Selling Snow

Ok we had a great response last week to our compilation episode pulling together the best thoughts on building the ski area/community relationship as one of the most important pieces in running a successful ski area. This week, we’re looking at marketing and some of the more practical things ski areas have done to grow their business. It’s not just about bigger ad budgets. Its not about chasing vi...

Community. A community is defined as a social group of people who share common characteristics, interests, identities, or geographic locations. Common Characteristics like a garage full of gear for every mountain-related sport, interests like a love for sliding fast down mountains together, identities like the casual nod when goggle tan game recognizes goggle tan game late into the Summer, and geo...

Have you ever experienced a nut-cracker lift? If you have you definitely have stories to tell about it. Today we’re heading into the heart of New Zealand’s Southern Alps to visit a super unique ski area that like most Club Fieldsin New Zealand is power by the nut cracker. Think big alpine terrain, very few people, minimal infrastructure and affordable big mountain skiing. Forget high-speed lifts,...

This episode takes us nearly all the way to the Southern Edge of the world. To a place many are surprised to hear has a commercial ski resort.  Tasmania, Australia. Yes, Tasmania has skiing and a ski area that not long ago was fighting for survival. When Ben Mock and his partners purchased Ben Lomond Alpine Resort, the mountain had managed just 17 operating days the season before. Fast forward a f...

What happens when a ski resort can’t be reached by cars at all? Or when it decides not to compete with the biggest players in the industry? This week on Selling Snow, we're heading to the highest ski resort in Australia At Charlotte Pass, General Manager Lucy Blyton-Gray is proving that bigger isn't always better. Accessible only by over-snow transport during winter, Charlotte Pass has turned what...

Today we're heading north, back to BC, just west of Terrace, to a legendary powder paradise and the only co-op-owned ski area in North America. A ski resort that had fallen on tough times. And a community—and even the former owners themselves—that rallied together to save it. Today on Selling Snow, we’re chatting with Shames Mountain General Manager Christian Théberge for one of the most unique sk...

I am so excited about today’s episode. I’ve been hearing about this summer-only ski area near Yellowstone for years and have always been intrigued. Today, we head high above the tree line to one of the most unique ski operations around. The only summer-only ski area in North America, Beartooth Basin. No hotels. No village. No snowmaking. No high-speed lifts. Just 500 feet of steep summer snow, two...

Today, we’re heading down under to the Victorian Alps,  three hours outside of Melbourne, Australia to a fascinating ski resort model built on collaboration. My guest today is Noel Landry, a Canadian-born ski patroller turned Olympic event operator turned ski resort GM, who now oversees one of Australia’s most collaborative and community-driven mountain operations. In this episode, we dive into wh...

Imagine a ski area that is a 90-minute drive from 20 million people. It sounds like a dream on the business side. But imagine, literally millions of those have never skied before, and there is a massive volume of competing entertainment options. In this episode of Selling Snow, we’re heading back to the East Coast and the hills of New Jersey. Coming off one of their all-time best snow seasons (Yes...

Imagine building one of the first new ski areas in North America in years, and just four years in, almost having the whole thing collapse, only to re-emerge years later and realize a slightly adjusted version of the original vision? This week, we’re off to Tamarack Resort in Idaho, a mountain that didn’t just get built from scratch, but had to rebuild itself after hitting some serious turbulence....

What if the future of skiing isn’t bigger, flashier, or more expensive—but actually simpler, more human, and more affordable? In this episode of Selling Snow, we sit down with Travis Baptiste and Cindy Dady from Sunlight Mountain Resort, a fiercely independent ski area in Colorado that’s quietly rewriting the playbook. While much of the industry is chasing scale, Sunlight is doubling down on commu...

Jay Peak, in Northern Vermont is known for two things: incredible terrain and an absurd amount of snow. But behind that reputation is a much more complex story. After emerging from a high-profile SEC scandal and ownership shakeup, Jay Peak has rebuilt trust and driven record performance—not by chasing premium pricing or polished positioning, but by doubling down on volume, value, and authenticity....

