FEB

201

4 | I

SSU

E 05

Dave Edwards talks about his role with BSS and what future we can expect for British ski racing

theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

Is Now The TIme For olympIc Glory?

Dave Edwards is the Chief Executive of

British Ski & Snowboard (BSS), and the

Ski Trade caught up with him recently to

talk Olympics, British snow sports, and the

journey so far for BSS.

Would anyone really want Dave Edward’s job?

Great Britain is ranked 21st in the world in Alpine

ski racing, which is a pretty decent position

despite the challenges. We have the world’s

second largest outbound ski tourism numbers

after Germany, we have professional skiers

hitting the podium in international events, yet

the sport has little or no government funding.

With a background in business

management, Dave Edwards was brought

into the newly-formed BSS in February

2010, initially for 6 weeks to rescue and re-

establish the organisation from the ashes of

the previous set-up.

Almost 4 years later and he’s still in the job. I

was interested to hear about what progress

he thinks it’s made during that time.

Skiing has been part of Edwards’ life since

his mid-twenties, when he decided to take up

the sport following a school ski trip several

years earlier.

I asked him what his biggest achievement

has been so far with BSS. ”We created a new

national governing body for snowsports”, he

said. ”We formed a company and raised the

funds necessary for it to survive.”

Funding is a constant battle and seems to be

a topic that always seems to be an integral

part of any discussion about British ski

racing. I asked Edwards where most of what

we do get comes from.

”Forty percent is from UK Sport and the

rest is from private enterprise. Companies

like Delancey and Sir John Riblat, who are

absolutely essential for making this work.

Athletes also fund their own programmes.”

Dave Edwards took over his position at BSS at

a time when it looked like we might not even

have a British team at all. Not an easy task,

and funding from that point was a challenge.

To have British snow sports athletes at the

Winter Olympic Games at all is perhaps

testament to a good job done, but I wanted to

know if he has had any regrets so far.

”Yes, that we have not managed to secure

more funding for our athletes”, he said.

Is Now The Time For British Athletes To Take Control Of Their Olympic Destiny?

But I wanted to know how it’s possible to

achieve that funding? Will the Olympics help?

Will sporting success drive the market and

increase funding?

”It [the Olympics] increases interest and

therefore participation. Holidays then drive

clothing and equipment sales, but it’s a very

complex decision to buy a ski holiday.”

Would winning a medal at the Olympics make

a difference? And if a freestyle athlete won a

medal, how would that impact on the sport? As

much as someone winning an Alpine medal?

”Yes, it would,” says Edwards ”but remember,

choices are different today. People have

many options on Sunday afternoons

compared to 20 years ago when the Bell

brothers were household names.”

”We are taking action with Betony [Garner

– Media Officer for Snowsport Industries of

Great Britain] funded by the industry. This will

drive sponsorship arrangements and help

position athletes for success. It’s fantastic that

the industry is investing in Betony and we also

have to invest in athlete programmes.”

I wanted to know about the funding, and why

athletes at the grassroots level who have

clearly got potential to reach the top level are

not given what they need to support them as

professionals. I asked Edwards specifically

about Ben Cavet, and why the British mogul

skier decided to race for France.

”He wanted to ski with his mates, he lives in

France and that’s where he felt his loyalty

lies. You can’t buy loyalty. We need to identify

talent and nurture it, we’re now looking

forward to what could be our best ever

winter games, we think we’ll do OK. I didn’t

hear from Ben, so he made his own choices.”

”Funding works to deliver medals, but we

have to walk before we can run.”

So what’s next? BSS has a new software

system that tracks and monitors athletes

performance at a very high level.

”It’s a good investment, and we’ve ensured

that financially it works very well for us. I’m

constantly asking myself how we keep our

admin costs down; we run a tight ship and

Sophie and Lucy that work out of the British

Olympic Association office do an amazing job

– without them, BSS would be nothing’.

teambss.org.uk

Get Involved

We’d like to hear from members of the

industry, and have created a survey on the

Ski Trade website to get your opinions on

British skiing and snowboarding.

