The Canyons invites you to join the club

New offering allows frequent skiers to experience resort as a VIP
by Andrew Kirk, OF THE RECORD STAFF
Posted: 11/20/2009 04:40:03 PM MST

This week The Canyons announced a new option for enjoying the resort with VIP status: The Canyons Club.
In short, members get line-cutting privileges, First Tracks every Wednesday and Saturday, access to two special dining options, plus discounts on lodging, lessons, meals, equipment and other resort services.
"It's about allowing (guests) to experience The Canyons in a different way," said vice president of marketing Todd Burnette.
Other resorts in places like Colorado and Vermont have similar clubs, but this will be Utah's first, he said.
Club membership for a couple is about $2,500 and for a family of four is about $5,900.
Heading into what is expected to be another flat season, resorts are acting conservatively, but Burnette said there was no reason to wait to unroll this.
"In our minds, The Canyons Club is a long-term commitment for us," he said. "We see there's a void in the marketplace; no one else offers this kind of service in Park City."
He emphasized that these special services for club members will not come at the expense of other visitors, nor will it compromise the resort's affordable ticket and pass prices.
"With such a big mountain we can appeal to a variety of audiences," he said.
For example, with the line cutting privilege, club members will use the ski school lines that already exist. First Tracks is open to anyone willing to buy a ticket, but including it in the membership opens it up to more people.
The club is also not a snub to locals to attract more destination skiers. To get one's money's worth, a member will need to visit the resort several times making it most appealing to locals looking to enhance their experiences on the mountain, he said.
A significant element of membership is dining privileges. For years, the Viking Yurt has provided a unique and intimate dinner-dining experience on the mountain. The Yurt has been expanded to almost double its seating capacity and lunch and dinner is now available for members.
The Canyons has also secured local chef Barbara Hill to head up a new restaurant, The Alpine House, in The Forum open to members for lunch and après ski before it opens to the public at 5:30.
Hill started Snake Creek Grill in Heber and has worked for some of Park City's finest restaurants including Riverhorse on Main and at Stein Eriksen Lodge.
"Our guests constantly tell us they're interested in additional dining options they want to combine fine dining with ski vacations," he said.
Membership also permits 15 percent off other food and beverage options, he added.
Additional perks of family membership include four free ski or snowboarding lessons for a child plus a week of summer camp. The year-round benefits include full use of the gondola during summer, Grand Summit swimming pool access and even bike storage.
A perk for the resort is that it can introduce new services in a limited way to members as practice before offering them to all guests. For example, instead of just building a new 500-seat restaurant to improve on-mountain dining, the resort can take baby steps with the yurts.
"This is a first step in an evolution of the service level at The Canyons," he said.
Talisker, owner of the resort, has been careful not to over-promise and under-deliver, Burnette said. This gradual introduction of new offerings helps it achieve its goals in an efficient way.
"We will constantly evaluate how it is working and will make it better moving forward," he added.

Why do we KNOW that Park City is the BEST ski town for buying real estate in 2010?

SKI 22nd annual Reader Resort Survey is a guide to North America’s top resorts.

Here’s an update on the state of skiing from the experts: you, our readers. SKI’s 22nd annual Reader
Resort Survey is a guide to North America’s top 30 resorts.

#1: Deer Valley, Utah
‘The ultimate upscale destination resort. Five-star all the way.’

#4: Park City Mountain, Utah
‘An easy and convenient mountain. Very family friendly.’

#20: The Canyons, Utah
‘A little of everything. The more I ski The Canyons, the more I like it.’

18 Individual Category Rankings:

Access
1. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
2. Deer Valley, Utah
3. Loveland, Colo.
4. The Canyons, Utah
5. Snowbird, Utah
6. Copper Mountain, Colo.
7. Alta, Utah
8. Solitude, Utah
9. Brighton, Utah
10. Alpine Meadows, Calif.

