Selling Snow

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
 

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

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

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

Today, we’re heading down under to the Victorian Alps,  three hours outside of Melbourne, Australia to a fascinating ski resort model built on collaboration.
My guest today is Noel Landry, a Canadian-born ski patroller turned Olympic event operator turned ski resort GM, who now oversees one of Australia’s most collaborative and community-driven mountain operations.
In this episode, we dive into what Noel calls “running winter like a 121-day event,” and unpack how Mt Buller operates within a complex mix of private ownership, government-managed infrastructure, community stakeholders, and independent businesses, all while a ski area with some of the best advanced terrain in Australia.
We talk about:
Why Australian skiing is completely different from North America,
How Mt Buller markets the entire resort community together,
The challenge of converting snow players into lifelong skiers,
Lessons from the events world that apply directly to ski operations,
and why collaboration might actually be the greatest competitive advantage a resort can have.
There’s a ton of operational and marketing insight packed into this one.
So let’s head up to the village in the clouds, and in some creamy down under snow under the gum trees with Noel Landry of Mt. Buller.
We pulled 12 Actionable Insights from this episode that you can use to up your own game. Find all 12 at www.sellingsnow.com

Imagine a ski area that is a 90-minute drive from 20 million people. It sounds like a dream on the business side. But imagine, literally millions of those have never skied before, and there is a massive volume of competing entertainment options.
In this episode of Selling Snow, we’re heading back to the East Coast and the hills of New Jersey. Coming off one of their all-time best snow seasons (Yes, New Jersey beat out many iconic western ski areas for snow this year), we sit down with Evan Kovach, General Manager of Mountain Creek Resort, one of the highest-volume ski areas in North America, sitting just outside New York City and serving millions of potential guests.
And what’s fascinating about their model…is that it’s not built on powder days or destination travel.
It’s built on the science of selling, introducing new skiers to the sport, having an epic terrain park scene, and being the alpine backyard for the New York metro area.
We get into how they:
Pre-sell 60–70% of their business before the season even starts
Use pricing and inventory to actively shape demand
Turn night skiing into a massive growth engine
And most importantly… how they attract and serve the never-ever skier—the people who are choosing between skiing, the movies, or staying home
Because if you want to grow your ski area in today’s market, you don’t just need more skiers…
You need a better system for creating them.
Now let’s head through the Lincoln tunnel and down I -80 for a chat with Evan Kovach at Mountain Creek Resort, New Jersey.
We pulled 12 Actionable Insights from this episode. You can find all of them at www.sellingsnow.com
 

Imagine building one of the first new ski areas in North America in years, and just four years in, almost having the whole thing collapse, only to re-emerge years later and realize a slightly adjusted version of the original vision?
This week, we’re off to Tamarack Resort in Idaho, a mountain that didn’t just get built from scratch, but had to rebuild itself after hitting some serious turbulence. It's a fascinating deep dive into one of the most unique comeback stories in the ski industry. 
We sit down with CEO Scott Turlington, who’s been part of Tamarack’s journey from the very beginning, through the early vision, the 2008 financial crisis, and then returned to lead the resurgence that’s turning heads across the industry.
This conversation goes way beyond lifts and snow. We get into what it really takes to rebuild trust with your audience, how to position a resort that’s both destination and local, and why marketing is less about flashy campaigns and more about consistently delivering on your promises.
There are lessons here for anyone in mountain ops, marketing, or really any business trying to grow in a competitive space. So let’s get on our blue jeans and head out to the mountain on the shores of Lake Cascade for a chat with CEO of Tamarack Resort, Scott Turlingon.
We pulled 12 Actionable Insights from this episode that you can use to up your own game.
Find all 12 at www.sellingsnow.com.

What if the future of skiing isn’t bigger, flashier, or more expensive—but actually simpler, more human, and more affordable?
In this episode of Selling Snow, we sit down with Travis Baptiste and Cindy Dady from Sunlight Mountain Resort, a fiercely independent ski area in Colorado that’s quietly rewriting the playbook. While much of the industry is chasing scale, Sunlight is doubling down on community, experience, and value and it’s working.
You’ll hear how they’re attracting loyal destination visitors from unexpected markets like Florida and Texas, convincing folks on the front range to go a bit further, why they’ve resisted raising prices even after major capital investments, and how their “vibe-first” philosophy is turning first-time guests into lifelong advocates.
If you’re wondering how smaller or independent resorts can compete and win while updating infrastructure without raising prices, this episode is for you. Now let’s hop in the hot springs and then head up to Sunlight Mountain for a chat with CEO Cindy Dady and Marketing Manager Travis Baptiste.
We pulled 12 Actionable Insights from this episode to help you up your own marketing game. Find all 12 at www.sellingsnow.com.