Club Colorado  

Some of our readers may have seen the recent Denver Post series supposedly about ski safety and the industry here in Colorado. Below Colorado Ski Country USA responds to the articles.

One of the major reasons people live in and visit Colorado is the opportunity to participate in the many outdoor activities our great state offers. Skiing and snowboarding are our state’s signature sports. There are 520,000 Coloradans who are active participants in skiing and snowboarding at Colorado’s 25 ski areas. Skiers and snowboarders spend nearly $3 billion each year pursuing their favorite sport in our state, with 60-70 percent of each dollar spent going to support a business other than a ski area. Colorado ski areas provide world class recreation opportunities in conjunction with our partners at the United States Forest Service and introduce many to our nation’s spectacular public lands.

These recreation opportunities would not be possible without the Colorado Ski Safety Act. Originally enacted in 1979 (when the few insurers willing to insure ski areas determined they would leave the state because of excessive and costly litigation), the Ski Safety Act does three primary things: 1) it establishes responsibilities for ski areas; 2) it establishes responsibilities for skiers and 3) it spells out risks inherent in the sport of skiing. All three tenets of the Ski Safety Act are as relevant, reasonable and necessary today as they were when the Act was adopted 34 years ago. It has stood the test of time. Since 1979, 27 states have modeled similar legislation on Colorado’s law.

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I’ve been out with the kids several times this year but for our first official family ski outing of the season, with the core four, we headed up to Loveland. It’s one of the areas we frequent for a few reasons: location, terrain and atmosphere.
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When you become a parent you start to measure your life in two ways, BC and AC; before children, and after children. When I would ski BC, it was up early, on the slopes early, ski hard and fast, maybe have lunch, definitely apres, sometimes into the evening. In the present AC, it’s up early, on the slopes late, ski moderately, definitely have lunch, definitely apres, home early in the evening.

I like skiing in the AC because the fun and thrills that I found skiing BC are replaced with different ones AC. I see terrain in a different way, I spend more time in the trees on fun whoopie-doo trails, and I hear myself say things I never thought I would. For example, on a recent family ski outing I caught the following sentences coming out of my mouth. Most of these were delivered at top volume.
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Heading out to rip some turns on a snowy day can be really fun, until I remember that I’m skiing with a six and nine-year-old who usually need help putting on their own mittens. Not that I don’t like skiing with my kids, but like everything with parenting, you have to give up a lot, and I’ve had to succumb to the fact that when I’m on the slopes with them, I probably won’t complete a run from top to bottom without stopping any less than a gazillion times. On a good day, I might be able to link three turns in a row on a blue. We’re all good on greens, but the kids need to progress and be challenged, so we stick to blues for now.
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I recently took the kids to Loveland for their first ski day this season. We had a wonderful day skiing, being outside in the mountains, enjoying the mild temperatures (read: no whining because of being cold), spending time together and finding our ski legs after the long summer. The hard part was getting a decent photo.
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Congrats to Telluride’s Matt Skinner on winning a 2012 Sammy

Photo courtesy Ski Area Management magazine

Sammys are awarded by Ski Area Management (SAM) magazine to individuals in the ski industry who stand out and show exceptional leadership qualities, not only at their resort but in the industry as well. The Sammy Leadership Award winners are nominated by their peers, can come from any resort in the country, and cover all aspects of resort operations.

Matt is the vice president of sales and marketing at Telluride Ski & Golf. He has worked in the ski industry with various companies including a ski shop at Bogus Basin Idaho, Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, and Bonier Mountain Group (publishers of Ski and Skiing magazines).

Under Skinner’s leadership, Telluride was also recognized by SAM for Best Ad Market Research. In the fall, using social media, the resort put different ad creatives up for feedback, basically asking people who already like the resort, literally, not just digitally, to vote on and choose their favorite. (continue reading…)

Spring teased Telluride with some beautiful days and everyone in the area is excited for the upcoming summer season. The trails are dry, the golf course is shimmering green, and festival season is just around the corner.

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