Weather
1. Solitude, Utah
2. Alta, Utah
3. Deer Valley, Utah
4. Powder Mountain, Utah
5. Vail, Colo.
6. Telluride, Colo.
7. Aspen Highlands, Colo.
8. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
9. Snowbird, Utah
10. Snowbasin, Utah

Grooming
1. Deer Valley, Utah
2. Beaver Creek, Colo.
3. Vail, Colo.
4. Northstar-at-Tahoe, Calif.
5. Snowmass, Colo.
6. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
7. Sun Valley, Idaho
8. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
9. Breckenridge, Colo.
10. Solitude, Utah

Lodging
1. Deer Valley, Utah
2. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
3. Sun Valley, Idaho
4. Aspen Mountain, Colo.
5. Beaver Creek, Colo.
6. Telluride, Colo.
7. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
8. Vail, Colo.
9. Steamboat, Colo.
10. Snowmass, Colo.

Service
1. Deer Valley, Utah
2. Sun Valley, Idaho
3. Beaver Creek, Colo.
4. Snowbasin, Utah
5. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
6. Northstar-at-Tahoe, Calif.
7. Vail, Colo.
8. Snowmass, Colo.
9. Aspen Mountain, Colo.
10. Telluride, Colo.

Dining
1. Deer Valley, Utah
2. Aspen Mountain, Colo.
3. Sun Valley, Idaho
4. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
5. Telluride, Colo.
6. Vail, Colo.
7. Beaver Creek, Colo.
8. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
9. Jackson Hole, Wyo.
10. Steamboat, Colo.

Snow
1. Alta, Utah
2. Powder Mountain, Utah
3. Grand Targhee, Wyo.
4. Solitude, Utah
5. Snowbird, Utah
6. Brighton, Utah
7. Vail, Colo.
8. Steamboat, Colo.
9. Snowmass, Colo.
10. Deer Valley, Utah

On-Mountain Food
1. Deer Valley, Utah
2. Snowbasin, Utah
3. Sun Valley, Idaho
4. Beaver Creek, Colo.
5. Aspen Mountain, Colo.
6. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
7. Snowmass, Colo.
8. Vail, Colo.
9. Aspen Highlands, Colo.
10. The Canyons, Utah

Lifts
1. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
2. Deer Valley, Utah
3. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
4. Sun Valley, Idaho
5. Snowmass, Colo.
6. Vail, Colo.
7. Snowbasin, Utah
8. Squaw Valley, Calif.
9. Beaver Creek, Colo.
10. Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Apres-Ski
1. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
2. Aspen Mountain, Colo.
3. Heavenly, Calif.
4. Vail, Colo.
5. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
6. Breckenridge, Colo.
7. Sun Valley, Idaho
8. Telluride, Colo.
9. Deer Valley, Utah
10. Jackson Hole, Wyo.

Family Programs
1. Steamboat, Colo.
2. Deer Valley, Utah
3. Beaver Creek, Colo.
4. Northstar-at-Tahoe, Calif.
5. Snowmass, Colo.
6. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
7. Sun Valley, Idaho
8. Vail, Colo.
9. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
10. Keystone, Colo.

Scenery
1. Heavenly, Calif.
2. Telluride, Colo.
3. Jackson Hole, Wyo.
4. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
5. Aspen Highlands, Colo.
6. Big Mountain, Mont.
7. Squaw Valley, Calif.
8. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
9. Alta, Utah
10. Arapahoe Basin, Colo.


Terrain Parks
1. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
2. Northstar-at-Tahoe, Calif.
3. Keystone, Colo.
4. Breckenridge, Colo.
5. Park City, Utah
6. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
7. Snowmass, Colo.
8. Vail, Colo.
9. Copper Mountain, Colo.
10. Steamboat, Colo.

Off-Hill Activities
1. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
2. Heavenly, Calif.
3. Sun Valley, Idaho
4. Park City Mtn. Resort, Utah
5. Vail, Colo.
6. Aspen Mountain, Colo.
7. Breckenridge, Colo.
8. Deer Valley, Utah
9. Jackson Hole, Wyo.
10. Beaver Creek, Colo.

Terrain Variety
1. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
2. Squaw Valley, Calif.
3. Jackson Hole, Wyo.
4. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
5. Vail, Colo.
6. Big Sky, Mont.
7. Alta, Utah
8. Telluride, Colo.
9. Snowbird, Utah
10. Kirkwood, Calif.

