Welcome to the first blog entry on the new Ski.com Web site! Actually, welcome to the first blog entry in the 35-year history of Ski.com! We are excited to share with you on an ongoing basis all of the exciting things happening in the industry and with Ski.com.
Our Ski.com Forum has always been an active place consisting of entries from people all over the world who share our love of mountains, skiing and snowboarding. They ask questions and/or provide answers about gear and teaching techniques, share personal experiences, talk about skiing with their children and friends and tell stories about some of their favorite vacation moments. One of our most popular sections of the forum serves as a place for people to discuss all of the diverse ski/snowboard destinations around the world. However, as the administrator, I often see questions about deal-searching strategies, the "best places” to visit for all types of occasions and requests for recommendations for things like family-friendly resorts and appropriate lodging. While we encourage members of our community to ask as many questions as possible and request advice from other members, there is always a surefire way to find unbiased answers to these types of questions. You see, the Ski.com Forum is housed right here…on Ski.com, the place to turn for the most comprehensive information about resorts, lodging, deals and more. In fact, travelers are always just click or a phone call away from speaking with an agent in our network of Ski.com Mountain Vacation Specialists.
Our agents are sport travel enthusiasts who live the dream. Not only do they reside in Aspen and the surrounding areas, but they regularly travel to each of the resorts sold by Ski.com. They ski or snowboard at the various mountains, sleep in the beds and eat at the restaurants to better educate themselves so they can share with you, the traveler, the intimacies of each of the 75 ski resorts we sell.
Unlike other online travel companies out there, whether booking through the Ski.com Web site or over the phone, each customer is assigned to a specific specialist who offers the personal service for which we’re known. If, after speaking with an agent for the first time, you realize you have additional questions, you can call or e-mail the same agent you spoke with originally. Your follow-up questions will be answered by someone who knows you and is familiar with your interests and booking progress. In short, you don’t have to waste precious time starting from the beginning each time you have a new question.
So to help all of our friends out there become more familiar with our agents and what they have to offer, I thought I would kick off the blog by introducing you to one; Bryan Donnelly. After living in Aspen/Snowmass for the past three years, Bryan just moved in with his girlfriend in Basalt, Colorado, a short commute to Ski.com’s Aspen headquarters. I recently sat down with Bryan and asked him about his personal favorite places to board, what he enjoys doing on and off the mountain and about his most recent Ski.com trip to Europe.
Congrats on moving in with your girlfriend, Bryan. Before moving to Aspen three years ago, where did you live?
Before moving back to Colorado I actually lived in New York City.
(Bryan Donnelly pictured enjoying the scenery of Maroon Bells in Aspen)
Wow! That must have been a huge change for you.
Not really actually. I lived in Colorado for a number of years right after college.
I think you made a good decision. Where did you go to college?
I went to school at the University of Rhode Island which is where I grew up.
Nice. Sounds like you’ve lived in some great places. So what brought you out here after college?
I graduated with a marketing degree, but decided that I didn’t want to pursue that, so I moved to the mountains. My first job was with Keystone Reservations where I worked for three years. I was also the sales manager for The Crestwood Lodge in Snowmass for a while. I ended up deciding to try something different, so I moved to New York to become a day trader. I really enjoyed the job and the city life, but just wasn’t interested in doing it forever. I knew that I belonged in the mountains, so I moved back here a few years ago.
Other than being on the mountain, what are some of your favorite things to do?
Living in the mountains offers many things that cannot be found in typical small-town America. One of the things I enjoy most is the live music opportunities it affords. I love having a strong social life and going out with my friends to see live music. One of the best small music venues I’ve ever visited happens to be right here in Aspen, The Belly Up. Though it’s fairly new to the Aspen area, the original Belly Up has been rockin’ San Diego for years. I also love any type of outdoor activity. It’s obviously another reason I love living where I do.
What kind of bands do you enjoy seeing the most?
Mostly main stream rock but I also love southern rock. It’s hard to pick a favorite band, but I love seeing Widespread Panic and I also really like the North Mississippi Allstars.
Great choices. North Mississippi Allstars has recently been on tour with John Hyatt which is a show I’d love to see. Sounds like you have some well-rounded experience in the ski travel arena. What do you think you have to offer a client who calls you that other travel agents, traditional or online, don’t have?
