Dear Arapahoe Basin,
I wanted to communicate to y'all my enjoyment of your lovely ski area and some thoughts that have been rolling around my head as I went sliding around the slopes.
I have recently been studying techniques of "co-creation", a marketing lens being studied at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It is an intriguing and powerful tool for many firms going forward in this digital age. The basic concept is that customers can make significant contributions to a company. Innovations and valuable suggestions which not only can foster additional loyalty, but can provide answers to puzzling questions.
For example, A-Basin has a commitment to environmental stewardship. My suggestion as a customer is that the Black Mountain Lodge (especially, but every eatery can benefit from this suggestion) should offer children's meals. A lot of waste is generated because families will order each of their children an enormous platter of food. Which, at Black Mountain, is sometimes too large for an adult. Not surprising, most kids can't finish that. It pains me to see so much of it thrown into your compost. We can't all take responsibility for the irresponsibility of others, but perhaps it could be mitigated by a smaller portion option and signage to explain that portions tend to be large.
My second environmental stewardship suggestion actually comes from my experience at A-Baisn. When we first came up, the lower parking was often full, but carpoolers were allowed in anyway. I would make this a more explicit policy. The lower lot should be strictly for carpoolers. I think this idea would actually be met with more support than it would seem. It can also be marketed to support A-Basin as a family-friendly ski area. I've talked to skiiers who have said, "I could care less [parking close] when I'm on my own." But when they have the whole family and the kids... they would prefer to be close. Having kids often makes getting out of the door more difficult. Having a car-poolers lot would help those families out.
The last thing I have to mention is the proposed expansion. I would caution: there is the very real possibility that this will be built and never used. Powderhorn in Grand Junction has a similar problem. They plan to build high-speed lifts, but their available snow could be severely impacted by changing snowfall. I don't believe that A-Basin will have Powderhorn's problems within our lifetime, actually, but that slope is very wind-blown. I hope it is currently being delayed by these very possible concerns.
That's my input. Along with the "co-creation" paradigm, it could be useful to have a more visible suggestions section on your website and in your buildings (and perhaps some social-media voting system set up so that new ideas can be considered by the huge group of your customers.) A-Basin is now a fabulous place to ski, without any changes; and very convenient for city-slickers.
Enjoi!
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