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New book - Snow Guns Before Sunrise: A Peek Behind the Veil of Ski Resort Operations

BushMogulMaster

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Hey fellow AZers - I just published a new book about ski resort operations which I think will be of interest to many of you. It's a behind-the-scenes look at how ski resorts really run, covering senior management, grooming, snowmaking, patrol, lift maintenance, basic metrics, and more. "Day-in-the-life" narratives combine with real-world anecdotes from industry pros to keep things lively.

Check it out at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1981700773/ (ebook also available, but not linked with the paperback yet - see http://a.co/ctm1CPp )

Happy to answer any questions!
 

BushMogulMaster

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cool. what does torsell & sons llc do? what do you do "industry rep"?

At the moment I'm doing some ski resort consulting, but my background in the industry is pretty diverse. Got my start at Colorado Mountain College, then worked at Sugarbush for 5 years. The past few seasons I was on the senior management team at Ski Cooper, CO. Now I'm tackling a few projects solo (both in and out of the industry). I have some ideas up my sleeve for what's next, but more on that another day.

Looks like you joined in 2013, so I was already west by then. But I was pretty heavily active on here from about '05-'11. And now I'm back! :beer:
 

KustyTheKlown

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cool, welcome back. i'd love to work in the industry and should have pursued that path a long time ago. hindsight is a bitch. i'm an underpaid lawyer in new york city, but i still get my 50 day seasons, about 20 west/30 east.
 

cdskier

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Very cool. This definitely sounds like something that would interest me. I'll have to order a copy when I get a chance.
 

dhmcgill87

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cool, welcome back. i'd love to work in the industry and should have pursued that path a long time ago. hindsight is a bitch. i'm an underpaid lawyer in new york city, but i still get my 50 day seasons, about 20 west/30 east.
That's dedication. Same boat here and I'm lucky to get 20 days in

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 

Zermatt

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Any insight into the economics on The Max Pass?

I assume Max Pass takes a fee then divides the rest based on usage at the end of the season?????

Also, any chance this will be a Kindle book?
 

BushMogulMaster

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Any insight into the economics on The Max Pass?

I assume Max Pass takes a fee then divides the rest based on usage at the end of the season?????

Also, any chance this will be a Kindle book?

Hi billo - Kindle version available at http://a.co/2qQMcjA (I have to get them to link the two products together... for some reason they ended up listed separately)

I don't know enough about the inner workings of the MAX Pass to comment specifically on it. But yes, generally those kinds of pass products require some sort of usage auditing across participating resorts to properly allocate revenue.
 

bvibert

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Good to see you back around these parts. I've always enjoyed your insight into ski area operations. I'll have to check out the book!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

jimk

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Patrick/BushMogulMaster was the subject of a very popular three-part interview on EpicSki last season that included a lot of great info about his life growing up in the ski biz. Here is a link to part one and it has links to parts two and three also: https://web.archive.org/web/2017042...iew-with-patrick-torsell-of-ski-cooper-part-1

Patrick, have you mentioned this book on PugSki? A lot of folks from EpicSki migrated over there and I'm sure there would be interest.
 

BushMogulMaster

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Patrick/BushMogulMaster was the subject of a very popular three-part interview on EpicSki last season that included a lot of great info about his life growing up in the ski biz. Here is a link to part one and it has links to parts two and three also: https://web.archive.org/web/2017042...iew-with-patrick-torsell-of-ski-cooper-part-1

Patrick, have you mentioned this book on PugSki? A lot of folks from EpicSki migrated over there and I'm sure there would be interest.

Hey Jim - glad the "Wayback Machine" picked up that piece before EpicSki went away... I figured it was gone into the Ether!

Re: PugSki -- I sent an advance manuscript to Phil. But I'm not a member over there, and I didn't think it would be quite appropriate to join just to peddle my book, even though I was an EpicSki member. Maybe I'm overthinking it; but I've run a few forums myself, and I don't want to be "that guy," ya know?!?!
 

BushMogulMaster

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Nice! That looks like a cool book. Any chance the title is a spin on the titles from the Magic Tree House series?

Not intentionally! Though your post led me to a quick search of that series, and it seems my title would fit right in. Maybe they're game for some cross-promotion? ;-)
 
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