First of all, I don’t think the average big city person is able to take as many trips as I do. Ski.com requires the Mountain Vacation Specialists to travel where we need to go because they understand that our understanding of the many resorts we sell truly benefits the customer. It’s really the core of our business. In fact, I’ve been on maybe six trips to different resorts just this past winter to experience the different areas. I don’t think any other company does that to the extent that we do. Another thing I have to offer is the fact that I live here and live the experience the customer is striving for when taking a vacation. I can tell them about the slope first hand. I can tell them about the night life first hand. I am right here in the middle of all of it.
Of the areas you’ve recently visited, which are your personal favorites for your own leisure travel?
My favorites are Aspen/Snowmass and the surrounding resorts just because they’re in my backyard. However, if I were to get on a plane, I really enjoy going to Jackson Hole which I’ve been to each the last two years. Jackson Hole has a great town, but the mountain is just superior as far as the difficulty of it. It’s very steep and the terrain is extremely exciting. But the best trip I’ve ever been on is probably Whistler. It has this amazing combination of the mountain and the town that’s unlike anything I’ve else ever seen. I also love going to Europe of the atmosphere is so great and different. The mountains are so much bigger over there – I’m very impressed with the magnitude of what the Alps are like.
Do you specialize on selling any specific area?
A lot of times I get swayed to different places. For instance Telluride; Telluride is a great mountain and because it’s out of the way it doesn’t have the crowds other resorts tend to have. So if a client is looking for that kind of thing or if they’re simply looking for a place that has a lot of character and beauty, Telluride is it. It just depends on the caller. I definitely have my favorites. Last year I made a concerted effort to try and sell Whistler. They got a bad rap two years ago for having no snow, but it’s such a great place. In fact, I sold a Whistler package last year to one of my best clients, a guy who calls me every year. He loved it. He took his family consisting kids in their teens and early 20s and they all really loved it. It just depends on the caller. It’s mostly focused on what the client is looking for. Telluride, Whistler and I also like to send clients right here to Aspen which definitely ranks with the best in the world. A lot of the times price becomes a factor so I’ll focus a little more on Breckenridge or Salt Lake City – they both offer great stuff, too.
What is your favorite thing to do on the mountain?
Well, powder days are the best, Dan, definitely. I’m kind of a snob these days. Even though I work 9:00 – 5:00 I did purchase a full pass last year. It probably wasn’t worth it because I broke my foot, but the full pass is nice because you can just go out for a powder day. I try to go out on a lunch break for an hour or two. Snowboarding in the powder is definitely the best you can get I think. Skiing is better if you just want to go ski on a nice sunny day in March. It’s great on the groomers. But you can’t beat the feeling of snowboarding in the powder.
So if you’re not lucky enough to have a powder day, what kind of terrain do you enjoy the most? Steeps, trees, groomers?
If there hasn’t been a dump in a while – which isn’t that likely – you go look for powder in the trees. The steeps out here aren’t the steepest. I go with my girlfriend a lot and just go cruise around. Nothing too, too hard. Just go out and have fun.
Well fun is what our sport is all about, so it sounds like you’ve got that down. What are your favorite off-mountain mountain activities?
You know, cross country skiing has recently come into my life the past couple of years. I live right next to a great cross country ski trail and it’s just a great activity. Whether it’s after work or if you’re just not a big alpine skier and want to get out there and enjoy your surroundings I’d definitely recommend cross country skiing. There’s a great restaurant in Aspen, The Pine Creek Cookhouse, that’s only accessible to cross country skiers, snowmobilers or sleigh. On that note, fine dining is something travelers should definitely take advantage of while on vacation. In fact, I definitely recommend going to at least one nice dinner during a vacation in the mountains because you’ll find Elk and different types of game that are indigenous to the mountains. A sleigh ride is also great because you can combine it with dinner and get outside. I always recommend that. Hiking is great in the summertime and there are so many great hiking and biking trails in the mountains, so it’s great to take advantage of that. While I’m always happy to offer my advice, I’m actually surprised by how many people ask what they can do while they’re on vacation. I’m happy and able to help, but it’s a tough question because I think you just go out and make your own fun, so it’s ultimately up to the person. We have an in-house concierge that can set up reservations for everything. Whether it’s dogsledding or snowmobiling or babysitting and grocery shopping, she’s great at setting up that stuff. One thing I always try to do for my clients is get them a hot tub and/or a pool, which is an activity in itself. I’ll definitely point them in the right direction about where the good pools are and a good hot tub.
