Mount Shasta Ski Park

1/800-SKI-SHASTA www.skipark.com

In a state full of good ski vacation possibilities, Mount Shasta Board and Ski Park is quickly becoming a testament to "the little resort that can." During California's 1999-2000 sporadic winter season where many resorts struggled to break even after a lack of natural snowfall in time for the Christmas holidays, the 15 year old Northern Californian resort hosted a record number of visitations.

"We had over 160,000 people ski and board at our resort," says Tim Larive, Director of Marketing. "Our market is far from flat, We've had a steady growth and this season we broke all records. We couldn't be happier."

Situated ten minutes off of Interstate 5,300 miles north of San Francisco and 250 miles north of Sacramento, roughly the same traveling time from those urban areas to Lake Tahoe, Mount Shasta has been casting a spell over vacationers since the turn of the century. At 14,162 feet, California's most beautiful peak is a massive pinnacle of lava whose beauty once remarked John Muir turned his blood to wine.

With a base elevation of 5500 feet and 1,390 vertical feet, Mount Shasta Board and Ski Park averages 300 inches of snowfall per season. Three triple chairs and one surface lift access 31 designated trails and 426 acres of primarily wide-open groomed slopes. The resort features two modern lodges, advanced snowmaking, as well as Northern California's most extensive night operation ( 14 ski runs and 1100 vertical feet). In addition, the Ski Park also provides 30 kilometers of cross-country skiing.

While Shasta's 426 acres qualifies it as only a small-size resort by Tahoe standards, its pitchy terrain and an emphasis on families have transformed the resort's small-area reputation to that of a hip spot that's also a great value. Its simplicity, convenience, and affordable costs hearken back to a former epoch birthed by exuberant outdoorsmen. Bound by a collective independent spirit, visitors happily rub shoulders and revel in the seductive vistas and beautiful wonders of nature. The once remote high alpine resort prides itself in being all things to all people. The mountain is less a place to see and more a place to ski.

"The scenic beauty, our slow-paced atmosphere, access, and affordability have always been our strengths," says Larive, a one-time city planner from San Diego who has worked for the resort since its opening season in 1985. "We really focus on customer service and the ski experience. In some ways we're kind of what Tahoe was 25years ago. We still maintain a small mountain feel. The surrounding townships appreciate having visitors. We're very friendly."

Although there are 69 mountains over the 14,000-foot mark in the United states, Mount Shasta is the most massive of all of the mountains as it boasts 100 cubic miles of mass. It is full of complex snowy character. The mountain holds the record for the most snowfall ever in a single snowstorm: 189 inches ( 15 3/4 feet) from February 13 to 19, 1959. That was the same year the history of lift-serviced downhill skiing on Mount Shasta began with the creation of the Mount Shasta Ski Bowl. Located at the end of the Everitt Memorial Highway, the small resort was situated above tree line and routinely plagued with whiteouts, avalanches and road closures. Its final demise arrived in 1978 when its slopes were struck by a huge avalanche that destroyed its main charlift and lodge.

"We were never able to solve the wind and avalanche problems," explains Bob Roberts, Executive Director of the California Ski Industry Association, who was also Mount Shasta Ski Bowl's General Manager. "Marketing consisted of keeping the highway open to keep people coming up."

Except for those hardy enough to hike its majestic outline, organized downhill skiing didn't reemerge until 1985 when five local businessmen formed the Wintun Development Company with the express purpose of reestablishing a ski resort.

"Since 1981 we'd been looking for a place to put in a ski resort.We¹d also looked at a heli-ski operation, but the forest service wasn't very enthusiastic," says co-founder and General Manager Mike Thompson. "We then discovered some private land that Southern Pacific owned on the south flank of the mountain and we were able to get a lease."

With a capital investment of only $2 million construction began during the summer of 1985. The resort opened that December 14 with a small lodge that contained a snack bar and lounge that served cocktails. Two triple chairs and a surface lift accessed 325 acres of beginner and intermediate terrain. Unfortunately, the Ski Park opened upon the beginning of a drought period that would plague California on and off for the next six years.