Go to theskitrade.com to complete the survey.

Our questions are:

1. Should athletes get funding even if they

don’t have medal chances?

2. Do you donate money to British ski or

snowboard athletes?

3. Would you consider doing so?

4. Do you think we will get better results

if funding significantly increases, or is it

just an excuse?

5. Will Great Britain ever compete on a

world level in Alpine skiing?

6. How would you improve our funding

and medal-winning chances?

02 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

Is Now The TIme For olympIc Glory?

Chief Executive Of British Ski & Snowboard On His Journey To Improve British Snow Sports

Rob StewartCo-Editor

February 2014 | Issue 05N

eil

McQ

uoid

03theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

It’s an annual conundrum and it never

gets any easier. Living year-round in

the Alps, I spend 7 months of the year

watching the next winter approach.

The snow is on everyone’s mind, all of

the time, even on the warmest August

afternoon. Yet here we are, mid-February,

and there’s a collective ”I’m over it”

feeling in-resort. Digging the car out of

the snowdrift, created by the snowplough,

at the end of my drive is never fun.

Neither is joining a 30-strong queue in my

local Carrefour on a Saturday afternoon,

the fresh influx of holidaymakers

obstructing my quest for a nice (and well-

deserved) bottle of vin rouge.

February is arguably the hardest month

of the year for everyone involved in the

winter sports industry. Back in December

we’re fresh and rested. Our excitement

levels grow as the snowline descends. But

February is families and children, requests

and amendments. February is lift queues

long enough to keep even the most keen

skier off the hill. February is chaos on the

roads, and carnage at the airport.

But what’s a winter season without

February? A poor one, I’d say. February

is the profit month that keeps most

resort-based winter sports companies in

business. Running at full capacity for 28

long days may well be knackering, but it

affords many of us the chance to live in

the mountains all year round. February

is also the month of the new skier. We’ll

welcome first-timers into our businesses,

and we’ll collectively do all we can to

make sure they fall in love with their

winter sport of choice. It’s everyone’s

responsibility to increase the size of our

industry, here in-resort we play a major

part in that objective.

We’ve broken the back of the season

now; you’ve surely noticed the days are

getting longer, and our mid-season blues

are about to be replaced with the joys

of spring skiing. You’ll no longer need

double thermal layers for après parties,

it won’t feel like the middle of the night

setting out for those 6am departures, and

you’ll forget to compare the lift pass office

on a Friday afternoon with that of a war

zone. Winter gets easier from here on in,

reminding us all why we moved here in

the first place.

Amie PostingsCo-Editor

ThE mid-sEason bluEs

Register today for the premier B2B event for the European ski travel industry

Join up to 80 of the top ski tourism suppliers including resorts, hotels and private

sector ski properties and 80 leading outbound ski tour operators in a format of

pre-arranged appointments taking place over two days in a stunning setting at the

A-ROSA 5* hotel in Kitzbuhel.

ESTABLISH NEW CONTACTS ● RENEW EXISTING DEALS ● EXPAND YOUR SKI

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO ● SELL TO NEW MARKETS ● INFORMAL NETWORKING

Offi cial Hosts & Partners Organised by

www.istm.co.uk

Register today at www.istm.co.uk

4 sizes in each pack

SWEETSPOT SKI TRAINERTHE KEY TO GREAT SKIING!DYNAMIC, CENTRED BALANCE IS THE KEY TO GREAT TURNS. CHALLENGING, QUICK AND FUN TO USE FOR ALL ABILITIES,

AND PROVEN TO TRANSFORM SKIING PERFORMANCE

RRP £45.00 www.skia.com

“IT ACTIVATES YOUR BODY AND MUSCLES IN A WAY THAT NO OTHER SKI SIMULATOR TOUCHES. QUITE SIMPLY, IF YOU USE THIS YOUR SKIING WILL IMPROVE”!