What if the most powerful thing you could do as a ski area… is just tell the truth? This week on Selling Snow, we head to Northern California to a truly magical place in the shadow of a massive volcano, to return to the roots of what makes skiing fun. In the Northern California region, lovingly referred to as “Almost Oregon,” we connected with  Brendan Hickey and Grace Hornbea from Mt. Shasta Ski...

Today, we’re heading into the wilds of Western Maine to a true gem of a ski area. It’s always had great skiing. It hasn’t always had operating lifts, but over the last five years, the big mountain Maine skiing local legend is getting noticed. Saddleback Main is a mountain with one of the more unique stories in the industry. Closed for five years, brought back to life during COVID, and now… somehow...

If you could imagine the Vermont dream. What would it look like? imagine growing up with a Dad who in 2/3rds of a year built a new ski area from scratch and growing up on a ski hill that is the family business.  Imagine  after several decades  the ski area fell on hard times and the family had to sell it. But… a decade later along with your 80 year old father the kids buy back the ski area and res...

It’s common and great advice that great ski area leadership should make sure they still spend lots of time on the mountain. Now… Imagine…you actually grew up on the mountain, and you’re now one of the Vice Presidents at that same resort? A Mountain your grandfather bought in the 80’s, and despite being one of the top ski areas in North America, it’s still family-owned nearly a half-century later....

How do you build a financially sustainable ski hill in a small northern market while keeping skiing accessible and affordable for locals? That’s the challenge the team behind Mount Sima in Whitehorse, Yukon has been solving by leaning into what they do best. Today’s guest is Sam Oettli, General Manager of Mount Sima. Sam has been skiing the mountain since day one before stepping into the GM role....

There’s a certain reverence in ski circles when someone says, “Have you been to Whitewater?” It’s spoken like a legend, a place of impossibly deep snow, tight tree lines, storm cycles that stack overnight, and terrain that feels raw and earned. Tucked outside Nelson, in the heart of the Kootenays, Whitewater has long been whispered about as one of those mountains you don’t just visit — you discove...

The 90’s were a magical time. Extreme Sports were becoming mainstream, and it seemed every sport had an element of going backwards… except skiing. Wanting to change that, one kid in his parents' garage quietly and quite literally reshaped the skiing world. On today’s episode of Selling Snow, we’re sitting down with Jason Leventhal, the founder of J Skis and the original creator of the twin-tip ski...

What happens when a single bad heli-skiing trip lights a spark, and it turns into one of the most legendary backcountry snowboard destinations on the planet? Hey Everybody, today we’re getting a heli transfer up into the mountains just west of Nelson,BC to a snowboarding paradise. Today’s guest didn’t set out to build a resort. He set out to chase a feeling. Deep snow, good friends, and a better w...

Today's guests decided to open an experts-only ski area in the Midwest, tucked deep in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with no large population base anywhere nearby. No grooming. No beginners. No rentals. No snowmaking. Just steep lines, trees, cliffs, and lake-effect powder. Mount Bohemia isn’t just unconventional by design, it’s unconventional by geography. When most people think “Midwest skiin...

Martin Kevjal took a shuttered Cape Breton ski hill and transformed it into Cape Smoky, a four-season oceanfront resort. From installing the Maritimes’ only gondola to 10Xing visitor numbers, he shares the bold vision, behind-the-scenes rebuild, and adventure-driven strategy that turned a forgotten hill into a must-visit destination. For all 13 Actionable Insights from this episode, visit this epi...

From wild 80s ski bar antics to Canada’s top family resort, Michael J. Ballingall shares how Big White turned snow, staff, and locals into unforgettable experiences. Learn the secrets behind beginner programs, killer marketing, and guest-first strategies that keep visitors coming back. Hilarious, insightful, and actionable, this episode shows how to sell snow, make it fun, and have guests laughing...

Welcome to Selling Snow, the podcast for ski industry pros,  marketers  or anyone who wants to learn more about marketing in the ski business. I’m your host, Andrew Zwicker, with 25 years in and around marketing skiing, and this show is all about learning from the best in the business, so  you can up your marketing game,or just get a peek behind how ski resort marketing works. Our first episodes i...