Everything You Need to Know About Snowbasin This Season | The Ogden Wire

Shane Osguthorpe: Welcome to The Ogden Wire. Today, we are joined in the studio with Sara Toliver from Visit Ogden, and Davy Ratchford, the General Manager — is that the title? Your title changes a lot.

Davy Ratchford: What's it today? General Manager, Chief Operating Officer, and Busser Extraordinaire—

Shane: At Snowbasin Resort. So we are here to get the lowdown on everything that we need to know for the upcoming season, the improvements that have been made, the changes that we can expect to see. I know there's the new RFID, there's parking, there's traffic, lot of things we want to cover, so we'll just jump right in and we're gonna let you take the lead and tell us: what's the main things we need to know about Snowbasin as we head into—well, 85th season.

Davy: Anybody that's listening to this, you may not know we're in a super cool space. First off, so nice job. This is like, this is comfy as it gets. And I'd also just say, as a board member, Visit Ogden and the team — Sara and the team do a fantastic job. She knows that I'm a huge fan. I've been around the country at different ski areas, in different markets with different tourism groups, and this is by far the best. And Sara knows—

Sara Toliver: I think we can just cut it now—

Davy: It's the best because I think there's this collaboration, and there's real insight into what makes Ogden and this community special. It is special. And what we do up at the resort is try to compliment that. We're lucky with what we have, right? Like, Snowbasin is entering its 85th season, which is wild. And if you know, what's funny is, you think back to it — about what that was like when Ogden's mayor said, you know, “Opening Ogden's winter playground” 85 years ago, and to see where it's at today, to see what's happened with innovation and investment and planning and vision. But at the same time, it's a mountain. And it's been a mountain. It will always be a mountain. And our job, Sara, the team, mine, my team up there, is to bring life to that mountain. And I think we do that well. I think we bring purpose to people. I think we bring inspiration to people. I know I feel that way when I'm up on the mountain.

And for those that are listening — and I've said this a few times over my time — there's a lot going on in the world. And if you can find yourself in a mountain environment, wherever you're listening to this, if you're all over the world or wherever you might be, get to a mountain. Whether Utah, great. Ogden area, even better. Snowbasin? Good job. But wherever you go, find yourself in a mountain, because there is peace and there's some sort of discovery there. And what we try to do is amplify that and bring it to the people. And I think our team does a really good job at it. So I just wanted to say that off the top—

Shane: Absolutely. No, you guys are top notch — number one ski resort in SKI Magazine. SKI Magazine readers, two years in a row. Number one a couple—

Davy: The last couple of years, yeah. And it's cool, because it's like the popularity contest. You're like, “Are we cool?

Sara: Were you homecoming king?”

Davy: Really? Sara, come on. Of course I was. We’ve been top three in the last three years. We were number one last year, which is huge, because when you look at those things — and when I think the public looks at them — it takes into account a lot of different factors. But at the end of the day, it's people saying, “We like that place.” And there's a lot of people that like that place.

And I think what we do there is to try to set ourselves apart. Again, there’s lots of mountains, lots of great skiing in Utah — you can't go wrong — but we try to separate ourselves from a service standpoint, an amenity standpoint, and an experience standpoint. If we can open that mountain at 8:05 versus 9, we will. We'll try. We want to give the mountain to the people. And yeah, it's allowed us to come up through the rankings. And I'm super proud of that, of course, for myself and the team and for everybody. It's a big honor.

Shane: Well, and it's just always been considered top tier in every amenity possible. I mean, we joke, but it's true — the finest bathrooms of any ski resort in the world. The culinary stuff that you guys are able to produce with your chefs, I mean, yeah. The heated sidewalks that are always constantly clear — there's amazing little small touches.

We did a thing with Ogden Valley Adaptive a couple years ago, and watching a disabled skier be able to navigate the parking lot, the ramps, get up, get on the lift — I think of other resorts I go to with the steps and the, “Oh, you’ve got to sidestep up this.” You know, like, wait, how does an adaptive skier do that? No wonder you guys are gonna be hosting the Paralympics in 2024 and all that.

Davy: Yeah, something we're super proud of. Yeah, the only mountain that has the Paralympics on it. And again, we're really, really proud of that. Yeah, you're right. We, I give so much credit to the Holdings and the family who had a vision for this place, and to keep it small, to keep it quaint, to keep it very powerful and impactful. And they did it right. And they built these things.

Yeah, I mean, we have nice bathrooms. It's so funny. So, you know, again, I don't know how the flow is, so sorry, I'm a talker, but we were joking. I was just on the phone with Dave Filsay, the GM of Snowbird, and he's a great friend, great guy. Love him to death. And we were joking, you know his team did a marketing message, and it was fun. He’s poking fun at us. And he was, you know how Snowbird is — Snowbird is world class. I mean, you’ve got to go to Snowbird and try it out.