Independence square in Aspen is a perfect example. It’s not an expensive property and they have the best hot tub in town overlooking Aspen Mountain. And it’s very close to the Belly Up, so there’s great live music right there.
What do you think are the most romantic ski areas?
A great high-end area is Beaver Creek. It has everything right there. The Ritz Carlton and the Hyatt are very romantic if you want to go high-end and luxury – you really can’t go wrong there. The Ritz has its own area down at the bottom that’s very exclusive. And, once again, let’s talk about Telluride. Telluride has quite a few hotels that offer a great honeymoon experience. I absolutely love the area and there are quite a few hotels that are great for couples and honeymooners. The Hotel Telluride, Hotel Columbia and the Peaks are fantastic and offer all-inclusive packages. Just the beauty and the scenery there are great for honeymooners. You can just ride the gondola all day long.
You know, you really can’t go wrong with Aspen for honeymoons. There are three high-end hotels in particular: the St. Regis, The Nell and the Hotel Jerome. Even travelers on a bit of a budget can stay there and have a great honeymoon. Yeah, I’d say Aspen, Telluride and Beaver Creek are the most romantic mountain destinations.
On the other end of the spectrum, what are your favorite areas to put single guys and girls?
Whistler would be number one because of the nightlife. You know, Canada has different laws up there. It’s 18 and over to drink and it’s great for young guys up until their 30s at least. Vail is probably the most popular for guys just because of the combination of the mountain, the town and its proximity to an airport. I send a lot of single guys there. Breckenridge has more of a snowboarder persona and you can’t go wrong with the amount of bars and restaurants and things to do for people looking for an active après-ski scene. There are always people running around and it’s a great spring break destination. I don’t think I’d recommend Utah for that. Though I recently took a guys trip there and if someone’s just interested in the snow and the mountains and the group just wants to do some great skiing, Utah would be a great place. Another place that’s great for guys who just want to get in some good descents would be Grand Targhee in Wyoming. My buddies and I went there and did some great Cat skiing. We had five guys on a cat and shared it with some other people and we all had probably the best day of skiing in our lives. Then we skied Jackson Hole the other two days which makes for the perfect long ski weekend.
How often do you travel to learn about each resort first hand?
We usually do Ski.com familiarization (fam) trips several times a season consisting of up to 20 Ski.com agents, but I also like to go check out resorts and do tours of the properties on my own. I probably do at least five each year just to keep refreshed on each resort.
Which resort have you visited most recently for pleasure just to get out there and do some snowboarding – besides your own back yard?
I had some friends come into town in March and we all went down the road to Breckenridge and Arapaho Basin, which is another one of my favorites I forgot to mention. We went down to Breckenridge to meet up with some friends and had a great time.
It’s great that you get the chance to get out into the market and not only learn about the properties, but also get on the mountain to see what each has to offer. How many days a year do you think you get out on the mountain to ride?
35.
Which resorts have you most recently visited for a fam trip?
We just recently went on a fantastic trip to the resorts in Europe. That was probably the best fam trip I’ve ever been on because it was just a completely amazing experience and because we ate like kings. One of the great things about Europe is that the food is included in your hotel package. Many people consider Europe out of the question because they think it’s too expensive when in reality it’s not. Oftentimes it’s actually less expensive than traveling domestically. One thing people don’t realize is that all of the packages to Europe include food. It’s fantastic! We skied probably about six days during the two weeks we were there. They were mostly half days because we were also touring all of the lodging properties, but the whole experience was great.
I can tell by your voice that you’ve recently become a big fan of the European resorts. What was your favorite thing about them?
When we were in Europe, we were mostly in Austria and I absolutely loved the people. Everyone was very, very friendly. The mountains themselves were a lot different as well – more rugged and much bigger. The lift systems over there are about 10 years ahead of the United States. I’m not sure why it’s so different, but they must really be putting a lot of money into the mountain as far as improvements on the lifts. I was really impressed with that. Their late-season snow was really good, too. We got about a foot of powder at Stubai Glacier and we had a guide so it was probably one of my best days ever. And the cuisine - the food over there was out of this world. Did I say that already? Three of us went over to Italy and were just blown away by how good the food was. Austria had great food as well. If you can’t tell I was impressed with food quite a bit, Dan. It was great!
