Selling Snow

What happens when you take nearly 1,000 acres of incredible cat-skiing terrain, add a high-speed quad, and suddenly give a whole lot more skiers access to fresh tracks? And how do you grow a ski resort without losing the independent, community-driven spirit that makes it special in the first place?

Today, we're heading to Castle Mountain Resort in the Southern Canadian Rockies of Alberta, a mountain known for legendary snow, big terrain, and an authentic, no-frills skiing experience. It's the kind of place where the skiing does the talking, the shareholders are out there ripping laps themselves, and you don't need a luxury village to have a world-class day on the hill.

Castle is entering an exciting new chapter, with the Stagecoach Express opening up almost 1,000 additional acres of skiable terrain, a big jump in season pass sales, and plans to grow into a four-season destination, all while keeping that independent mountain identity intact.

I'm joined by Chris Salhany, the resort's president, who's bringing decades of experience in ski area operations, risk management, and mountain development to the role.

We'll talk about the decision to expand, balancing growth with community ownership, what actually works when marketing a mountain, creating a guest experience that keeps people coming back, and some hard-earned lessons on running a seasonal business.

Now let's head off to the Southern Canadian Rockies for a chat with Chris Salhany, president of Castle Mountain Resort in Alberta.

We pulled 10 Actionable Insights from this epiasode for Selling Snow Intelligence.

Find them all at www.sellingsnow.com

What if you could grow your ski area by nearly 50%—without raising your season pass prices?

That’s exactly the kind of challenge Monarch Mountain in Colorado has taken on.

In this episode, I’m joined by Chris Haggerty, GM of Monarch Mountain, to talk about the story behind their big No Name Basin expansion, how they’ve managed growth while staying true to what makes Monarch unique, the importance of season-pass holders and community, and some of the lessons Chris has learned stepping into leadership at an independent ski area.

We get into financial discipline, growing ancillary revenue, managing people and operations, and why sometimes the best thing a GM can do is simply listen to the people who already know what they’re doing.

And if you’re enjoying Selling Snow, help support the show by sharing it with a friend or colleague in the ski industry. It’s one of the easiest ways you can help us keep growing the show.

And now, let’s head out into No Name Basin with Chris Haggerty of Monarch Mountain, Colorado.

We pulled 10 Actionable Insights from this episode. Find them at www.sellingsnow.com

Imagine running a ski area where you can ski for three days and still not cover half the terrain.With views so inspiring, you could alost forget how incredible the skiing is?

Now imagine that your marketing strategy is built around something surprisingly simple: keep the lifts spinning, keep the terrain open, and give people what they came for.

That sounds easy, but at a place like Lake Louise, with massive alpine terrain, unpredictable weather, a national park to operate in, and guests coming from around the world, making that happen is anything but simple.

In this episode, we sit down with Lake Louise CEO Richard Burkley to talk about what it really takes to run one of the most iconic ski areas in North America, and why sometimes the best marketing strategy is simply delivering an incredible mountain experience, consistently.

We get into long-term planning, snowmaking, climate, short booking windows, marketing to mountain families, shared passes, employee cross-training, and one of my favourite ideas from the episode: “Follow the Guest.”

So let’s head up the Icefields Parkway, through Beautiful Banff National Park for a chat with Lake Louise CEO Richard Burkley.

Get all 10 Actionable Insights from this episode at www.sellingsnow.com

Welcome to Season 2 of Selling Snow!

Jackson Hole… just saying or hearing those two words evokes a host of images and emotions for many. Jackson Hole is one of the most iconic ski areas in the world. Steep terrain, legendary snowfall, a fiercely loyal customer base, and a reputation that has been built over decades.

But success creates a pretty interesting problem for ski area operators: how do you grow without taking away the experience that made people fall in love with you in the first place?

In this episode of Selling Snow, we’re heading to Jackson Hole to talk about that balancing act.

We get into growth, capacity, the guest experience, what happens when demand starts pushing against your limits, and how one of the most recognizable ski areas in North America thinks about protecting what makes it truly Jackson.

Now let’s get in line for the first tram, and connect with Doug Pierini, CEO of Jackson Hole.

We pulled 10 actionable insights from this episode to help you up your game. Find them all at www.sellingsnow.com

Thank you to the over 7,000 unique listeners who have downloaded Selling Snow in our first 28-episode season. This project started just before Christmas 2025 with the first test episodes recorded, and it has been growing rapidly since. Thank you to all of the great comments and emails you’ve sent about how much you’re enjoying the show. It’s been a real pleasure and fun talking to so many great minds in the ski industry.

So I’m excited to be back to launch Season 2 as we continue to be your place for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing to up everyone’s game. Let’s kick things off with a trip over to one of the most epic ski areas going, and also throw out a huge thank you to one of our new supporters and partners, e-liberty.

Imagine waking up in Queenstown, looking out at the Mountains, knowing you’ve got three ski areas to run, a massive expansion project in the works, Australians pouring across the Tasman, and climate change quietly asking you to rethink what the next 20 years of skiing is going to look like.

Oh, and you just came into the ski industry from finance.

