SAM Magazine—Park City, Utah, June 3, 2024—The Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) held its annual conference in Park City, Utah, April 8-10, drawing 58 attendees representing 36 entities including cross country ski areas, suppliers, media, and related businesses. City of Aspen's Austin Weiss and Blaine County’s (Idaho) Eric Rector. Credit: Reese Brown, CCSAA.

Host White Pine Nordic, located 5 minutes from the meeting HQ at Doubletree Park City hotel, received a half foot of snow just days before participants arrived, which made for excellent conditions to demo the latest grooming machines from PistenBully, Prinoth, and Favero Snow Tech—and, of course, skiing. 

Considering the lethal winter mix of drought, warmth, torrential rains, and periods of intense cold in most of North America, attendance was respectably close to that of CCSAA’s 2023 conference in West Yellowstone, Mont., when 61 industry members attended representing 39 entities. The event saw an assortment of long-time attendees and 11 businesses new to the meetings.

Fewer Northeastern operations were represented this year, and no operators came from the Midwest—not a surprise, given the lean snowfall and mild weather that region experienced this winter.

Most attendees came from the Western U.S., but there were also first-time participants Caledonia Nordic Ski Club and supplier Nordic Pulse, both from British Columbia. The Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage, the largest Nordic club in North America, was represented for the first time (the region had superb snow throughout the winter), while the four largest California XC areas were also there (Tahoe XC, Tahoe Donner, Royal Gorge, and Bear Valley Adventure Company). Checking out the solar eclipse. Credit: Reese Brown, CCSAA.

Wyoming-based Mountain States Snowcats brought an intriguing smaller snowcat, the Italian-made Favero Snow Rabbit, to demo at the event. It was also impressive that CCSAA booked a total eclipse to appear during the first day of the conference (part of the April 8 total eclipse was visible from Park City). 

Winter Summary

“This past winter was a [calamitous] perfect storm for cross country operators and suppliers,” said Ian Harvey, TOKO US brand manager and CCSAA board member as well as an acute observer of the Nordic industry. 

Retail was hit particularly hard, and slow sales will likely result in an immediate equipment glut.

“Man-made snow kept our hearts beating this year,” said Harvey. This applied to operations such as Utah’s Soldier Hollow (2002 and likely 2034 Winter Olympic venue for cross country, biathlon, and Nordic combined) as well as those in the upper Midwest, where several large-scale events were held. Snowmaking supplemented by fortuitous mini dumps made a grand success of the Minneapolis World Cup races, which drew roughly 40,000 enthusiastic fans; the Slumberland American Birkebeiner in Hayward, Wis., the largest XC race in North America; and the Super Tour Finals at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, Minn. 

Agenda and Priorities

Nathan Nicholas presenting on insurance. Credit: Reese Brown, CCSAA.The three-day agenda was jam packed. As is customary, grooming headlined activities and discussions, but there was also substantial attention to marketing (different social media platforms; know thy clientele; explore smart phones, but websites are still vital). 

Scalable snowmaking systems continued to receive a lot of attention—in addition to eight attendees already with snowmaking systems, on a show of hands, around half the other operators indicated they were giving it serious consideration. (Stay tuned for the July issue of SAM, which will have an article about snowmaking at cross country ski areas.) Both SMI and HKD snowmaking manufacturers sponsored the event.

Luke Bodensteiner of Olympic venue Soldier Hollow. Credit: Reese Brown, CCSAA.Other areas of concentration for educational sessions included an insurance presentation by Nathan Nicholas, president of CCSAA-endorsed Nicholas Hill Group insurance program, with an introduction to risk assessment (“It’s a more litigious world”); grooming plans and priorities at Olympic venue Soldier Hollow (“Which trails should get priority?”; the need for running events without inconveniencing recreational skiers) as well as an introduction to popular grooming app Nordic Pulse; a short but riveting introduction to the benefits of simultaneous grooming and snowcat tours; and a somber assessment of climate change.

Agenda details and presentation graphics are available in CCSAA’s conference archives (https://ccsaa.org/park-city-2024/).

Conference Value

It is a familiar theme, but these meetings embrace and benefit the whole gamut of Nordic-related businesses—not just new operations but also retailers, media, snowshoe manufacturers, public lands agencies and outdoors organizations, and event sponsors. There is no other way to duplicate or share this knowledge resource. 

Dave Eastwood of Tahoe XC and former Royal Gorge director put it succinctly: “The conference is a learning tool that’s unmatched in getting cross country managers sharing their experience.”

New attendees were impressed by what they heard and saw. Minnesota-based consultant Brett Rannow of CRO Planning & Design, who presented on four-season planning, said, “This is the brain trust of cross-country ski area managers.” Ashton Arbon, an SMI field service technician based in Salt Lake City, called it “an eye-opener.” 

Patrick Frits, marketing manager for Silvies Valley Ranch—a 140,000-acre golf resort, guest ranch, and spa retreat in Oregon that’s adding a new emphasis on winter activities, including a cross country ski and snowshoe operation—enthused that, “Attending our first CCSAA meeting was a true learning experience, surrounding ourselves with industry leaders from all over the country. What they do differently, that makes an extraordinary difference than other events and expos, is the attention to teaching and open discussion between companies to learn how their programs are functioning alongside their environments. 

“The conversations around travel demographics, insurance, and climate realities—ones which led us to looking at processes that will give us longevity within the winter season—have brought us a healthy knowledge of the basics to grow our winter experiences,” he continued. 

Behind the Scenes

As always, one-on-one conversations were complemented by a fascinating, wide-ranging medley of evening “Fireside Chats.” A few of these exchanges included observations that some XC areas are diversifying into multi-season/multi-activity outdoor centers; grooming and snowmaking leasing deserve more attention; the difficulty of finding qualified staff;Prinoth Husky eMotion electric snowcat at the CCSAA annual meeting. Credit: Reese Brown, CCSAA. comments that women compose at least 50 percent and as much as 80 percent of XC visits, “almost without trying”; whether recent American World Cup/Olympic wins have created recreational skiers (emphatic “Yes!”); whether snowshoeing is a boring distraction or a lucrative activity that complements XC; Prinoth may have sold more Huskies for XC grooming in North America than in Europe.

Breaking News: In May, CCSAA announced a new “Resources and Savings” industry website component (https://ccsaa.org/member-discount-program/). The concept aims to build member numbers with discounts to offset membership costs. Current elements include grooming, retail/rental, insurance, services such as consulting, and, eventually, it is hoped to include snowmaking. 

Also, CCSAA and Outdoor Industry Association are collaborating for a Zoom meeting on June 13 titled “Exploring Cross Country Skiing Trends: Insights from OIA and CCSAA Leaders.” (https://ccsaa.org/.../exploring-cross-country-skiing-trends/.) 

Kelly Davis, OIA/CCSAA director of research, and CCSAA’s Reese Brown, will highlight recent patterns while taking questions and comments from participating industry representatives. 

CCSAA’s fall meeting is scheduled Nov. 12-13, 2024, at Waterville Valley, N.H.

Reported by Jonathan Wiesel, Nordic Group International