The Wright way for Jay

words: Tim Fater

photos courtesy of Jay Peak 

 

Tim Fater recently caught up with Steve Wright, Vice President of Marketing at Jay Peak to talk about the developments going on at the mountain, the future of Jay, poutine, and give Ski The East an exclusive look at their new and always popular marketing campaign.

 

Where are you from?

Originally?  Boston. I worked at Breckenridge as a lifty, then worked at Killington in marketing, communications, PR, etc. for about 10 years.

How did you end up at Jay Peak? How long have you been at Jay?

The ASC [American Skiing Company, former owners of Killington] was starting to crumble and I was nervous about it toppling on me.  I had an opportunity to run marketing and sales at Jay Peak.  I started as Director of Marketing, then Director of both Marketing and Sales and I am now the Vice President of Marketing, Sales and, apparently, Hospitality.

There is a lot of development going on up at Jay right now. The most noticeable project is the new Hotel One at Tram-side. Can you give me a quick run down of the project?

The Hotel One project is pretty small, relatively speaking— just 57 rooms (combos of studios, 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms and one 3 bedroom).  It will have a bar with actual windows (the present one is sort of like Gitmo with Tram Ale), a restaurant and a place to work out.  Not a spa, mind you.  Pretty simple stuff, but nice.  Nothing over the top.  There will be an outdoor patio with a wood fire pit.  There will also be easier access to the Tram (no stairs) and daycare, ski school, rental, repair and demo center all within feet of each other and all under one roof. We are shooting for an early February 2010 opening date.

For as long as I can remember, the trail map has highlighted an area to the right of The Flyer and beyond the glades of Andre’s Paradise as ‘Proposed Ski Area Expansion’. Do you foresee that expansion happening in the next few years? 

I know- we hear that a lot.  That project is called the West Bowl. Part of what has kept us solvent and moving in the right direction is not going forward with projects until their partially, and in some cases, fully capitalized. And by that I mean more cash-on-the-barrel— not approaching the credit markets unless we absolutely have to.  We've thought about yanking the notation for the expansion off the trail map but didn’t; I’d rather have the opportunity to have conversations like this about it than to look like we’re ditching the project altogether. 'Coming soon at Jay Peak' is generally a relative term.

On the website it reads: “Each year over the past four years, an additional glade has been added, the most recent being Beyond Beaver Pond.” Anything in the works to be unveiled for winter 2008-2009? 

No. We’ve sort of taken a step back from trail development until the West Bowl project is funded and underway.  That being said, we’re adding more snowmaking pipe, guns and pumping capacity this year to help with the leaner periods.

I know there were some major issues raised after the illegal cutting of a trail on a neighboring peak in 2007. Soon after, backcountry access was cut-off from Jay Peak. Last year, access was allowed again - as signs around the Resort clearly indicated. What will be the backcountry policy going forward?

Yeah, that’s what happens when jackasses get access to handsaws.  Seriously, only one of those guys even skied here, and we’ve decided not to sell him a Jay Peak season pass this year.  Neither of those guys share much of our psychology and approach toward outdoor sports.  I would expect the policy to continue evolving.  It’s a shame that the backcountry and sidecountry community got caught up in the jet-wash- but that’s an unfortunate, yet somewhat unavoidable, outcome.  I think a subtle but concentrated self-policing climate will help all parties, not to mention the distressed area, heal.

What do you imagine Jay Peak to be in 10 years?

I hope that we can grow in such a way that our brand stays intact.  That is about as best as I can encapsulate it.  Skiers and riders are the essence of our brand and we need to keep our eye on that ball.  I’m all for adding nicer buildings, better lifts, improved lifts and better facilities (and maybe even real cheese curd for the poutine at some point) but it can never be at the expense of what makes Jay Peak, Jay Peak.  When that happens, we marginalize our message and become sort of terminally vanilla.

A few days before the last weekend of this season, you wrote: “Obviously operating this weekend isn’t about the dough. We aren’t going to make any, regardless of how many cheeseburgers we sell. We’re operating because we like to ski. We aren’t ever going to be as profitable as some of the bigger resorts- in part because of decisions like this, but when you aim then shoot for every penny, sometimes you end up hitting yourself squarely in the foot.” How hard is to uphold these values while still trying to be competitive? 

It’s yin and yang for us, at least in my humble opinion; we can’t be competitive without upholding those values.  We can’t do Stratton better than Stratton can.  We can’t do Killington and, as you know, there’s only one Stowe.  They have their market corners defined and tended to.  If we want to continue growing our share, we have to do it by being honest about who we are and who we think will enjoy our product-and that market is bigger than you think. Part of what allows us to be sort of critical about who comes here is the fact that our debt service is low- we don’t have to be everything-to-everyone-all-the-time, you know?

Your marketing campaigns rule. The winter of 2007-2008, you ran the “If you’re not here for the mountain, you’re not here.” slogan. Last winter was the “Further Up. Further Out.” campaign. Can you give us a glimpse of what’s in the works for winter 2008-2009?

Thank you.  We’re pretty much going to stay on-message to our core audience- the people that put a premium on being skiers and riders and not just skiing and riding-the difference between those two is where our brand lives.  This year, we’re trying to extend that message to families, kids, and other affinity groups through our "Raise 'em Jay" campaign.

It’s going to explain, through a network of various marketing opportunities, why people choose to bring their kids up as Jay Peak skiers and riders when so many other resorts are right in front of them.  We think this perspective not only has appeal to families with young kids, but to kids, parents and families who’ve already grown up this way (who can immediately relate) and to those old enough to appreciate the perspective of hard-core parents and families (those that wish their parents had raised them as skiers and riders- there are a lot of them, believe me).

What was the deepest day you’ve had at Jay? Memorable moments from it?

Probably the Valentine's Day Storm of 2007.  I was at the top of Kitz Woods just as the 3-day storm was clearing- give or take 70” across three days. I remember trying to think what I ever did to deserve to be in this position.  I still haven’t come up with a very good answer, to be honest.

How many orders of Poutine have you had?

Well, I kind of maxed myself out when I first started here.  I tend to nap immediately after the last fry so I have to be careful about when I have at it, you know?

You’ve recently said you love Ski The East. Would you care to elaborate? We’re not a humble bunch.

I just think your crew carries the flag well for the East Coast.  You guys are skiers first and web designers, graphic artists and business people second.  You get it.

Closing Thoughts?

Thanks for repping the East so well and don’t stop. Oh, and the poutine is on me next time you’re up this way.

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