EVOLVING TERRAIN PARK MANAGEMENT
If a camel is a horse designed by committee, what will NSAA’s updated, online Freestyle Terrain Notebook look like? Alas, NSAA hasn’t yet posted even the 2008 version of the Notebook, originally scheduled to be posted during the 2012-13 season. Members of the group that’s updating the Notebook are still working on jump measurement, design considerations, and other issues--as is ASTM, too.

However, members have completed work on a glossary of terms and new safety language and signage. NSAA’s David Byrd announced at the Burlington meeting a plan to roll this out at the NSAA Fall Workshops, and to update the Notebook online at www.terrainparksafety.org as each new section was finalized, in advance of the 2013-14 season. We hope that happens, but time and patience are running short.


ONLINE WAIVERS GAINING LEGAL BACKING
The legal system is beginning to catch up with technology. As Minnesota attorney Brian Johnson explained at the Midwest Ski Areas Association meeting last August, a recent favorable court decision determined that the liability release required as part of an online season pass purchase was valid even though the skier did not sign the release. The court granted summary judgment based on the release and also on assumption of risk.

The details of the case: The ski area offered a lower price when a group of four people purchased their season passes at the same time. In this particular case, the person who made the online four-in-one purchase was not the individual who was injured. However, the online purchase could not be completed unless the purchaser clicked "I agree" to be bound by the season pass release. The purchaser listed all four members of the group as a purchaser of one season pass, and he did click on "I agree." The injured skier himself never clicked "I agree" and never signed a release.

The court ruling was based on an agency theory. That is, the purchaser of the pass was the authorized agent of the skier, and the skier authorized the purchaser to click on the release for him. The court wrote, "A person who authorizes an agent to perform an act may impliedly authorize the agent to enter into a contract on his behalf … and (the skier) is bound by the terms of the release."

Nonetheless, Johnson urged areas to have online pass buyers sign a release form when they pick up their season passes. A hard copy of a signed release is still more persuasive in court and easier to apply.


UNITED WE SKI AND RIDE IN D.C.
In late September, before the government shutdown, board members of SIA and NSAA showed members of Congress a united front on a variety of issues important to both groups. NSAA made the case for the association’s position on the water rights of resorts on public land, and for a less restrictive policy on visas for seasonal foreign workers. The boards also met beforehand to discuss strategy and goals for increasing participation in skiing and snowboarding, and for incorporating the winter sports retail community in the effort as well. A major aim is to expand the reach and effectiveness of the Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month and Bring a Friend Challenge programs.


FOREST SERVICE CLARIFIES RESORT RULES
In October, the Forest Service issued a series of policies and rules affecting resorts. And this time, the news out of Washington is positive.

The agency loosened the restrictive ad/sponsorship policy it had issued just last May after resorts and NSAA described the adverse impacts on sponsored vehicles, bike parks, race gates, short term events, demo days and race gates. The restrictive policy could have cost resorts millions in lost revenue. NSAA will continue to work with the agency on additional, longer term adjustments to the ad/sponsorship policy.

The long-awaited summer activities policy defines some new terms and criteria for what non-winter activities will be allowed at resorts. Some will require additional clarification; for example, the policy prohibits “roller coasters,” but does not address whether that includes mountain coasters. According to Geraldine Link, director of public policy for NSAA, the agency will likely consider factors including design (is it a high elevation, high speed thrill ride that leans more toward an amusement ride, or is it a low to the ground feature that incorporates nature as part of the experience?) and level of public involvement. Many of the details will be further defined in a FAQ the agency is (or was) preparing.

Zoning is a key concept in the agency’s summer activities policy. The Forest Service, says Link, has interpreted “harmonizing with the environment” to mean that a new summer project is “visually subordinate” to the ski area’s existing vegetation and landscape, and should not require “significant modifications to topography” to facilitate construction or operations. In short, it will be easier to get approval for projects located where there is already a relatively high degree of resort development.

The policy is open to public comment through Dec. 2. This is a good opportunity for resorts to put in their 2¢ worth. NSAA will be filing comments as well.


HAYSTACK TRANSFORMATION TAKING SHAPE
Jim Barnes, a Connecticut entrepreneur, is well on the way to realizing his dream of an exclusive vacation playground in southern Vermont. He purchased the former Haystack Club and combined it with The Hermitage, a five-star country inn, and has amassed nearly 200 members in what is The Hermitage Club, a 1,000-acre enclave with a range of winter and summer activities.

The original Haystack Club, launched at the cusp of the Great Recession, aimed to combine a private and upscale real estate development and an upgraded Haystack ski area. The financial collapse doomed that effort.

Barnes’ vision is similar, and perhaps better-timed. The price of relatively uncrowded recreating has gone up significantly since Haystack’s founding. The initial fee for a Hermitage Club membership was $20,000 in 2011, and is now $45,000. The cost will rise to $65,000 in February. Perhaps exclusivity will put Haystack on firm footing; The Club hopes to sign up more than 1,500 individual and corporation members over the next four years.


PASS DEALS WITH A TWIST
With all the season’s pass add-on benefits—discounts on lodging and retail, free days at partner resorts, etc.—a few resorts have managed to dream up novel ideas. Silverton, Colo., has come up with a simple yet sure-to-be-appreciated wrinkle: free or really cheap beer. The area’s Unguided Pass ($399) comes with $2 premium draft beers. The Combo pass ($599) includes that plus two free beers a day. Lodging discounts might go unused, but beer discounts? Not likely.

And speaking of beer drinkers: Mountain High is offering entrepreneurial collegians a college rep program in which students who devise and coordinate group trips can receive a season’s pass with no blackouts (a $699 value), along with a swag bag of sweatshirt, T-shirt, and two lift tickets to bestow on friends.


HOW DO WE LOVE THEE?
SIA’s recently-released Snow Sports Market Intelligence Report includes a special section on women (one minority group we omitted in “Guests of the Future,” page 35). It calls women a key focus for the health of the sport in the future, noting that there are 3.3 million women skiers, and that many of them are the family vacation deciders. And there’s always room to do more to retain women in the sport. One example: comments at saminfo.com show that many women have a difficult time finding skiwear that fits comfortably. That’s a reminder that everyone in winter sports must be aware of the obstacles faced by our minority guests, however minority is defined.


WHEN DID SOCCER BECOME A WINTER SPORT?
The Winter Olympics manages to compete successfully for sports fans in winter, but the competition could become more difficult in 2022. That’s when the soccer World Cup might move from its usual June-July time slot to November or January to avoid the summer heat in Qatar, the host country.

November dates would have less impact on the Winter Games, but the January dates favored by European soccer powers could deliver a powerful kick in the pants. FIS president Gian Franco Kasper cried foul, and warned that World Cup soccer in January would saturate the sports market and dilute interest (read sponsor dollars). We assume potential bidders for the 2022 Olympics will prepare contingency plans and revise their bids accordingly.


A DAY TO CELEBRATE SNOWBOARDING
Looking for a way to promote snowboarding? Sunday, Dec. 22, is World Snowboard Day. Last year, 152 resorts in 32 countries staged events in support of the sport, and drew 100,000 participants. Activities included on-snow and video contests, beginner snowboard lessons, gear tests, demos, meet-and-greets with professional riders, and concerts.