SAM Magazine—Cortland, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2024—The annual Ski NY-SkiPA Expo was held at Greek Peak Mountain Resort on Sept. 15-18, welcoming more than 300 ski area and supplier attendees for educational sessions, a trade show, and networking opportunities. 

According to Ski Areas of New York (SANY), attendance was down slightly from last year. Next year’s event will be held at Holiday Valley Resort, N.Y., on Sept. 15-19, 2025.

The expo featured more than 30 sessions on management, mountain operations, marketing and sales, and risk and safety topics, including National Ski Areas Association’s (NSAA) Fall Education Series and Lift Safety Bootcamp.

The sessions prompted discussions around industry challenges and opportunities, including strategic planning, growth in participation, leadership development and succession planning, customer service training, the importance of data and analytics for resort and industry success, the landscape of multi-mountain passes, and diversifying experiences beyond skiing. 

These topics were especially prevalent during the “General Manager’s Round Table” and the “Kottke Report Review and Analysis” sessions, with perspectives offered from Dennis Eshbaugh of Holiday Valley Resort, Chip Seamans of Windham Mountain Club, N.Y., Erin Visco-Chapman of Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Pa., Brett Cook of Seven Springs, Pa., and Kelly Pawlak of NSAA. 

SAM hosted a two-part session on summer operations, focusing on the intersection of defining and selling summer, and designing the ideal summer guest experience. 

In part one, Claire Humber of SE Group led participants through case studies of resorts that have expanded their business to enhance the four-season experience. She was joined by Jon Spaulding of Greek Peak and Hugh Reynolds of Mountain Creek, N.J., to discuss the key performance indicators for evaluating summer business. Part two, led by SNOW Operating’s Eric Lipton, was an interactive session where ski areas defined the value of their current summer offerings based on a calculation for guest satisfaction before designing their ideal summer operations as a method for strategic planning. 

Artificial intelligence was also a hot topic. Eternity’s Mike Lannen, who is partnering with SAM on the Ski Resort AI Bootcamp this fall, gave an introductory workshop on ChatGPT, and the “Snowmaking Tech Updates” panel discussion delved into the emerging AI integrations from many of the snowmaking suppliers. 

During the gathering, SANY took the opportunity to recognize several industry leaders. Wes Kryger of Greek Peak, who could not attend the event, will be inducted into the SANY Hall of Fame in late October. Outgoing NSAA president Kelly Pawlak was also presented with an award for her “outstanding leadership and contributions to the industry.” Chip Seamans was honored for his service to the SANY board, where he served as board chair for six years. The group also welcomed Nuala Woods of Woods Valley Ski Area, N.Y., as the new chair of the board. She is the first woman to hold that position for the organization. 

While these important connections and discussions were at the forefront, the expo was not “all work and no play” for attendees. From golf, summer activities, and karaoke on Monday to the Western-themed party with fireworks over Hope Lake on Tuesday, visiting ski areas and suppliers were able to experience Greek Peak as guests would, sparking inspiration for the year ahead.