At least you got some good skiing in to burn up some of that fine dining. What type of person or group would you recommend going to Europe?
I’d probably recommend a couple in their 30s or 40s who are active and ready to do some skiing and who are not afraid of travel. You have to be okay with getting on an airplane for a number of hours and then getting in a shuttle for three or four hours before finally getting there 12 hours later. However, once you get there, it’s truly the experience of a lifetime.
Let’s say you get a call from a group of avid skiers from the Northeast who would like to take a ski trip, but have been to neither the Rockies nor the Alps. What would you recommend they do?
I actually recently got a call just like this. They really wanted to go to Europe right off the bat, but they mentioned that they had never been out West. So I decided to nudge them in the direction of Colorado. The East Coast is a lot different than the Rockies – it’s much less expansive. For them, going to the Alps would be like a minor league baseball team finding themselves in the World Series without ever playing in a major league game. If you’re comfortable skiing in the West, you should definitely try Europe. However, I think you should at least get your feet wet in the Rockies before venturing over to the Alps. You know, as an East Coaster myself, I know there are definitely great skiers in that part of the country. But Chamonix has some of the best skiers in the world and those from the Northeast might be a bit intimidated by the enormity of it. If someone from North America would like to ski on a big mountain and had never hit the Rockies before, I’d definitely start them out in North America.
What do you think some of the major differences are between skiing in North America and skiing in the Alps?
I’d say the biggest difference is the off piste skiing in the Alps. The mountains are just so much bigger over there and there is much more untouched and unexplored terrain. They basically have groomed or not groomed whereas here in North America there are many more people on a smaller mountain, so it’s just more difficult to find the untouched stuff. So if you’re good enough or have a guide, which is what most people do, the guide will take you to the untouched off piste terrain with no problem. There’s just a lot more terrain and a lot more skiing to be had over there.
If you’re an avid backcountry skier in the West, do you still need a guide in the Alps?
I would absolutely, 100% recommend that. You kind of have to actually. Otherwise you’d just be nervous because you’d probably be the only one out there and you don’t know where you are…you wouldn’t want to go somewhere where nobody else has been if you’re not familiar with it. You definitely need a guide and they’re inexpensive over there so why risk it?
Are there any other differences off of the mountain – besides the obvious?
Well, Europe has mostly hotels, so we saw a lot of hotel rooms in all sorts of different styles. A lot of them had two twin beds that were pushed together. Some of them didn’t separate, which is a great thing to know when booking these units. We also saw a lot of spas which are more focused on wellness with steams and saunas. Even the little bed and breakfasts have saunas, but very few properties have hot tubs.
I learned a great deal on that trip. Actually, when we come back to the Aspen office after trips like these we all do a pow wow about the what we learned. I actually gave a presentation about our Italy (Cortina and Val Gardena) excursion and the things we learned there. It was an amazing experience.
What was your favorite thing about the accommodations? Was there anything that caught your eye or anything that you hadn’t seen before?
I absolutely loved the feather beds at all of the higher-end hotels. There’s nothing like going on vacation and sleeping in a much nicer bed than the one you have at home. I really miss that actually.
Did anything pleasantly surprise you about the atmosphere of the European resorts?
Again, I loved the people and the food! I also absolutely loved the lifts. They have heated chair lifts and shields. You’ve got to love that on a cold, blistery day! Another great thing was the service. The mountain guides were very knowledgeable and friendly. The mountain hosts were also very accommodating. As I keep saying these mountains are absolutely huge, so if you’re not familiar with them, you could have a tough time navigating. However, the mountain hosts are so friendly and are happy to help point you in the right direction. It was really a pleasure to be there from start to finish.
If you have questions for Bryan Donnelly, he can be reached by calling 1-800-525-2052 ext. 3347 or by e-mailing bryan@ski.com.
If you have any questions for me or if there are certain things you’d like to see covered in the Ski.com blog, please let me know by e-mailing dan@ski.com.
Life is like a mountain. Make your own tracks.
Dan