The Voice of the Mountain Resort Industry  |  Est. 1964

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  • Construction Site :: November 2025

    From new (and big) lifts to renovations, terrain expansions, and snowmaking upgrades, these major projects were nearing completion as winter grew closer.  Wachusett Mountain, MA Wachusett replaced its Polar Express detachable quad with a Doppelmayr six place this summer. The old lift accumulated tens of thousands of hours running both day and night for 31 years. The…

  • The Mountains Are for Everyone

    From improved staff training to quiet rooms, ski areas across North America are prioritizing accessibility and inclusion.  For years, adaptive programs have opened the slopes to people who thought the sport was out of reach. Now, many resorts are reimagining their entire guest experience through a wider accessibility lens and going beyond ADA compliance to…

  • Go Time: Early Season Snowmaking

    The right equipment, a well-aligned plan, and an engaged team help resorts get open quickly and efficiently. Snow guns roared on Copper Mountain’s Oh No Bowl, blanketing the upper reaches of the Colorado resort in white ahead of the U.S. Ski Team’s first day of downhill training. It was October 2011, and the resort was…

  • Thinking Thoroughly, By Design

    Some problems just can’t be solved with a quick fix. For these sticky wickets, design thinking can be the solution.  Problems, roadblocks, curveballs, and hiccups happen. Ski area operators and managers deal with them every day, and hope that the speedbump of today will be minor. Sometimes, though, a ski area’s pressure points call for…

  • Pre-Season Pep Talk

    Pre-season pep talks from industry leaders. The busy (never say frantic or scrambling) lead-up to opening day is an exciting and magical time—projects are nearing completion, the population on site grows as new and returning seasonal staff members appear, and the air starts to smell like winter. There’s energy and excitement combined with stress and…

  • After the Ice

    It took grit, teamwork, and lots of chainsaws to recover from a devastating March storm that hit northern Michigan and enveloped The Highlands under inches of ice. Ice storms are something of an occupational hazard in the ski industry. Every operator knows the sight of glazed branches and iced-up haul ropes. Less than a quarter inch…

  • Margins in Plain Sight

    Edit your menu listings and layout to protect your margins and drive sales. This is Part 1 of a three-part series on the most overlooked profit lever in food and beverage: the menu. Part 1 focuses on using menu design to improve profit margin. Part 2 will dive into how to build a menu that…

  • AI on the Hill

    How ski areas are experimenting with artificial intelligence ops tools. At ski areas exploring the potential of artificial intelligence, early use cases are emerging not as sweeping overhauls, but as incremental innovations designed to improve safety, streamline work, and clarify planning. In Québec, Les Sommets is using visual AI systems to monitor lifts. In New Hampshire,…

  • Tech Uplift

    These four resorts are modernizing their tech stacks, softening internal resistance to create experiences with less friction. “Update! We upgraded our POS, so it plays better with our ERP,” blared no offseason press release ever. But perhaps they should. Resort operators in 2025 invest heavily in digital technology that’s essential to both running their operations and…

  • The Dos and Don’ts of Flash Sales

    How to create urgency and FOMO, drive volume and revenue, and make your customers pay more attention. There are a couple of universal truths we know about most skiers and snowboarders: 1) They love a deal, and 2) They get FOMO very easily. Savvy sales and marketing teams can capitalize on this combination by occasionally…