May 29, 2008 issue
A Renaissance at Ski Beech
New Employees, New Amenities, New Scope, New Attitude Atop Beech Mountain
Story by Sam Calhoun
Even in the middle of warm weather, there is a reason to look forward to next winter’s ski season. One of the High Country’s oldest ski slopes, Ski Beech, is undergoing a renaissance of sorts thanks to a new management team led by Ski Beech General Manager John Costin.
By the time the first snowflake—manmade or natural—falls in the High Country this winter, Ski Beech will feature a new snow tubing park, two terrain parks, special rates on weekdays, new snow cats, new snow groomers, new snowmakers, new events and new management.
“Our main push is to satisfy our customers, so when they leave they are already planning their next trip up here. We’ve got to reach out to the customers; we owe them that,” said Costin. “In short, what we’re working toward is customer satisfaction. We want the customers to know that we’re working for them and that we want them to come back.”
Costin is receiving help with this mission from his two sons, Ryan and Jack, who now both work full-time on the mountain. Ryan specializes in terrain park management and just returned after graduating from college in Colorado and completing an internship in New Zealand. Jack has worked at Ski Beech for three years and will be the director of lift operations next season.
Ryan is working on two new terrain parks—one advanced and one beginner—for Ski Beech. The advanced terrain park is located on the old sled hill and the beginner terrain park is located in the Meadows, the former home of Ski Beech’s first terrain park. Both terrain parks are not named yet. Ryan is also talking with the folks at Board Paradise to host weekly events at the parks during the winter.
Costin just purchased two new 400 Snow Cats for grooming the ski slopes. He also hired two new snow groomers, Tyler and Riley Leka, who came back to the High Country from jobs at Breckenridge. The Lekas convinced Costin to buy additional attachments for the snow cats to groom the terrain parks.
Costin is also hiring a new snowmaking team for the resort.
Based on increasing demand for the unique snowsport, Costin decided to bring snow tubing back to Ski Beech this year. The new tubing area, located behind Ski Beech’s View Haus, will feature three runs that are 16-feet wide. The runs will feature a more gradual drop in terrain, as opposed to the steeper former runs.
Ski Beech’s famous weekday specials will also be back for next season, including retro rate days, women ski for free days and two for one lift ticket days. Ski Beech is also bringing back its reduced lift ticket rates for students on weekdays.
“Our main thrust is to become more for the community. We want skiers to have that same good experience that they’ve had before,” said Costin. “We want to be user friendly to the customer.”
For more information on Ski Beech, click to www.skibeech.com.
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