Tuesday, April 7, 2015

A Great Ski Season (despite the snow)

For all the years I can remember skiing in Park City the 2014-15 season has to be the worst. We seemed to live through an eternal Spring that sent little natural snow and temperatures high enough that our snow-making-wizards at Canyons were seriously limited in performing their magic. Despite all this, we are closing as planned on April 12. So a few closing thoughts



The Canyons Ski & Snowboard School (CSSS), where I teach, under the direction of Jeff Lifgren beat all other Vail Resorts locations in almost all metrics of our internal corporate competition. It was no accident: the instructors are greatly respected, we are shown a great deal of caring and effort at making our teaching life easier and fun. Franklin Williams, Ski School Manager awesomely lead his front line supervisors to kindly do a great job despite the high pressure they work under. Continuing Training opportunities were great and continued to expand from prior years. It was a pleasure to be at Canyons and truly hope nothing will change a winning formula next year.

All the above was accomplished while drilling the staff that our mission is to deliver Epic Memories and great experiences of a lifetime to our guests. It must have worked because CSSS had the highest score in Guests Satisfaction of all Vail Resorts. 

For me, however, it all comes down to having wonderful personal memories: of all the skiers I met, the many that returned to ski with me year after year, the friends I made who come from across the US, and Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Panama, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, China, UK, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Romania, Sweden, Dubai. With all of you I learned a little of places previously unknown and of the world of which we are all part. Some you were so young you could barely walk, some still skiing despite walking becoming harder, and some in your skiing prime (and worried about having to ski with a grandpa?).

To all of you, Thanks for the memories, until next year: Arnoldo, Tania, Raul, Rachel, Steve, Nathan, Tom, Linda, Dr. Phil and family, Walter & Jesse, Jeff & Elise and family, Josh, Brook, Elam, Ellie, Rob & Vicky, Alana, Nate, Daniel, Theo, Brooke, Rachel, James, Kyle, Jesus & Sarahi, Vivek, Katie, Andrew, Virginia, John, Amee, Haejin, Loraine, Heisen, Tappel, Inci, Zozo, Karla-The-Mole and more.

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