Gavin Kerr Hunter. Director, SnowPerformance

Issue 05 | February 2014

After another hugely successful 150km sprint around

the Portes du Soleil in France to raise funds for

snow sports youth charity Snow-Camp took place

in January; so now tentative plans are underway

to develop a bigger and better Alpine Challenge

for winter 2015. While the Snow-Camp fundraising

events calendar is also under development,

the Alpine Challenge is likely to become more

accessible to a wider audience, including the winter

sports trade. Snowsports Community Manager

Dan Keeley told us ”We’re exploring opportunities

to vamp up the Alpine Challenge to make it more

mass participation for 2015. Keep a close eye on the

Snow-Camp website for more information on how to

get involved.” snow-camp.org.uk

Snow-Camp Alpine Challenge Gets A Facelift

Here we are in February, the month of the family

ski holiday. Across the Alps ski lessons will be

shuffled and nannies will be juggled. There’ll be

tantrums on the slopes, and at the dinner table.

Mum and dad will be left wondering … was it all

worth it? This month’s industry survey looks at

changes and challenges in the family ski market,

and how likely they are to affect your winter

sports business.

View the full results at theskitrade.com.

58% of survey respondents believe the

family winter sports market is currently the

same size as last winter. 17% believe it is

growing, 17% believe it is shrinking.

58% of winter sports businesses have

identified opportunities for growth in the family

market over the next 5 years.

The demands of the family ski market are

changing considerably. Adaptive services that

cater for the specific needs of families, and the

different ages of children, are now required.

According to many respondents, the family

ski market is more price sensitive than ever

before. There’s concern that half-term price

hikes, coupled with schools clamping down on

term-time holidays, is making winter sports too

expensive for most families.

”The tightening of rules governing taking children

out of school had a definite impact on sales in the

late-summer and early-autumn”, Chris Thompson,

Program Director at Ski Famille told us. ”We saw

extraordinary demand for school holiday dates,

while January and March departures were slow to

sell.” While you can fill your chalet beds, book up

your ski instructors, and pack your transfer vans

full ten times over during half-term week, the rest

of the season lags behind in terms of demand.

While the UK government strictly states that

a child’s leave from school is unlikely to be

granted for the purposes of a family holiday,

parents have experienced a softer approach

from headteachers. At infant and junior level the

line from many heads seems to be “we can’t

give authorised absence, but unless a child

has attendance issues, we won’t impose fines”,

Thompson explained. Or, as one of their guests

put it, ”as you were, but don’t take the mickey.”

And then there’s the issue of price. Many winter

sports businesses come in for criticism for hiking

their prices during school holiday weeks, when

demand is considerably higher than the rest of

the ski season. ”Ski companies generally set

their prices based on normal laws of supply

and demand. Selling the most popular weeks at

higher prices allows us to attract clients for other

weeks at lower prices. If schools were to stagger

their holidays evenly throughout the season we

would be able to set a mid-price for the whole

season, and everyone would be happy”, believes

Paul Eyre at Chilly Powder in Morzine.

Our survey raised many questions regarding

standard and expectations. ”Parents want to bring

children but not take any responsibility for them, on or

off the slopes” said one respondent. ”There’s a move

away from big name resorts to smaller family-friendly

resorts, where ski passes and ski hire are cheap, and

there are fewer crowds” answered another.

Have your say at theskitrade.com.

Will the market changein the next 5 years?

54% Same Size

15% Shrinking

8% Not Sure

23% Growing

€1million Compensation Payout For Tignes

Should Accommodation Providers Share Dangers?