Today’s guest is Paul Anderson, CEO of NZSki which owns Mt. Hutt, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak in New Zealand

In this episode, we talk about how NZSki manages three very different mountain personalities under one company, and why sometimes the smartest marketing move is to let the individual mountain brands do the talking.

We also dig into the massive expansion planned for The Remarkables, the importance of getting people hooked on skiing when they’re young, how they’re using everything from CRM to reality TV to reach different audiences, and why climate adaptation is becoming part of the long-term business plan whether we like it or not.

So grab a flat white, chuck on your jandals, and let’s head over to Queenstown for a chat with Paul Anderson, CEO of NZSki.

We pulled 10 Actionable Insights from this episode. You can find Here

It’s perhaps not well known, and potentially contentious, but just outside of Selwyn Australia is home to the first ski club, potentially on earth. The Kiandra Pioneer Ski Club was formed in 1861. By 1957, they had the first t-bar, and in the 60s and 70s, they moved up the road to the current site at Selwyn Snow Resort. 50 years later, it burned to the ground, and they got a unique opportunity to start fresh

General Manager Lachlan Blyton-Gray shares how they rebuilt a better guest experience, own their niche that the bigger destination resorts simply can't compete in, and turned one of the darkest moments in the resort's history into a long-term competitive advantage.

So grab a meat pie and a hot choccy while we head to Selwyn for a chat with General Manager, Lachlan Blyton-Gray.

Ok, where we left off in Part 1, James was just giving us the rundown on Mt Hutt and his career leading up to it, and getting into the family ownership and family vibe of the mountain, where most of the staff have been there 3 years or more, if not decades. Now let’s dive right back in for Part two as we get into a chat on marketing, sales, operations and all of the inside skiing candid stories, advice and tips. Here’s Part 2 with James Urquhart of Mt Hutt in New Zealand.

Get all 10 Actionable Insights from this episode at www.sellingsnow.com

Imagine a ski area built by its community. Picture the locals of the small farming town of Methven, New Zealand, looking up at the mountain above them when one of their mates says, "I've got a bulldozer... let's push a road up into those alpine bowls. That would be an incredible place to ski." Fast forward more than 50 years, and the grandchildren of that original road builder are still maintaining the same 12 kilometre gravel access road that climbs 1,200 vertical metres to the ski area. That's the kind of community spirit and family culture that launched Mt Hutt, a mountain that's still part of a family-owned ski business today.

This week, we're heading to New Zealand to chat with James Urquhart, General Manager of Operations at Mt Hutt. With more than three decades on the mountain, James shares the leadership philosophy and operational decisions that have transformed Mt Hutt into one of the Southern Hemisphere's premier ski destinations.

In this episode, you'll discover why lowering food prices can actually increase revenue, how investing in infrastructure dramatically reduced weather closures, why beginners and intermediates are the biggest opportunity for sustainable growth, and how a family-first culture has created remarkable staff loyalty and long-term success.

So grab a Speight's, and let's chat with James Urquhart of Mt Hutt.

Get all 10 Actionable Insights from this episode at www.sellingsnow.com

How a Norweigan Summer Ski Area Survives with Lean Operations, Loyal Guests & Zero Marketing Budget.

Skiing in the summer is awesome. There is no doubt about that. But at the same time, the combination of convincing people beyond the diehards to come skiing in the summer and being operationally efficient enough to eek out a profit, isn’t an easy task.

​This week we’re headed North to the Stryn Summer Ski center in Norway. Open for only a short season starting in late May when their access road gets plowed out and usually running into July, sometimes all summer, but increasingly less in recent years.

​It's off the grid, powered by generators, battling unpredictable weather, and operating with a tiny team. Yet every summer, skiers and snowboarders travel from around the world to ride there.

​So what's their secret?

​It isn't a massive marketing budget. In fact, they don't really have one.

​It isn't fancy infrastructure or endless staff.

​Instead, it's all about running lean, building loyal customers, leading from the front, and making smart business decisions one step at a time.

​In this episode, I sit down with the owner of Strynn Sommerski, Idar Aaboen and his partner in life and business, general manager Nina Lensebakken, to talk about what it really takes to keep a small ski area alive in a non-traditional ski season. Along the way, we dive into authentic marketing, operational efficiency, customer loyalty, leadership, and why sometimes the best growth strategy is simply building your business... rock by rock.

Find all 10 Actionable Insights at www.sellingsnow.com

In Part 1 , Brandon Ott and Lexi Dowdall from Alta Ski Area shared how one of the most respected brands in skiing has spent nearly nine decades protecting its culture, its skiing experience, and its identity.

Today, we're picking up right where we left off—and now the conversation gets into some of the topics Alta is probably best known for.

We're talking about the skiers-only policy, what it's like operating beside Snowbird while offering a completely different experience, how they think about destination visitors and the Ikon Pass, and why sometimes the best way to stand out in a crowded industry isn't by adding more... it's by staying true to who you are.

There are some fascinating business lessons in this half of the conversation that go well beyond skiing, so let's jump back into Part Two of my conversation with Brandon Ott and Lexi Dowdall from Alta Ski Area.

Get all 10 Actionable Insights from this episode at www.sellingsnow.com