Grays On Trays

Are small ski areas inconsequential? By no means.

Here’s what the Three Rivers Park District (Minneapolis, not Pittsburgh!) has to say about its Hyland Ski and Snowboard Area:

“Start at Hyland and you can truly go anywhere. Whether it’s becoming a 2006 Olympian in alpine [slalom] skiing like Edina’s Kaylin Richardson, a Winter X Golf [halfpipe] medalist like St. Louis Park snowboarder Steve Fisher or simply starting a lifetime of fun that takes you to larger hills and thrills, thousands of people have learned to slide on snow at Hyland.”

Granted, this is a self-serving statement from a marketing brochure. But it’s true. Lots of good things, whether it’s careers as “action sports” heroes or a life of enjoyment on the slopes, start on the smallest of hills.

There are a lot of places to enjoy snowboarding, from large resorts such as Vail and Whistler that draw from a global market, to the small day areas that predominate in the Midwest and much of the mid-Atlantic states.

Likewise, in ownership there is a great deal of diversity. You might buy a few shares in Vail Resorts, a publicly traded company (ticker symbols MTN).

But rarely can you buy shares in a company that operates a ski and snowboarding area. Some are fairly large private companies, such as Boyne USA, which owns operations in British Columbia, Michigan, Utah, and Washington.

Some areas are owned by state or local units of government. Others are co-ops.

Some, though, are true small-scale family operations. The other day I was at one such area, where I occasionally teach snowboarding. I approached one of the owners, and she greeted me by name.

I was impressed. Our most extensive exchange was at an end-of-season banquet last season. Yet here it was, months later, and she remembered me, though I am one of perhaps 200 people (ski patrol, snowsports school, back office, etc.) That’s not the kind of personal knowledge that you’re going to find in a mega-sized resort.

Critics of the modern resort industry, who range from old-school rugged types to new-age anti-capitalists, with ordinary folk in-between, find fault with the growth of second home ownership at ski areas. “Vailification” as it is often called, involves people spending sums of money on vacation homes that are beyond the reach of most people.

I’ve felt some effects from this trend. When I go to Aspen, I stay not at the Little Nell or the St. Regis or the Hotel Jerome or other such high-end hotels. Of course, even the cheaper sleeps in that town are expensive.

Twice in the last 5 years, the hotel at which we have stayed has gone condo, and not even condo, but fractional ownership. Think time share, on a large budget, as in $1,000 per square foot. And that’s for partial ownership, mind you.

In a morning session, the owner of Crested Butte resort defended the growth of upscale ownership. There’s no time to review his comments now, but they are worth hearing. The most interesting point: real estate buyers subsidize the mountain experience for everyone else.

That makes sense. After all, ownership carries extra responsibilities, financial and otherwise. And if the resort owner can make money by selling and selling real estate, that fronts money that can be used to upgrade operations (lifts, grooming equipment).

Then again, it all depends on the structure of the organization. I recall reading the annual report of Intrawest, the resort giant. It divides its business into real estate, hospitality (managing real estate) and mountain operations (lift tickets, ski school, meals, and so forth). Each division, if I recall correctly, was expected to turn a profit.

In any case, there’s no use railing against the purchase of mountain homes. There will always be a group of people with the money to spend on them, and others willing to sell them.

At dinner last night I spoke with someone about an employee housing program in Pitkin County, Colorado. Pitkin County is home to Aspen, so as you might expect, it’s an expensive place to live.

Employees at the Aspen Ski Co live as far away as Rifle. According to Mapquest, that 68 mile trip takes an hour and 30 minutes. And that’s in good conditions.

Housing for (some) employees is semi-socialized. There’s a housing authority to which developers must contribute cash, or set aside units if they wish to create new housing. Residents who have full-time jobs for four years (in the same job, I think) are eligible to purchase a unit. Participation is limited by income level.

People can buy units from the authority at a market discount, but in turn can realize only a 3 percent per year gain on their purchase. How is that limit enforced? The deed to the property is restricted; the homeowner can only sell the property back to the authority.

I’ll have to chew on this idea for a while, and get more information. At the least you’ve got to give the folks in Pitkin County credit for taking some initiative.

The Grays on Trays web site has had a directory of North American ski areas for a while.

Now thanks to Google Earth and the hard work of a 30+ rider, you can download a map of U.S. ski areas. Click here for instructions on where and how to get the goods.