04 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

Amie PostingsCo-Editor

Having hosted the European Winter X Games

for the last 4 years, the resort of Tignes in

France had grown to bank on the €10m (£8.3m)

generated in visitor revenue each winter from the

event. When American broadcaster ESPN, owner

of the X Games format, pulled all four of its non-

US events on 19 November due to ”economics”,

there was widespread disappointment, especially

amongst European athletes hoping to use the

event for their Olympic preparations. Tignes took

legal action against ESPN for loss of earnings,

and the resort has received a €1m (approx.

£828k) settlement. Only time will tell what impact

the absence of the event will have on the wider

winter sports market.

With an unstable snowpack, and high avalanche

risk across the Alps, accommodation providers are

increasingly warning guests of the dangers of off-

piste thrills. Avalanche deaths are bad for business

after all. Stuart Macdonald at Avalanche Academy

recommends caution, ”It’s difficult to know where

to draw the line when it comes to warning and

advising guests. While it’s essential to point guests

in the direction of avalanche safety information, or

the details of a qualified mountain guide, are you

really experienced enough to recommend and

warn skiers yourself?” It’s an interesting question –

where do we draw the line in the provision of guest

information when it comes to mountain safety?

Have your say at theskitrade.com.

Year-Round Cross-Country Skiing With The SkiFIT Club

Capitalising on increasing levels of participation in

cross-country disciplines, Swedish health coach

Lotta Sutton has launched the SkiFIT Club. ”Roller

skiing is the best way to get into shape all year

round. Great Britain is the perfect place to take

up roller skiing, with its abundance of country

roads” Sutton told us. The SkiFIT Club host roller

skiing courses and training camps in Sweden

and France, with under-18 roller skiing ladies

champion Fern Cates as part of the team. Whether

you’re practicing to head for the slopes or not,

roller skiing is one of the best forms of exercise

available. The roller ski range starts at £155 for the

actual rollers, £96 for boots, and £38 for bindings.

roller-skis.com

The Family Ski SurveyWould staggering half-term holidays really make a difference?

February 2014 | Issue 05

05theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

ISO 14001, the Environmental Management

international standard, is a level of a

certification top resorts around the world have

been striving to achieve for the best part of a

decade, but what about article L. 1431-3?

This is an addition to French transport code,

which, as of this season, requires ski lift

operators (in common with the operators of

all public transportation facilities in France)

to publish details of how much CO2 their

operations produce.

Not a total figure for the company but an

averaged-out figure, so that skiers and

boarders get a little percentage total that their

1-day pass buys a share of.

The implementation of the new law has

been haphazard so far. A few resorts have

published their CO2 stats alongside their lift

ticket prices for public consumption, but if you

saw “Day pass CO2 emissions 400g”, would

you know what that meant?

The Sybelles region, with 310km of piste

spread across a dozen small areas, was one

of the first to clearly publish stats upfront in

the early autumn alongside ticket prices.

Emissions ranged from 186g for a day pass,

through to 4658g for a full season pass. It is not

clear whether the area has taken into account

emissions from piste grooming or snowmaking.

Espace Killy has opted to publish its stats in

the small print, along with all the other terms

and conditions. Item 7 notes that an Espace

Killy 1-day ski pass involves the emission of

295g of CO2, which they helpfully explain is

equivalent to a 2.1km car drive – so that at

least gives you some context … a day of skiing

is about the same as the school run back

home for a fairly lazy parent.

The lift company, which services the Espace

Killy area, break the figures down further, with

a slightly lower level of emission (375g) if you

just ski on the Tignes side, so that if you just

take a single lift ascent it’s the same as driving

150m in a car.

If you don’t ski but just ride the lifts with a

pedestrian pass, you’ll only cause the emission

of 49g of CO2 – presumably because you will

not be contributing to piste costs.

Interestingly, using the lifts in the summer is

nearly seven times worse, with a 1.8kg share

of the emissions, equivalent to a 13km car

drive, presumably due to fewer people using

the lifts so the economy of scale is lost.

