July 06, 2016 (Woodstock, VT) – The first Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) Summer Summit occurred recently in Woodstock, VT with 21 ski areas representatives listening to six presentations and participating in one trail walking round table.  The energy was high and the conversation lively as attendees engaged with presenters eager to ask questions and learn more about the theme of ski area sustainability in the face of changing winter weather.

“The conference was awesome with lots of subject matter excellence,” said Drew Gelinas from Trapp Family Lodge.  “It is really nice to take a tactical pause in the off season and see what everyone else is doing in the industry.  As we face these environmental challenges, seeing what other venues are doing to keep themselves relevant and profitable in all seasons is a huge component of why I came down here.”

In a move to provide better service to the membership, these regional meetings will effectively bring important content to those that cannot attend the Annual Meeting.  “This is an exciting time for CCSAA”, said Board President JoJo Toeppner, “we have new leadership and with that, a new direction that will provide additional programming and value to our membership.  Events like the Summer Summit are just the beginning”.

Morning seminars were 30 minute sprints, 25min presentations with 5min of questions. The on-trail session followed lunch and the day concluded with a mountain bike ride followed by happy-hour.  There was plenty of time for networking during the lunch and the afternoon trail session.

“I thought the conference was awesome,” said Courtney Harkins, USST Digital Content Manager. “I feel the SM strategies I presented on today are incredibly important to cross country ski areas and I look forward to working with many of them in the future.”

Olympian Simi Hamilton presented announcing the relationship with the cross country industry and Protect Our Winters, an organization dedicated to engaging and mobilizing the snow sports community to lead the fight against climate change.

Presentations for the Woodstock event included:
– Prinoth Efficiency Technology – What it means to the resort
– The Realities of Solar for the Cross Country Ski Area – Sustainable Woodstock
– Diversify your offerings – Woodstock Nordic/WAMBA Case Study
– Effective Trail Closing Technique – Aurora Insurance
– Social Media Best Practices for the Cross Country Ski Area – Courtney Harkins, USSA Digital Content Manager
– Impact of Climate Change on Trails and How to Mitigate – John Morton, Morton Trails
– CCSAA partners with Protect Our Winters – Simi Hamilton, Sochi Olympian and USST Member

Copies of the presentations including PowerPoints, video and images may be found on the Conference Archive page of the CCSAA website here.

The CCSAA Summer Summit was held at the Forrest Center, part of the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Park in Woodstock, VT on June 29.  More information may be found here.

Other CCSAA Summer Summit events will be scheduled in CO and UT later in the summer and early fall.  Dates, locations and details will be available on www.xcski.org in July.

Supporters of the event included: Aurora Insurance, Prinoth, Sustainable Woodstock, Woodstock Nordic, Morton Trails, Protect Our Winters, Simi Hamilton and Madshus Skis

For more information, please contact CCSAA at 802-236-3021 or reese@xcski.org.