Among the most avid of sports fans are outdoor recreationalists. Skiers and snowboarders spend money on travel, equipment, lift tickets, accommodations, Apres-ski, spa treatments, baby-sitting, and lessons. They are also incredibly loyal once they establish a quality ski experience.

For the industry, it's all about attraction and retention.Industry leaders Vail Resorts, Intrawest, The American Ski Company, Booth Creek Holdings are all very agressive about how they use their websites. All of them offer online booking, photo galleries, daily conditions updates, web specials, etc. Some, including Vail and Intrawest, offer on-mountain cameras and streaming video to give a real-time glimpse of conditions.  

One of the more unique efforts of this last Winter was Resortfone. Created by a small Denver-based technology, Resortfone (Powderfone) was used by Vail this last season to attract its most avid skiers and snowboarders...mainly drive-up, local clients.

Using the website, a skier can sign up and create a profile. You can select your three mountains of choice, select the parameters for which you'd like to receive a call; such as 6 inches of new snow if it's on a Thursday through Sunday, set the time of the morning you'd like the call (6:00-6:15 AM) and enter your cellphone number. The Resortfone system, which monitors the snowfall at over 1,200 ski resorts using the National Weather service and local weather services, will generate an automated phone call to you when those parameters are met.

At 6:15 your cellphone rings and a lovely, female computer voice says, "This is Resortfone calling. Vail received 9 inches of new snow last night. Press 1 for accommodations info. Press 2 to be connected to the rental shop. This Resortfone call is brought to you by XYZ company, etc."

Chris Jarnot, VP of Marketing for Vail, says "Resortfone allows us to target our most avid customers in a completely automated way using the Internet. Marketing budgets in the ski industry are incredibly tight and we're always looking for ways to maximize our reach in cost effective ways. Using web site sign-ups, email notifications, online booking, contests and promotions, and advanced tools like Resortfone, we're able to do that."