Paradiski, which says that its lifts run on 100%

green energy, also has its CO2 emissions at

item 7 in its small print, “Le CO2 transport pour

un skipass 6 jours Les Arcs/Peisey-Vallandry

est de 1387g équivalent à un parcours en

voiture de 10km,” … if it’s acceptable to divide

that figure by six we get a CO2 figure of 231g

per day.

In Val Thorens’ 36-page English brochure on

lift ticket pricing, it says, “For the record, the

amount of CO2 emitted in Les 3 Vallées … is

319g per day per skier.”

Méribel actually explains how the figures

are calculated – they’re based on electricity

consumption over 3 years, divided by skier

days over 3 years, multiplied by a 5.3g

”emission factor”.

Well, whatever the figures for individual

resorts, the good news for skiers and

boarders is that these CO2 numbers appear to

be very low, so if we forget about the CO2 we

generate getting to the resort (and if you really

care about that it’s probably best to go by

electric trains, like Eurostar, or fill a reasonably

efficient car or coach), at least we know that

once we reach the slopes we’re likely to

generate less CO2 than we do in our day-to-

day lives back home.

Patrick ThorneColumnist

KNowING The co2 From FreNch sKI lIFTs, Does IT help?

Issue 05 | February 2014

Overseas Staff Insurance

Tour Operator Liability Insurance

Customer Insurance

Directors and Officers

Corporate Travel Insurance

info@mpibrokers.com • +44 (0) 845 180 0065www.mpibrokers.com

Specialist Insurance providerfor the Travel Industry

5414 SkiTrade ad_130x180mm:Layout 1 06/02/2014 14:41 Page 1

Rent epic 80's ski weaR fRom 10 euRos a day,

deliveRed diRect to youR guests

chalet dooR!

TignEsla TaniamEribElavoriazlEs gETsmorzinE

Up to 20% commission FOR CHALET COMPANIES

info@retro-rentals.eu /retrorental @retrorental

06 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade06 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

Numbers at the 2014 ISPO, Munich, remained

consistent compared with last year, as visitors

exceeded the 80,000 mark. Notable awards

included an ISPO Gold Medal for British

backpack company Snow Mule, an outdoor

award for head wear market leader Buff and

their Balaclava Cross. Ortovox won several

awards including one for their new Pocket

Spike Emergency Axe, which combines a snow

shovel with an ice axe. Another award-winning

innovation from Black Diamond is their Jetforce

Avalanche Airbag pack, the first airbag pack that

inflates and deflates with a battery-powered fan,

instead of a gas or air canister. ispo.com

ISPO NumbersHold Up

With the 2014 Winter Olympic Games now in full

flow in Sochi, we have the one big opportunity

to showcase all categories of our sport –

Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, and a variety of

snowboarding and Nordic events, including

biathlon, ski jumping, and cross-country.

But there’s one sport that seems to be missing in

action when it comes to the Winter Olympics, and

that’s Telemark. Snowsports Industries of America

(SIA) report that between the 2008–09 season

and the 2012–13 season, Telemark skier numbers

have nearly doubled, but yet there’s no sign of

the sport at Sochi, and no guarantee at this stage

we’ll see anything in South Korea 2018.

Telemark equipment has evolved during the

last 15 years too, making it easier and more

accessible for recreational skiers to dip in and

out of the sport.

The FIS Telemark World Cup circuit now starts in

November and continues through until March,

with eight events held in Austria, France, Slovenia,

USA, Sweden, and Norway. Great Britain hosts the

Rauris event in January, which doubles as the British

Championships. The format is exciting to watch, and

includes a giant-slalom-style race with a jump.

With the growth in North America, and the

evolution of equipment, you’d think the sport

would feature more prominently in the media,

but it doesn’t seem to be the case. Jasmin Taylor,

British women’s champion, recently placed

second in a World Cup event in Hintertux, Austria,

yet despite this, she gained little coverage from

both mainstream and the ski press.

I asked her why she thought this was the case.

