26 karma · joined April 4, 2019
Re: expansion - I think the odds are really, really slim. Ski expansions at that scale just don't happen in 2019. I wouldn't be surprised to see them expand to the ridge just south of the resort like they've been trying for the last few years (and who knows, maybe this is a play to help that move along), but nothing near the plans being outlined.
The simple verison is that small resorts really do operate on minuscule budgets. When I met with the marketing director of this mountain, they were struggling to afford email marketing. Vail might spend more on a single print ad than a mountain like Nordic Valley does all year on marketing. This means that vendors struggle to build stuff that would solve their needs because there's just not enough money in the ski area's pockets to buy it. In other words; solutions like this aren't just clever hacks, they are often necessities.
This often manifests itself in turning stock, off-the-shelf stuff into things like ski racks or signage or tools. Some industry publications will even devote sections of their magazines to these hacks because so much creativity is born from them. This, however is one of the first times I've really seen it crossover into technology which is an awesome step to see happen.