Following are the top three picks in SAM’s first annual Recruit Contest. All of the entries were judged by NSAA president Michael Berry; Tim Boyd, president of Peak Resorts; Bill Jensen, COO at Vail Mountain; Bill Rock, GM at Snowshoe; and the SAM staff. Our lucky winner, Amy Bird, receives airfare from SAM to attend the NSAA National Trade Show and Convention in Palm Springs this May, and NSAA has generously donated lodging and registration. In addition, the first and second place winners received full gear packages from Atomic and Burton.

So what were entrants asked? Two questions: 1) Identify the top three challenges facing the resort industry and how you may be a part of the solution, and 2) You have a bottomless budget and endless resources to get one big idea off the ground. Your idea can be about customer retention or attraction, snowmaking, environment, planning, etc. What would you propose, why, and how would you implement it?


#1 Amy Bird
Age: 26
Hometown: North Vancouver, British
Columbia
Local Mountain: Whistler Blackcomb
Skier/boarder: Both
School: Selkirk College, graduate

Top Three Challenges
Employee Shortage
“The most evident challenge that I see facing the resort industry today is a shortage of workers. Not only is there the challenge to attract employees, but to retain the good quality workers that every business operation is competing to recruit. I have the ability to create a life experience, rather than just a job, by connecting employees on a personal level and promoting a team environment through planning and improving our staff engagement.”

Competition for Leisure Time
“In the quest to attract and retain skiers, in particular the youth market, the competition that exists for people’s leisure time is increasingly evident and even potentially threatening to some small ski areas. The first step toward building our competitive edge is to start to make it easier for our guests to use our products.”

Bottomless Budget
“I would create a ski resort operated program that moves beyond what can be offered on the hill. This program would target the active population that we are loosing to health clubs, kayaking, rock climbing, triathlons, biking, yoga studios, etc. It would operate as a year-round program that transitioned into more of a ski focus in the winter. The emphasis would be on cross training, and the program would contain a competitive/training division as well as a social division. It would create a new operation for our ski resorts, keep our guest’s money within our ski resort run operations, and provide more steady and reliable employment for our workforce.”


#2 Caitlin Lumia
Age: 24
Hometown: Boulder, Colo.
Local mountain: Breckenridge/Winter Park
Skier/Boarder: Boarder
School: CU Boulder, Leeds School of Business

Top Three Challenges
“Many ski resorts today, especially large ski corporations, are entering the real estate and development business because of the demand for large expensive second homes. Taking on these projects potentially compromises plans for new employee housing, which leads to a displaced workforce…I believe that workers who live in the community in which they work take a greater interest in the community and the success of the company.”

Bottomless Budget
“It is management’s responsibility not only to provide great service and experience to our guests, but also to ensure a satisfying quality of life for the people who comprise the company and the community. My vision as a resort manager would be to redevelop the town as a place where visitors and employees interact both on and off the slopes.”

“The reason why it is so important to develop a plan for an integrated community is that it will cultivate a local workforce with high morale, a place for families, and a thriving economy. Workers will feel less segregated from wealthy travelers and it will give each party a chance to interact around the town in restaurants, bars and local businesses.”


#3 David Johnson
Age: 28
Hometown: Reno, Nev.
Local Mountain: Mt. Rose
Skier/Boarder: Skier
School: Colorado Mountain College

Top Three Challenges
“Many resorts around Colorado have already started doing things like using biodiesel in resort transportation, using gravity-assisted power generation with their lifts to return power into the grid, and experimenting with generator turbines driven by the return of excess snowmaking water. This is no doubt a big challenge for our industry, and it will take resourcefulness, ingenuity, and some trial and error in order to find a solution.”

Bottomless Budget
“In order to start drawing new skier/riders, start with instructors, because they are usually the first skiing contact any new skier/rider has….I would like to use some of the bottomless budget to subsidize PSIA for the dues that instructors would normally have to pay and let PSIA/AASI provide liability insurance to its members. This would motivate instructors to draw people to skiing if they have the option of volunteering their time to give a certain amount of free lessons to newcomers to earn their points and cover their dues.”


The Judges Speak

Bill Jensen:
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to participate in this judging role. Interesting reading. I am going with an all women top three (an important leadership need for the industry in itself). My choices in order of strength, Amy Bird, Caitlin Lumia, and Tara Rattigan. All three have a good grasp of the challenges facing the industry in the next generation and they demonstrate solid analysis and vision on approaches to these challenges. It is refreshing to see the thought and energy they bring to the industry as we collectively address these challenges.


Bill Rock:
Amy Bird. Amy's entry resonated with me because she is proving herself at one of the most famous resorts in the industry, Whistler Blackcomb. Her track record of success, so early in her career, demonstrates that she has innate leadership abilities. There is no better place to learn than as a guest service/ticket office manager where she is gaining firsthand knowledge from customers about what is working, and often, what is not.

David Johnson. As an Army veteran, David has been exposed to some of the best leadership principles and training in the world. Pursuing a career in lift maintenance, David will need to draw on the many lessons he learned during his service, particularly motivating people, instilling standards and leading by example. David strikes me as someone who has a personal vision and will do whatever it takes to reach it. Self motivation and drive will serve him well as he reaches for his career goals in the ski industry.


Tim Boyd:
I think in terms of Amy I was most impressed with her understanding of two key issues: First her grasp of recruiting people to our industry. It is so important to emphasize the "quality of life" issue since it is very difficult for the economics of our business to compete for new people with industries that can offer much greater financial rewards; second, her emphasis on the importance of the "user friendly" concept as it relates to our industry. This is an issue that will be at the forefront for many years to come.

As far as David goes, you gotta love this guy’s attitude—it’s the kind that built this industry! He has a very good understanding of many of the issues, especially from the maintenance and outside operations side, which might be the most vulnerable aspect of our industry right now.


Michael Berry:
All the entries were very impressive and it was a pleasure to see that we will be well served by the new blood. I chose Caitlin because her broad vision for a sustainable mountain resort community is right on the money. Her comprehensive approach to community and employee issues was impressive. She tackles the tough realities and she has an obvious passion for finding answers and exploring new thinking.