SAM Magazine—Lake Placid, N.Y., Sept. 29, 2023—The Ski Areas of New York and Pennsylvania Ski Areas Association held their annual joint SKI NY-SKIPA Expo in Lake Placid, Sept. 25-27, with more than 350 ski area personnel, supplier partners, and experts on hand to learn, network, and have a little fun at the site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympic Games. A total of 45 ski areas and 78 companies were represented.

The expo took place at the Lake Placid Olympic Center and featured about two dozen educational sessions and a trade show, along with some networking opportunities including a rock ’n roll-themed party on the final night. 

The proceedings began with several awards. The Ronald B. Stafford safety in skiing award was presented to ORDA’s Cindy Dady, Holiday Valley’s Kate Rauber (Eshbaugh), and Bristol Mountain’s Steve Fuller for their contributions, specifically in developing procedures to allow ski areas to operate during the Covid pandemic. Recently retired MountainGuard leader Bo Adams was presented with the SKI NY Hall of Fame Award in recognition of his service to the sport and industry of skiing and snowboarding. 

NSAA president and CEO Kelly Pawlak reviewed key industry data and shared a few of the wins from the 2022-23 winter season, including record visitation (65.4 million skier visits) and the most active participants in the U.S. (11.6 million) ever reported by NSAA. The Northeast region, which includes New York and Pennsylvania, was up 4.3 percent year-over-year. She reminded operators how important the experiences they provide are to their guests, and to remind staff of the impact they have on the experience.

She also pointed out that the United States recorded the most skier visits of any country in the world last season, and is one of a handful of major ski nations to be experiencing an upward trend in visitation. 

In addition to NSAA’s Fall Education Seminars on risk management and liability, other sessions covered everything from technology and marketing to snowmaking and staffing. 

Artificial intelligence was a common topic. Two presentations focused on the latest technology, and AI was mentioned in at least two others related to marketing and technology. Bolton Valley's Lindsay DesLauriers described how the resort is using AI to develop a wide variety of print materials, from grant proposals to training manuals and legal documents.

The GM roundtable—always fertile ground for a summary of the most pressing issues and interesting solutions facing ski areas—started out with each panelist sharing what keeps them up at night as it relates to their jobs leading ski areas. Weather, operational issues, and, of course, staffing were the primary concerns.

Big Bear, Pa., general manager Lori Phillips—the only female GM on the five-person panel—said that staff mental health is her biggest worry, and she is always trying to think of ways to help staff be more resilient. 

On the operations side, Greek Peak, N.Y., VP of operations Ayden Wilber led the “Snowmaking Tech Updates” session. It featured a panel of reps from snowmaking companies, who encouraged a room full of snowmakers and ops personnel, many of whom hail from smaller ski areas, to embrace technology, including automated snowmaking systems. It produced a colorful debate among the group—including between the reps themselves—about the value of the human element in snowmaking operations and how technology such as artificial intelligence may start playing a larger role.

Throughout the expo, there was a fair bit of discussion among operators about rising costs, especially for lift infrastructure and snowmaking equipment. While the U.S. ski industry spent a record amount on capital improvements last year, and will likely surpass that number this year, many smaller ski areas aren’t in a position to invest in major projects.   

Concerns over shorter, milder winters were shared by many operators, leading to discussions about sustainability and efficiency being of the utmost importance.

The next SKI NY-SKIPA EXPO will be held on Sept. 16-18, 2024. Location is still to be determined.