But he was making fun of Deer Valley's champagne huts and Snowbasin's bathrooms. And I'm like, Listen. If for some reason it's like, the bathrooms are good, that is for sure, and we've won some awards for that, but if you think it's just about the bathrooms, you're missing out on some spectacular stuff up there.

Shane: I basically use it as evidence of the level of detail you guys go into for everything. Bathrooms are an easy part to go cheap and ignore it, and just—no one's, you know, no one spends a lot of time in there, let's just make it cheap. No, the level of detail that you guys put into everything, every detail of that place is fantastic.

Davy: Oh, you'd be surprised. People spend a lot of time in our bathrooms.They go in there to stay warm.

Shane: Nice warming hut, for sure. It's a very nice warming—

Taylor: I often say it's well curated on the slopes and off at Snowbasin — like what you experience when you go into the lodge, the level of detail, the way you experience the operations, that translates to what happens on the slopes, in my opinion. You get really long groomers. You have some of the longest runs in Utah, right? And they're just world class from the top to the bottom. I mean, we’ve ripped some runs at Snowbasin that, I mean, it's not a coincidence that they're epic like that. It takes a ton of work, operationally and logistically, to—like you said, it's a mountain. Yeah. And so it's hard to do right.

Davy: I will tell you this for those, again, with those who are listening. And if you go to a ski resort, the all the staff there that work at a ski resort, just, just take a moment next time you're there to give them a high five and and thank them, because they work every holiday. They they they're there on Christmas Day. And I go around and I thank all my employees, and we give them, give them a little gift, and I and they don't, they don't get to always experience what you experience, right? They put on what we call an experience of a lifetime. They put on the event for others to have this amazing day. And it is not easy. But one of the cool things about what we do is, like, we actually talked about it today. One of my staffing is, you know, I was kind of getting pumped up for the season. And what we do is we take a huge amount of pride in that right, our like, we go home feeling good about what we've achieved, right? Like when we get that mountain open, when others can't, right, like when we just work it so well, and it's hard, right? What we do, but our motto of we can do hard things is very prevalent up there, but we've created it, I think, over the last my time seven years, there a culture of a lot of respect. There is no silos. Everybody on my team knows what's going on at any given time. They can make decisions, and it's a very positive culture. And I think that is because what we do is tough, and it can be tough at times, and so we we try to keep it as fun and light as we can. And it's not bad having, you know, maybe the one, one of the best lift systems in the world, and one of the best snow making systems in the world, and you know, some of the best bathrooms you'll ever visit ever.

Sara: But knowing you're part of a great team, certainly an element that brings a lot of satisfaction people.

Davy: It is the best team, right? Like, I think, if there was anything I could, you know when, whenever my time here is done, and whatever my career does at the end of the day, if I was, if there was something that I think I did, well, it was, I was helped create a high performing team. My the people are great, and I love working with them. And it, I think it shows that we have a great time. We laugh our faces off. And I, you know, my personal case, I all four of my kids have worked in Snowbasin and working with them, and going to work with them on bus and tables, and seeing your kids work and is one of the one of the great joys I have. And my youngest is there. Now. She's 14. She busses tables, and I get to go bust tables with her, and it's the coolest thing in the world.

Shane: So we're going to call part one of this podcast. Why you want to work at Snow base, right? Let's move into part two. Let's why would you want to ski? Here tell us what's going on, like, with

Taylor: Are there any improvements coming up?

Davy: Well, each year we kind of like roll out, like, what's new at Snowbasin. So this year is a big one that I'll start with the Becker chair. So for those that know, the Becker Chair at the resort is historic one, going back to the Becker beer family, and that the whole lineage up in this area,

Sara: Another great Ogden connection.

Davy: another great Ogden connection. And, and, you know, met with that family recently, actually, was just kind of fun. And that Becker chair, we're replacing a very slow triple that took about 13 minutes to ride, and now it's a very fast quad that will take you about six minutes. It's over over. You know, it, it really reduces that time on lift by a lot. So when you get out to strawberry with that new de moisey Lift that we did was that two years ago, that combination is going to be huge for people and

Shane: Quick access to strawberry.

Davy: Yeah, very quick access bundle all the way up and ski all the way back over to and you know that lift, we put the bottom terminal near the Wildcat list, because what that does is open up a very large area where we have, you know, kids learning programs that are up there off of little cat. And so it was a very good move. It was a great it's, it is. It will be a great addition. I wrote it last week, and it was one of those, like, it's funny what we do. We do this all the time, but like, usually you're getting the lift open right before the seat, and you know it's snow when it's chaos and we're getting open. But here we built it. It's on time, it's on budget, it's ready to go. And so I got to, like, ride it with Woolsey on my team, and just enjoy it. And it's a spectacular lift. And on top of that, what's really cool, and you know, our guests should see it in day one, what it allowed us to do was a really important piece of work.

