Ep.21 - Kurt Carter of Craigieburn Valley Ski Area on How the Club-Field Model optimizes for great skiing not profit.

Ep.21 - Kurt Carter of Craigieburn Valley Ski Area on How the Club-Field Model optimizes for great skiing not profit.

Have you ever experienced a nut-cracker lift? If you have you definitely have stories to tell about it. Today we’re heading into the heart of New Zealand’s Southern Alps to visit a super unique ski area that like most Club Fieldsin New Zealand is power by the nut cracker. Think big alpine terrain, very few people, minimal infrastructure and affordable big mountain skiing. Forget high-speed lifts, luxury condos, and sprawling base villages. At Craigieburn Valey Ski Area,  skiers ride steep rope tows using Nutcracker, stay in a communal lodge where guests help cook and clean, and spend their days exploring some of the most challenging terrain in New Zealand. Joining us today is Kurt Carter, General Manager of Craigieburn Valley. Kurt shares the fascinating history of New Zealand's club field model, explains why Craigieburn proudly operates as a not-for-profit ski club, gives us an inside look at a ski area where community often matters just as much as skiing, and poses the question, " Could this model ever work in North America?" So let’s head out to the access tows for a conversation with Craigieburn General Manager Kurt Carter. We pulled 12 Actionable Insights from this episode to help you up your own game. Find them all at www.sellingsnow.com [https://www.sellingsnow.com/post/ep-21-kurt-carter-of-craigieburn-valley-ski-area-new-zealand]

Ep.20 - Ben Mock of Ben Lomond Alpine Resort on From 17 Days to 100+: Buying a Ski Area and Transforming Tasmania’s Ski Scene

This episode takes us nearly all the way to the Southern Edge of the world. To a place many are surprised to hear has a commercial ski resort.  Tasmania, Australia. Yes, Tasmania has skiing and a ski area that not long ago was fighting for survival. When Ben Mock and his partners purchased Ben Lomond Alpine Resort, the mountain had managed just 17 operating days the season before. Fast forward a few years, and they're now pushing past 100 operating days, investing heavily in snowmaking, growing revenue, rebuilding guest confidence, and helping reshape what skiing can look like in Tasmania. But this isn't just a story about snowmaking. It's a story about patience, persistence, community buy-in, long-term thinking, and what happens when operators focus on delivering a reliable product before chasing the next shiny attraction. We also talk about working inside a national park, rebuilding trust with guests, creating a year-round business, marketing experiences instead of products, and why one of the most memorable parts of the journey might be the road to get there. So let’’s buckle up and drive up Jacob’s Ladder for a great conversation with Ben Mock.   We pulled 12 Actionable Insights from this episode. Find them all at www.sellingsnow.com [http://www.sellingsnow.com]

Ep.19 - Lucy Blyton-Gray of Charlotte's Pass Snow Resort on Turning Isolation Into Its Greatest Advantage

What happens when a ski resort can’t be reached by cars at all? Or when it decides not to compete with the biggest players in the industry? This week on Selling Snow, we're heading to the highest ski resort in Australia At Charlotte Pass, General Manager Lucy Blyton-Gray is proving that bigger isn't always better. Accessible only by over-snow transport during winter, Charlotte Pass has turned what many would see as operational challenges into some of its greatest competitive advantages. Charlotte Pass has built its brand around something increasingly rare in modern skiing: no cars, no queues, and no crowds. In this episode, Lucy shares how Charlotte Pass leverages nearly a century of history, transforms first-time visitors into lifelong guests, uses storytelling to bring its unique experience to life, and stays fiercely loyal to the families who have been returning generation after generation. If you've ever wondered how a smaller ski area can stand out in the shadow of much larger competitors, this episode is packed with lessons you can apply at your own mountain. Now let’s get on the over-snow transport and head up to Charlotte Pass for a chat with Lucy Blyton-Gray. Get all 12 Actionable Insights from this episode at www.sellingsnow.com [https://www.sellingsnow.com/post/ep-19-lucy-blyton-gray-of-charlotte-pass-nsw-australia]

Ep.18 - Christian Théberge of Shames Mountain on How The Community Saved The Ski Hill

Today we're heading north, back to BC, just west of Terrace, to a legendary powder paradise and the only co-op-owned ski area in North America. A ski resort that had fallen on tough times. And a community—and even the former owners themselves—that rallied together to save it. Today on Selling Snow, we’re chatting with Shames Mountain General Manager Christian Théberge for one of the most unique ski business stories in the industry. We’ll hear how a small remote ski area transformed into one of the world’s most fascinating community ownership stories, why building community trust may be more important than building new lifts, and what ski operators can learn about sponsorship, leadership, transparency, and surviving tough seasons. We’ll also hear how bake sales, pet rocks, and a community refusing to let their mountain disappear helped save a ski hill. So let’s put on our gore tex powder bibs, and head up to Shames for a conversation with Christian Theberge. We pulled 12 Actionable Insights from this episode. Get them all at www.sellingsnow.com [http://www.sellingsnow.com]

Ep.17 - Justin Modroo of Beartooth Basin on How To Nourish The Soul Of Skiing

I am so excited about today’s episode. I’ve been hearing about this summer-only ski area near Yellowstone for years and have always been intrigued. Today, we head high above the tree line to one of the most unique ski operations around. The only summer-only ski area in North America, Beartooth Basin. No hotels. No village. No snowmaking. No high-speed lifts. Just 500 feet of steep summer snow, two diesel-powered platter lifts, and a community of skiers who are absolutely obsessed with the place. Our guest today is Justin Modroo, the General Manager of Beartooth Basin, a ski area that operates for only a few weeks each year, but has become one of the most legendary hidden gems in skiing. In this conversation, Justin shares how Beartooth survives with a short summer season, why they intentionally cap skier numbers, how they built a cult-like following without traditional marketing, and why authenticity and community might matter more than luxury amenities in the future of skiing. This episode is a reminder that sometimes the most important thing a ski area can sell isn’t convenience, size or amenities, it’s soul. Plain and simple fun. So let’s head up the Beartooth pass, get our costumes on, hit the mandatory drop in and ski every day like it’s closing day in our conversation with Justin Modroo from Beartooth Basin. Get all 12 Actionable Insights from this episode at www.sellingsnow.com [https://www.sellingsnow.com/post/ep-17-justin-modroo-of-beartooth-basin-wyoming]