”Not being an Olympic sport makes a huge

difference”, said Taylor, who’s spearheading a

campaign to get Telemark skiing into the next

Winter Olympic Games. ”People are always amazed

when they see Telemark skiing and appreciate the

technical difficulty involved at a high level, although

it’s not a hard sport to get into, whether you’re

already a skier or complete beginner.”

Taylor also wants to encourage younger skiers to

get into the sport.

”There are plenty of opportunities to become

successful, whether you come from Alpine

skiing, cross-country, or start out with Telemark

– there are many options. Come to the British

Championships in Rauris, Austria, or do some

French Cup races – you can train in Les Houches

or Samoëns, all Telemarkers are very friendly!”

Scott Hammond, a British national residing in

Lillehammer, Norway, who represented the

country for Telemark skiing at the Interski

Congress, as well as being an ISIA Telemark

Trainer with the DNA (Norwegian Ski Schools),

thinks that equipment manufacturers and retailers

are missing an opportunity. He says, ”While

Telemark is a niche sport, it’s the discipline with

the most equipment owned per skier. Every

ski rental company has a plethora of skis and

snowboards for rent, whilst Telemarkers buy. It’s

one of those sports that hooks you in, you’ll go on

the forums, you’ll join social media sites, and for

the largest part, you will buy skis, boots, and other

accessories associated with the sport.”

He concludes by saying, “Telemarking is special,

Telemarking is difficult, Telemarking is the original

and the best!”

Let’s see if the International Olympic Committee

thinks the same way in the future.

Delancy Announce Extended Support for BSS

SkiA Endorsed By The Benni Raich Race Centre

Rob StewartCo-Editor

With the 2014 Winter Olympic Games now

underway, British Ski & Snowboard are assured of

future funding with the announcement that Delancey

will continue their support up until May 2016. The

deal includes sponsorship for Alpine, snowboard,

freestyle and cross-country teams, helping both

upcoming and established athletes to train and

compete. Jamie Ritblat, Delancey’s Founder and

CEO, said, “With exciting young talent to watch at

the Olympics, such as Sheffield-born James Woods,

snow sports have become more popular than ever

before. However, if we are to inspire and create

success internationally, we need to provide the

financial resources to do that.“ teambss.org.uk

The Benni Raich Race Centre in Austria,

founded and run by the famous ski racer, has

given the British made SkiA Sweetspot Ski

Trainer a glowing endorsement, using the

device with their pupils on training camps.

Head Coach Alfons Schmid commented, ”The

SkiA Sweetspot Trainer is a great training aid

to train balance on ski boots.” SkiA Designs

Founder Dr Martin Breach was delighted with

their remarks, and said, ”It’s fantastic to get this

independent recognition from such an influential

and authoritative source in the ski industry.” The

trainer has recently been featured at ISPO, Slide,

and SIA in Denver. skia.com

The Jump Takes Snow Mainstream

Channel 4’s The Jump has brought winter sports

to a mainstream audience who might not normally

view snow-sports-related content. On 28 January it

was the second most tweeted TV show, with 17,027

”tweets”, proving that the combination of celebrity

and snow seems to work well. As we went to press,

X Factor winner 2009 Joe McElderry had won

the competition, beating his rival the investigative

journalist Donal MacIntyre, whilst fellow finalists BASI

President Sir Steve Redgrave, and comedian Marcus

Brigstocke had had to pull out due to injuries. The

eight episode show, made by Two Four Productions,

also pushed the well-known faces down a ski cross

course, slalom and speed skiing hill.

No Tele On Telly For Us

February 2014 | Issue 05

Don’t get snowed under.It’s around this time of year that things can start to get on top of you. Don’t worry, we have the solution to manage your chalet business.

With real-time availability on your website, a MyBooking area for guests to enter their details, ski passes, finance, expenses, reporting and so much more.

