sales, lift operations, and even food and beverage. So where does the Learning Center fall within your resort hierarchy? Does your school director have a seat at the executive table? What is your strategy to grow the overall profitability of ski and snowboard school? We pose these questions and more to our panel of resort general managers who have risen from the snowsports school world to executive management.

Marketing in the Mobile Age
Featuring Maria Zhang, Founder and CEO, Propeld Corporation

According to technology guru Mary “Queen-of-the-Net” Meeker, we experience a technology revolution every 10 to 20 years, and we are in the midst of such a revolution with mobile technology. As of October 2011, mobile subscribers accounted for more than 56 percent of the U.S. population and internet searches via mobile devices have eclipsed those made from personal computers. Learn how to harness these trends and drive in-season and off-season business to your resort. Tailor made for marketing and sales personnel; however tech gurus will feel welcome as well. Join Maria Zhang, founder and CEO of Propeld Corp., as she outlines current and future mobile marketing trends and details how to incorporate mobile marketing in your overall operations plan.

Control Your Own Destiny: Protecting Your Water Resources for the Future
Moderator: Geraldine Link, Director of Public Policy, NSAA, Tom West, Partner, The West Law Firm, Mark Delaney, Vice President, Smugglers Notch Resort, VT, Jeff Nelson, Director of Environmental Services, VHB, Bob Cheney, Shennan Phinney, Warren Coleman, MacLean Meehan & Rice,

Is your ski area’s water supply adequate and secure for the future? If you find yourself awake at 3 a.m. pondering this question – especially when mother nature isn’t cooperating – this top panel of water experts will help us filter these challenges. Water is essential to ski area operations and is arguably the most valuable resource resorts have. As competition for water resources continues to increase, lack of planning and forward vision can leave a ski area either paying too much for water or not having the water they need for future operations. This session will help ski areas be prepared, identify threats and plan accordingly – storage vs. water withdrawals, climate change, . Our panelists will share insights on current trends in water acquisition and the development of solutions to water supply issues through increased collaboration and cooperation.

Room for Improvement: Volume & Capacity Management
Moderator: Chris Cushing, Principal, SE Group, Laurie Newton, Planning Coordinator, Mount Snow Resort, Barb Green, President / Owner, Blue Mountain, Mike Mettler, Operations Director, Perfect North Slopes, Dan Skelton, General Manager, Blue Mountain, Ontario(pending)

High guest volume – like snow – can be too much of a good thing for a ski resort. Big weekends can result in resorts swollen with crowds, affecting traffic flow, restaurant capacity, terrain management, lift lines, parking, guest safety – undermining both the guest experience while weakening your resort’s brand. It’s a good problem to have, but volume management requires an appreciation of yield considerations, prioritizing resort upgrades, traffic planning, creative pricing and sales strategies, skier distribution, and crowd control through social media. One size doesn’t fit all, but our diverse panel will reveal what has worked – and what hasn’t worked – for their resorts.

Labor and Employment Law Update
Featuring: Andrew Maass and John Valente, partners with Ryan, Carbine & Smith

We have teamed up two of the best labor and employment attorneys in the business – both with ski area experience – to provide an update on the latest in labor and employment law issues impacting employers, including legal trends, legislation (both state and federal), court developments, wage and hour issues, discrimination, and ADA developments. Both attorneys have a wealth of experience on these legal issues, and we will ensure ample time for a robust Q&A with our audience of HR managers.

Raising Jay: One Resort’s Unique Approach to Gaining Growth

At a time when a struggling economy had hampered many ski area development projects due to difficulties in obtaining capital, Vermont’s Jay Peak marched ahead with the largest expansion plans in its history. In this session, we take an in-depth look at what motivated Jay’s decision to expand and hear first-hand how it was able to defy otherwise tough economic times by accessing capital through the government EB5 program. What did this capital model look like, and what measures did Jay take to ensure long-term results without putting the resort in jeopardy if there wasn’t an immediate pay off? And how did the changing skier/snowboarder profile help substantiate the need for expansion in the first place? We’ll hear the answers to these questions and more direct from Jay Peak President and COO Bill Stenger and Vice-President of Marketing and Sales Steve Wright in our case study examination of the resort’s unprecedented approach to obtaining growth capital.