Challenging Terrain
1. Jackson Hole, Wyo.
2. Snowbird, Utah
3. Squaw Valley, Calif.
4. Alta, Utah
5. Taos Ski Valley, N.M.
6. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
7. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
8. Aspen Highlands, Colo.
9. Big Sky, Mont.
10. Crested Butte, Colo.

Value
1. Loveland, Colo.
2. Powder Mountain, Utah
3. Alta, Utah
4. Arapahoe Basin, Colo.
5. Brighton, Utah
6. Solitude, Utah
7. Big Mountain, Mont.
8. Alpine Meadows, Calif.
9. Grand Targhee, Wyo.
10. Taos Ski Valley, N.M.

Overall Satisfaction
1. Alta, Utah
2. Jackson Hole, Wyo.
3. Whistler Blackcomb, B.C.
4. Deer Valley, Utah
5. Aspen Highlands, Colo.
6. Telluride, Colo.
7. Mammoth Mountain, Calif.
8. Vail, Colo.
9. Powder Mountain, Utah
10. Snowmass, Colo.

Tourism officials allocate $1M for winter ads

Promotions » Because of lower airfares, they will have more ads on national cable networks.

By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 11/13/2009 04:46:48 PM MST
Courtesy of Utah Office of Tourism Pleased with the response to last year's introduction of...



Airfares are down, so Utah tourism officials are directing this winter's advertising campaign at out-of-state skiers and snowboarders who might be tempted to fly here after seeing an ad on a national cable television channel.
The $1 million promotion, which will hit homes across the nation Jan. 4-24, again will feature snowflake characters that seemed to make a good impression with viewers when they debuted in last year's Utah Office of Tourism campaign.
"The snowflakes were big hits in terms of awareness. We felt they helped us break out of the clutter" of the overall advertising world, said David Williams, the Tourism Office's deputy director.
"We had the great powder shots in our ads like everybody, but we were looking for something different that caught people's eyes," he added. "They did that. The awareness ratings we got on them were the highest we've had. We don't think the campaign is stale, by any means."
The Tourism Office coordinated its promotional effort with Ski Utah, marketing arm for the state's $1 billion ski industry. Ski Utah is focusing its dollars on print ads that started appearing in magazines in early October and will continue through February.
This week, both organizations began online advertising campaigns. The Tourism Office is spending $100,000 for access to paid search engines and Web sites that attract the interest of 25-to-54-year-olds, likely to be active adventurers, with an average income greater than $75,000 a year.
Audience Science, E-Miles, Expedia, Time Inc. Lifestyle Digital and Travel Ad Network were the Web sites selected for Tourism Office funding.
On Thursday, the Board of Tourism Development finalized its cable purchase, which is down from $1.3 million last year -- an example of the recession's toll on state budgets.
"In the past with TV ads, we had our national cable buy and we also focused on the Los Angeles spot market," Williams said. "With our reduced budget, we looked at different options and [decided] we get more bang for the buck with the national cable market."
That perspective was shaped largely by airfares that Ski Utah puts at 17 percent less than a year ago.
"We know there are good deals on airfare and the ski industry attracts visitors from Chicago, New York, Florida, all over the country," Williams said. "We hit so many people with cable."
So for much of January, Utah skiing ads will appear periodically on eight cable channels. Utah's exposure will be greatest on the Food Network, followed by History and A&E. Almost as much ad time will be purchased on Bravo, various ESPN channels, Fox News, MSNBC and the Travel channel.
This year's campaign again emphasizes the accessibility of Utah resorts from Salt Lake City International Airport.
And while the snowflakes pay homage to the state's trademarked "Greatest Snow on Earth," this newest promotion will play with that wording to impart the idea Utah also has the greatest resorts, dining, shopping nightlife and family fun on the planet.
Tourism officials know the importance of delivering that message well in this tough market, Williams said.
"Given what's going on with the economy, it's important to get our name and brand out there," he added. "Tourism is a big economic engine for the state, and it can help our whole state economy if we can get visitors to come here."
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