Complete transparency with prices from just £0.79 per room per month depending on how many features you need, with no fixed contract or upfront costs.

www.chaletmanager.comhello@chaletmanager.com+44 (0) 1865 522199

07theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

I was recently lucky enough to visit the

resort of St Moritz for the first time, and

experience the luxury lifestyle that the

town is renowned for.

Although there is certainly an abundance

of jet-setting activities, restaurants, and

shops to keep even the keenest oligarch

amused for weeks, I couldn’t help think

that the Engadine valley, which graciously

cradles the town of St Moritz, has a lot

more to it than you’d expect.

There’s a huge variety of sporting

activities available in the valley, the skiing

is good and suits all levels, and it even has

a youth hostel, which could easily pass for

a hotel in other destinations.

It got me thinking that our perception of

resorts does not always match the reality of

our experience, and wondered how difficult

it is to change our perceptions of them.

Alina Zaiceva lives in St Moritz and

works as a Marketing Manager for

Ski Cool, an English-speaking ski

school run by BASI member and

ISIA Vice President, Vitorrio Caffi.

Zaiceva says, “there’s lots of choice for

accommodation in the Engadine valley,

from small family-run hotels to large

five star palaces. But most people don’t

realise this, they think it will cost far more

than other resorts in Switzerland, but it

doesn’t have to.”

Changing that view is something the

Engadine Tourist Office is keen to do, and

introducing a CHF25 per day (around £17)

ski pass, for stays of 2 nights or more, is

one step towards achieving this, but until

you actually experience a product it’s hard

to see it in a different light.

Livigno used to be known as a family

resort with tax-free status, particularly

suited to intermediate skiers. But over the

last few years their marketing strategy

has targeted a different audience with

successful results. The location means

that short trips are difficult due to long

transfer times, but it’s very snow-sure. It

has targeted younger skiers who want

great snow and good snowparks – they

generally stay for longer periods too. The

recently introduced Freeride Project aims

to share avalanche safety information with

skiers on a daily basis, and this reinforces

the message, which helps to encourage

this kind of skier or snowboarder.

Another resort that has hit the headlines

this winter is Warth-Schröcken, with its

new link to Lech-Zürs. I asked Angela

Schwarzmann from the tourist office

if she thought the image of Warth-

Schröcken was purely based around

family holidays. “No, I don’t think so”, she

said. “The area is suitable for families,

but there are also lots of couples and

groups of friends. There is a huge

amount of freeride possibilities too,

especially with the new link.”

Val d’Isère is an obvious choice for

expert skiers, with its steeper slopes and

extensive off-piste offerings. Therefore,

marketing is geared heavily towards

the lower end of the ability spectrum to

counterbalance this view.

“We have developed quiet slopes at

the top of the ski area which enable

beginners and families to experience the

panorama and to ski together on suitable

slopes”, we were told by Justine Mathé,

Commercial Development Manager for

the tourist office. “Val d’Isère is holder of

the ‘Family Plus’ label, which means that it

is a kid friendly ski resort and we all know

that kids mean mainly beginners.”

Rob StewartCo-Editor

Issue 05 | February 2014

sKI resorTs AppeArANces Are DecepTIve

08 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade February 2014 | Issue 0508 theskitrade.com | @theskitrade

When we started Venture Ski in 2003,

the market was no different to how

we see it today. The UK has always

produced keen skiers each winter. We

started the company because we love

the mountains, and because we wanted

to be in control of our own destiny. We

now build, own, and operate nine chalets

in Sainte-Foy, with 113 beds in total.

Over the last couple of tricky years

we’ve experienced the same business

challenges and patterns as every

other operator, but we’ve tried to carve

ourselves a niche. Making your winter

ski accommodation product different

is very hard, so we’ve developed a

number of USPs to help us stand out.

We’ve also concentrated our expansion

activity in just one resort, expanding our

portfolio one property at a time.

I personally became involved in the

ChaletManager property management

system back when it was just an idea.

