Facing economic challenges along with the rest of the economy, the ski industry is positioned to fare better than most. That’s the optimistic view of NSAA chairman Rusty Gregory, CEO and chairman at Mammoth Mountain. The reasons for optimism? Fun, family, and, most of all—resilience.

SAM spoke with Gregory shortly before Thanksgiving and here’s what he had to say:

SAM: What’s your outlook this season?

Gregory: Mammoth Mountain opened on November 3rd and I’ve had some great powder days already, so despite the credit crisis and the less than stellar economic outlook, I’m in a very optimistic mindset going into this winter.

SAM: How does it feel to be NSAA chairman?

Gregory: It’s an honor to have been selected as chairman of the NSAA and I’m looking forward to serving as Michael Berry’s talking head for the next couple of years. Michael and his team at NSAA have done a wonderful job for years representing our industry and it will be a pleasure working with them.

SAM: You’re now more than six months into your term as chairman. What has it been like so far?

Gregory: My term has coincided with the economic downturn, for which I categorically deny any personal responsibility. It’s been very interesting hearing the evolving dialog between industry leaders from the NSAA convention in San Francisco to this season’s opening. While cocktail conversation of recession as a theoretical possibility was prevalent at the bar of the Hilton hotel last spring, it is now an undisputed reality. All of us are now scrambling to react to it. I continue to be struck by the unbridled optimism expressed by the people in the ski and snowboarding business. I guess even a bad day on the mountain is better than any day on Wall Street.

SAM: How will the economy affect NSAA?

Gregory: I’ve seen some down markets in my 31-plus year career, but this is more severe and broad than I’ve ever witnessed. So as we looked toward this season, we’ve all been speculating about how it will affect us. At Mammoth, we’re a large but still regional resort. Our best guess is that most of the 20 million people who live in southern California will stay close to home but will still be looking for some fun. We intend to remind them that Mammoth is in their backyard, and that gas is getting cheaper every day. I think all of us who are not working at pure destination resorts are thinking and hoping along these lines. Maybe I’m old-school, but at the end of the day I think it’s still predominately about the snow.

SAM: NSAA has been focusing on three priorities for the past several years: the environment, trial and retention, and safety. What do you see as the organization’s biggest issues for the next 18 months?

Gregory: All three remain a priority, but trial and retention continues to lead the list of our priorities. Those who have followed NSAA’s guidance on the strategy and tactics of attracting new skiers and snowboarders and keeping them have reaped measurable benefits. This program in its many and varied forms, in big resorts and small ski areas across the country, contributed in no small measure to last season’s 60 million visits.

This focus on the entry-level guest spreads to all market segments and becomes even more critical when times get challenging, as they are now. We will all have to put in some overtime to combat the market forces that are working against our industry and our guests. The more we can work together on large campaigns, like Learn a Snow Sport month, the bigger the impact will be.

SAM: Mammoth is in California, where new trends often begin. What’s coming for the rest of the country?

Gregory: California is the bellwether for many things—environmental issues, falling real estate prices, and particularly safety and liability issues. One of the things we’re seeing is some pressure on the assumption of risk doctrine, and the desire in some in the state legislature to create more standardized approaches to ski resort safety and information collection on accidents. A number of advocates in the health care industry have shown interest in this issue. Lobbying groups are also involved, and several people, including myself, have testified before the judicial committee of the state legislature.

This is not inherently a bad trend, but as the pendulum swings we need to be diligent. We don’t want well-intentioned politicians to mistake motion for progress and pass legislation to standardize practices that might sound good in media sound bites, but have no practical application in unpredictable mountain conditions. Standardized solutions for resorts with very different terrain and circumstances are not as rational as they may seem to the casual observer.

Bob Roberts [CSIA executive director] is watching this closely, as is [NSAA in-house counsel] Geraldine Link. This is picking up a bit of momentum and we will be watching it carefully.

SAM: Anything happening on the environmental front?

Gregory: Governor Schwarzenegger takes his environmental stewardship seriously. California’s Air Resource Board is implementing some strict legislation that requires a change out of off-road diesel engines equipment starting in 2010, with the rules getting more stringent as we go forward.

Nationally, we’re headed in the direction of increasingly stringent environmental standards, which are likely to increase under the Democratic administration. Our member resorts are on environmentally sensitive lands. People look to us as operators to set examples for environmental stewardship. It’s important for us to lead on issues like this. Global warming is not waiting for the economy to turn around.

And we are taking the lead. We’re starting to see incredible innovation on energy issues at individual resorts. Jiminy with its wind turbine, Aspen and its energy programs. A lot of resorts are trying to measure their energy use and then reduce their carbon footprint. As a result, there’s been a big improvement in the past four or five years.

At Mammoth we have a very strong energy management program in place that has reduced our energy consumption by more than 20 percent over the past five years. It’s a big effort for us. It all starts with pushing measurement of energy use down to as low a level in the organization as possible, so that everyone is turning out the lights when they aren’t needed. Sounds easy, but it takes a great deal of organizational discipline in a company of 3,000 people.

SAM: Do you expect to see a resolution of the H-2B visa cap any time soon?

Gregory: There’s not much light at the end of this tunnel currently. There’s a lot of concern on the part of the government over immigration as a deterrent to terrorism, so there’s no solution coming down the pike anytime soon. But this unfortunate circumstance hasn’t stopped many in our industry. Resorts have been very creative, as with Vail trying to use the Q cultural visa program.

At Mammoth we were able to use our frequent October season opening date to justify early application to gain approval of our H-2B applications early enough to beat the quota deadline. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

SAM: Conclusions?

Gregory: I’m optimistic about the future of NSAA and its members. While our industry is in for challenging times along with the rest of the country, I feel lucky and privileged, like most NSAA members, to be living and working in the mountains, with people who love where they live and what they do.