In the digital age, it doesn’t make any sense to have skiers wait for the evening news to decide if they’ll ski Park City the next day.
Each resort, the Park City Chamber/Bureau and even Ski Utah’s website have a spot on their websites for powder hounds to sign up for “email blasts” that instantly update weather conditions and when a large amount of powder falls.
Hannah Bowling from The Canyons said subscribers can choose what day to receive the emails, which arrive at 7:15 a.m.
Emily Summers, spokesperson for Deer Valley, said the resort can email registrants daily or only when 8 inches or more falls. She said season pass holders love receiving the messages to know the best days to come.
“They’re a really important medium,” said Deer Valley marketing director Coleen Reardon. “Guests do wait to book until snow is coming.”
The concept isn’t new, and Park City Mountain Resort has been using email blasts for almost a decade said Eric Hoffman, interactive marketing manager.
Subscribers can choose to receive emails on Resort News, Park and Pipes, Daily Conditions Report or Powder Alerts of when more than 6 inches fall.
They’re an excellent way to communicate with guests directly, said resort spokesperson Krista Parry.
It’s difficult to quantify the impact of the blasts, but Parry and Hoffman said the emails are an important part their larger communication strategy and aid in cross-marketing efforts.
While it’s tough to count the number of people on the slopes who responded to an email, the hits on the resort’s website and its blogs go up after the emails go out. The powder announcements are also helpful in getting media attention, Parry said.
Bill Malone, executive director of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, said on Monday morning they released video footage that television stations can use as filler or as background footage. If a big storm hits, stations across the country might use the footage in their weather reports.
Malone said that Thanksgiving weekend a few years ago was slow for news and Park City had a good storm. The result was a large number of people seeing footage of the community.
That effort in combination with periodic emails the Chamber/Bureau sends out announcing snow depths on the slopes keeps the community in people’s minds, he said.
“The cumulative effect as to where we are in the marketplace, is that people now look at us and say, ‘Vail, Aspen, Whistler and Park City.’ We’re on the same shelf level in terms of the product,” he said. “Part of that is the repeat telling of the story that we’re one of the players.”
Subscribers to Ski Utah can receive weather updates and forecasts for every resort in Utah. To receive the emails from Ski Utah or any of the individual resorts, simply visit their respective websites and click to subscribe. The Canyon Sports website is also offering a free application for iPhones that gives detailed weather reports for the state’s resorts.