Here at Venture Ski we needed to

organise and process a lot of guest

information to be able to provide our

luxury ski holidays, and match our

guests’ expectations. We literally had

mountains of paperwork, and we used

a lot of spreadsheets. It was all very

labour-intensive and repetitive. Over

several years ChaletManager has been

tweaked, tested, and perfected. The

system has been taken to a whole new

level, with lots of extra features that I

never even knew I needed.

All of our team on the ground in

Sainte-Foy have access through

ChaletManager to the guest

information they need to do their jobs,

and because of the different admin

levels, no one can make a mistake

in the system that’s disastrous. The

system itself is very straightforward

to integrate into your other business

systems; it’s intuitive, and minimum

staff training is required to use it,

making it perfect for seasonal teams.

Our guests also get to see how

efficient ChaletManager is through

the ”mybooking” function. We like

to micromanage our guests, and

when we confirm a reservation we

send a welcome pack, including a

ChaletManager username and password,

giving our guests full access to their

booking details in advance of their stay.

We gather a lot of important and valuable

guest specific information this way.

Last summer we started using the

real-time availability calendar on our

website, which was very easy to install,

and has had a huge impact on the

quality of the enquiries we receive. We

now get fewer dead enquiries, where

our chalets are already fully booked,

which in turn gives us more time to

concentrate on live enquiries that we

can actually accommodate.

ChaletManager

chaletmanager.com

Venture Ski

ventureski.co.uk

managing mountains of Guest Information

Feature Sponsored By

Mark Livesey | Venture Ski

There aren’t many accredited courses or

formal qualifications in the winter sports

industry, and with mountains covering

24% of the Earth’s land mass, there’s a

lot we don’t know about our favourite

playground. Professor Martin Price,

Director of the Centre for Mountain

Studies at Perth College University of

the Highlands and Islands (UHI), and

UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain

Development, tells us why the winter

sports industry can benefit from their

online masters degree.

What are the entry requirements for

the course?

An honours degree in any field of

study is all you need to join the MSc

Sustainable Mountain Development

course, and a strong interest in

mountain areas obviously. The course

is totally unique, there’s nothing else

like it in Europe. We currently have

30 students studying, and while the

majority are in the UK, we also have

students in Bulgaria, France, Germany,

Spain, and the USA. The course is

delivered online, so students from

anywhere in the world can join.

How does the course specifically

relate to ski resort management?

There are three core modules on

the course. We look at the broad

environmental and social issues in

mountain areas, in addition to looking

at sustainable development, and

policy analysis too. Optional modules

include: bio-diversity; and economic

development. Sustainable tourism

and water management issues are

covered, and students have the option

to complete a placement module,

which can, of course, be spent in a

winter resort. Course assignments can

be based in or on ski areas, as can the

15,000-word dissertation, required to

complete the course.

What kind of employment can

graduates expect after the course?

Employment prospects are varied,

and very much depend on the

student. Nearly everyone on the

course is a mature student, bringing

with them a wealth of other work

and life experience. Our graduates

will typically find employment as

consultants, teachers, and lecturers.

Two of our recent graduates have

won very prestigious awards, with

one becoming Alpine Student of

the Year, and another winning a

prize from the Royal Geographical

Society for his dissertation. As the

environmental impact of winter

sports, and the management of

mountain resorts become more

prominent, there are sure to be a

growing number of employment

opportunities.

In the long term, do you think the

course will have an impact on the

European winter sports industry?

It certainly could do if more people join

the course. How our mountains are

managed has year-round implications:

it could be that we see ideas and

concepts for more sustainable

methods of operation come from the

studies of our students. Because of the

online, flexible nature of our modules,

the course can work nicely alongside a

seasonal business.

Find out more at perth.uhi.ac.uk/

specialistcentres, or email Professor

Price at Martin.Price.perth@uhi.ac.uk.

moUNTAIN sTUDIesAmie Postings Looks Into Sustainable Mountain Development Courses At Perth College