"We only did 35,000 skiers that first year. The business realities sobered us," recalls Arnie Breyer, a founder who remains the resort¹s vice-president and general consul. "Here we were with only three lifts, with southern exposure and wet Pacific storms. However, we'd all gotten involved for the love of the sport and our personalities worked well together. The late Phil Holechek, one of our partners, had great vision and great leadership. He knew we could never compete with a Squaw Valley or Snowbird. He knew though how to promote who we were: a resort with great intimacy and great customer service with employees willing to help people out.

" At first the resort relied on word of mouth, but soon Shasta's attractions began revitalizing skiing and the area's surrounding economy."

"There was a bit of confusion in the beginning between us and the former Ski Bowl. But we went on the road to ski shows and became very aggressive with fliers and mailers," says Larive. "We felt our strongest market was southern Oregon and the major northern California towns of Susanville, Eureka, and Redding. We started getting a lot of nibbles."

Skiers are sometimes known to be like fish. Some species never take a bait the first time it is presented. They nibble, go away, decide they must have more, come back, and strike.Visitors to Mount Shasta followed a similar pattern of behavior helped by key improvements. In 1991, the first phase of snowmaking was installed on Marmot Ridge. Additional snowmaking was added to the Douglas Butte trail system until today snowmaking covers 65% of Ski Park's terrain. In 1996 a triple chair accessed 126 acres of new terrain. Other advancements included expanded lodge facilities, enlarged terrain park, increased parking, five new trails, and more grooming machines. The key to the Ski Park's increased visitation lay not so much in new additions but bold marketing strategies.

"Our goal was to turn an infrequent skier, somebody who comes up only 4-6 times a year, into a frequent skier," explains Larive. "For over ten years we'd been happy with just local markets. We knew, however, that there was an increasing interest for our product. We'd had up to 2,500 season pass holders in the past, but thought we' could really expand the number. We needed to offer something a person could sink their teeth into; a season pass offer people would be comfortable about buying."

In 1999 the Ski Park announced a lowering of prices on winter season passes to the lowest rates in its 14 year history. Unlimited adult season passes went on sale for $199. Junior and senior passes (ages 8-12 and 65-69 of age) were reduced drastically to $29. The Ski Park also issued free season passes to all children 7 years of age and younger as well as for skiers 70 years and older. A family, no matter how large, paid no more than $749 for all their season passes.

"We looked at several resorts who had done the same thing, especially Bogus Basin, and studied their success. As far as we know, we became the only resort in Oregon and California to do something like this."

The response was overwhelming. Season passes shot from 2,500 the season before to over 12,000.

"Less became more," Larive says," but we really believed that something like this can take an entire generation and turn them on to a sport in an affordable way and keep them coming back. In some ways its simply knowing what the market will bear."

Larive and assistants also honed Ski Park's message aggressively in San Francisco's North Bay towns such as Santa Rosa, a mere three hours drive away. A year round resort, the Ski Park began offering a high level of recreational activities during summer months that includes a climbing wall, mountain biking, music and food festivals.

"This is not just a one season of spin doctoring to success, but a consistent game plan that has stayed within its element and not tried to be something it's not," says Bob Roberts. "They've had great success in Oregon and areas such as Medford and really buffed up their presence in Chico and other north Bay Area towns. With capabilities to expand the resort and continued salt of the earth marketing I see no problems in increasing their visitation numbers."

With four towns that surround the dormant volcano as a bed base, and with a tentative master plan put together by Sno Engineering that feature real estate and ski development, Mount Shasta is fueling an economy that not far ago lay in bleak depression from the loss of the timber industry.

"We have plans for real estate development at the base lodge. Ultimately we hope to offer 1300 acres of trails with visitations in the 300,000 range,"explains Larive. "At the same time we want to preserve the pristine experience and continue to improve on our customer service. We've very hard in penetrating new markets. More and more people are seeing the benefits of visiting the Shasta area for their winter or summer vacation."