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March, 2023

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Thoughts on new website to help plan ski trips and promote smaller resorts.

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alhbergac
Posts: 12 - Karma: 48
Has anyone noticed when you search best ski resort in (insert anywhere) a promoted list of the large resorts pop-ups? even google maps when you search ski resorts a lot of the local hills will be hidden away. I just spent a day at a small 1 chairlift resort and the ticket was cheap the experience was great and there wasn't a line. I was told by a local that they have people drive an extra few hours to come there because traffic going to their closest major resort (ikon/epic) was so bad it was worth it to drive up to this local hill.

I worked out in colorado and it baffled me how families who are beginner skiers want to spend 200 dollars a day to stand in line.
We would send people over to A-basin because this got off the epic pass and they would always come back delighted saying how un-busy it was and had a great experience.

The majority of the people who ski are beginners let's face it they're not pros like you guys. They would be plenty happy to ski at a small local resort that's cheap and family-friendly. Plus boosting the local economy keeps these hills alive.

I think there is a use case for a free-to-use site (with ads) that maps all the ski resorts and includes the forecast/local hotels/maybe some insights from google like a busy time for this year.

What do you think? I'm aware there are other sites out there like this but this would be in a map-like interface it could calculate drive time/ flights/ etc into the trip and you could compare it against other trips.

What are your thoughts? rip my idea apart! or any ideas on a website that would be useful to you?
Jan 23 2022 1:41PM
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Gulo_gulo
Posts: 55 - Karma: 469
I think it's a solid idea. I did something like this for fun (bit a data-dweeb) where I made a list of every hill within driving distance of where a friend lived in Excel. Then I sorted them by drivetime, day pass rate, multi-day deals, etc... Then I was able to break that down into a dollars/day of skiing.

But if something like this existed I would use it, and I think it's something that a budget-conscious family would use. Usually sorting through all the information is the biggest barrier for folks. Who has time to compare every mountain in a state? So folks just go where the internet directs them. Not that big places like Breck or PC aren't family friendly, but they can be such a scene and sometimes it feels like there is a bit of a frenzy. But smaller hills like Discovery in Montana have views and scenery for days and plenty of skiing for few days a year skier.

I think if you had a way to pull the data into a single interface that filtered by airports/lodging, etc... you would have a winner. As far as obstacles, me personally, it's always logistics. Flying in somewhere requires renting a car or taking a shuttle, driving can take a long time, and lots of these smaller hills aren't close to airports and don't have dedicated shuttles. But if there was a way to streamline than, that would be sick.
Jan 23 2022 3:49PM
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alhbergac
Posts: 12 - Karma: 48
Gulo_guloI think it's a solid idea. I did something like this for fun (bit a data-dweeb) where I made a list of every hill within driving distance of where a friend lived in Excel. Then I sorted them by drivetime, day pass rate, multi-day deals, etc... Then I was able to break that down into a dollars/day of skiing.

But if something like this existed I would use it, and I think it's something that a budget-conscious family would use. Usually sorting through all the information is the biggest barrier for folks. Who has time to compare every mountain in a state? So folks just go where the internet directs them. Not that big places like Breck or PC aren't family friendly, but they can be such a scene and sometimes it feels like there is a bit of a frenzy. But smaller hills like Discovery in Montana have views and scenery for days and plenty of skiing for few days a year skier.

I think if you had a way to pull the data into a single interface that filtered by airports/lodging, etc... you would have a winner. As far as obstacles, me personally, it's always logistics. Flying in somewhere requires renting a car or taking a shuttle, driving can take a long time, and lots of these smaller hills aren't close to airports and don't have dedicated shuttles. But if there was a way to streamline than, that would be sick.


thanks for the feedback it would be definitely a challenge to pull in all that data especially like rental shops/ticket prices/etc but worth it.
Jan 23 2022 4:05PM
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MichiganCatFart
Posts: 1006 - Karma: 15,345
how in the heck have this many people seen this thread?

Jan 23 2022 5:55PM
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edc_19
Posts: 14 - Karma: 75
I think that's a cool idea, but since you seem to be meaning for this to be geared as beginner/family oriented, it will probably be really difficult to direct them to the site. Like Gulo_gulo said above, people will usually just go where Google sends them when they type "best ski vacation," "family friendly ski trip," etc. So the biggest thing would be getting your site to come up on the first page of Google. If you're serious about trying this idea, I'd look into that (I know that there are ways to bring a site higher on Google, but don't personally know what they are).
Jan 23 2022 9:25PM
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core.snowboarder
Posts: 15 - Karma: 77
This is a fantastic idea and will be effective even if it sends just one person or family to a smaller resort.
Jan 23 2022 10:06PM
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PeppermillReno
Posts: 4506 - Karma: -562
I don't really think beginners plan ahead much I think Friday night they are going to say 'yeah why not lets try skiing tomorrow' and drive somewhere they have heard of and pay through the nose.
Jan 23 2022 10:15PM
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yungspliffy
Posts: 125 - Karma: 1,232
Personally I think small resorts should all be owned by vail and vail should decide who gets to ski where. Ideally they would control all hills, mountains, and elevation of any kind which receives snow. As well as the entire financial sector of the United States
Jan 23 2022 11:11PM
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alhbergac
Posts: 12 - Karma: 48
yungspliffyPersonally I think small resorts should all be owned by vail and vail should decide who gets to ski where. Ideally they would control all hills, mountains, and elevation of any kind which receives snow. As well as the entire financial sector of the United States


Mountain saftey for everyone!
Jan 23 2022 11:46PM
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