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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » For Chip Carey: 'The Medium Is The Message'By Roger Leo 
The Keene, N.H., native is a well-known and widely respected figure in the ski industry. Carey started skiing when he was 5, behind his house, on skis his four older brothers had accumulated in the garage, boot packing a hill and building jumps in the woods. He began working for Waterville's Tom Corcoran right out of the University of New Hampshire. He moved to Sugarloaf two years later, where his boss was Harry Baxter, who later moved to Jackson Hole himself. That's kicking off under the tutelage of two ski industry legends. His fascination with technology began almost immediately, and in a way that seems quaint from the perspective of the 21st century. Carey bought Sugarloaf's first fax machine in 1971. "That was high-tech back then," he laughs. He started black-and-white video feeds to Maine TV stations; began arguably the first ski resort-based cable station - WSKI Cable TV, although he says Winter Park also had something going that year; and built the first html full color Web site at Sugarloaf, beating Aspen by about a month. "There were all these benchmarks of technology, and what drove all of that was the remoteness of Sugarloaf and trying to figure out how to bring that Maine resort into the living rooms of potential guests," Carey said. After Sugarloaf, it was the Canyons in Utah, then the American Skiing Co. headquarters in Park City, and a return to private practice in Maine for two years after the breakup of ASC. Now he's back in the harness at one of America's premier resorts. Carey's mission, in simplest terms, is to pump up the volume from Jackson's current 450,000 skier visit level. Jackson shares certain similarities with Sugarloaf, in that it is upscale, impressive, and remote. "There aren't many remote ski resorts that do over 500,000 skier visits, so I'd look at getting us over 500,000 as one of my benchmarks," Carey said. Long term? "Shoot for 600,000," he said. Carey said Jackson has the facilities and infrastructure, as well as a passionate resort staff, to support that goal. "They staff is very motivated, very dedicated, very passionate about the sport. Of all the places I've been, I don't know if I've ever seen a team so passionate about skiing," he said. "Once I felt those vibes, it solidified my desire to move here." Jackson's new tram, which Carey calls an unbelievable machine, is a big selling point for the resort. Views from almost anywhere on the mountain constitute another major attraction. So is terrain, with fabled steeps and gullies luring experts from around the world. Jackson has benefitted from that perception since its creation, but also finds that its reputation has deterred intermediates who feel intimidated by the "too tough" tag. The late Paul McCollister, founder of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, noted the problem 30 years ago. "We have great terrain for cruising," McCollister said, "but every time I open a magazine there's a picture of Pepi Stiegler jumping off a rock." Stiegler was a medalist on two Austrian Olympic teams, including gold in slalom at Innsbruck, and was Jackson's ski school director at the time of McCollister's lament. Carey echoed the founder's concern: "Beyond the extreme skiing, there's a lot of great cruising terrain here. We're a big mountain, and that translates into having a lot of terrain, and varied terrain. We could use more green terrain, but we have that intermediate skier covered very well." Back to Jackson's location. "You have to go the extra mile to come here," Carey said. "That means people who are coming here want to come here, and that creates a certain atmosphere." It's something he intends to build on, no doubt using all the tools in the technology bag, including Facebook, Twitter, and whatever comes next. What It Means Chip Carey is a master of message. He has a long track record of spotting new tools and using them to reach people, a talent that should serve Jackson Hole well, as the world spins toward a winter of uncertain economic times. « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Comments
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Posted by: bobby claren http://www.vacationrentalsad.com/ | August 10, 2009 12:33 PM