On day two, of being the general manager of Snow Basin, that's when the feedback started. It was like fixed parking fix, you know, the backup on trappers Bear Hollow, which is, again, for those that are, you know, you know Ogden locals, or, you know Weber County, or wherever in the local area, they probably know bear hollow. For those that are destination, guests that haven't tried us yet, Bear Hollow is kind of a central core element of the mound. It's convergence point. It's where different skiing abilities are in one area. You know, every mountain kind of those spots that's Bear Hollow for us.

And on day two was like man, Bear Hollow is just a challenging area because it's, it's the central avenue, right? And the, it's always been my plan. When we replaced Becker: The tower locations were such that we could move them, and that allowed us to do some dirt work in there. And what you'll see in Bear Hollow, and what the guests will see in Bear Hollow on day one will blow your mind. And it's one of those, like, if you can't tell, like, I'm super giddy about it, and it's something like, it's not small, and it's incredibly expensive project, but what we did there will dramatically improve the skiing experience for both those that are great skiers that go through there, and we're like, slow down. And we asked you to slow down. And Sara's not because you're a bad skier, but because you're there with people that are beginning, right and learning.

And I think sometimes that's tough, that message, we're like, "Hey, slow down." And people get their ego, sort of like, "you're a great skier, man, it's not about that. Slow down because there's kids here," right and and this will be a huge improvement the Bear Hollow expansion and the easy way down for youth. It's not just Bear Hollow. We did other work too that will blow people's minds. And I'm super excited because it tackles safety. You know that we always hold so close to our hearts, on the mountain, guest experience, positive experience, and the learning experience for people. So it will be, it'll be a big one.

Shane: I'm excited to see it now. I mean, I thought, even though you guys have handled handled that congestion at Bear Hollow has been clearly you, you've done the best you could with what you could with the gates and the people, and I never felt like I was getting yelled at. But then the snow sculptures, by the way, you have to slow down to look at the snow drop in genius ways to kind of control that flow. But I can't wait to see the new expansion, and yeah, the way it's spread out now, it's gonna be cool.

Taylor: What other updates are there at Snow Basin this year? Are there any other improvements or things of note?

Davy: Yes, Sara asked me to, you know, fix some snow making stuff. So we did that too. Sara.

Sara: I want to make sure I can ski as early and late as possible.

Davy: Sara gives me her demands, for tourism sake, and for her personally, too what she would like to see that done. You know, we have one of the best snow making systems in the country, and it's a beast, and we it's, it's work behind the scenes that no one ever sees, right? But it's of

Sara: It's like fixing the HVAC system in your home. Yeah, it's not really a fun project,

Davy: Not the sexiest of projects, but it's the but it's such a good one. And so once again, and what we'll see between now and the Olympics, that work on the snowmaking system will continue to do, you know, be of paramount need for us to stay, stay on top of it. And. It's just a challenging one.

But we've also did RFID. And I know that sounds like, Hey, that was cool 10 years ago, but here's kind of our thinking on RFID that I'd share. There's two there's two parts to it. One was the technology itself is evolving, and how you access places, whether it's Bluetooth, RFID, or whatever other technology might be out there. And we thought we were like, sit back and watch everybody, like, slug it out and figure out the best thing, and then slide in and once it's kind of like water, all because there's a few different things out there. That was one idea, and then the other one was, like, the level of service. We liked the engagement that we had with people, although, you know, necessarily, scamming people with a scanner isn't always the best experience. And then ultimately, when we, when we took a step back and looked at we're like, people don't like taking the things out of their pocket, ultimately, right, like, or having it on their helmet and, and it's also one of those things, and this is one of the things I'll say. And, you know, this might get some people talk, and I think, but, but I'm I've learned a lot throughout my time in the ski industry.

But you know the fact that you can see, see different past types that is a Snowbasin pass or a Mountain Collective Pass or an Ikon pass, and people you know have their feelings on that. The reality is, that person on Mountain Collective pass or that person on an Ikon pass is also a local and it just depends on the product they want. They want. And who are we to tell them that right? There's I had a really interesting one the other day. You know people that you know we talked to a lot, and you know you hear about the vocal folks that have those concerns. The truth is, year to year to year, people jump from product, product, product based on your life, based on an injury you have, or maybe you have a baby, or maybe your job is taking you away further.

I literally was with someone last night who had a season pass last year, and he doesn't want to give up, so he's downgrading to a four pack because that's what he can do next year. And then there's people that have, you know, maybe their travel schedule changes, or their work schedule, and they want to, they want to hit multiple resorts, so they get him a Mountain Collective pass. Awesome. That's great. I Who are we to tell people? And we see people that are an Ikon pass holder that then becomes a Snowbasin pass holder, but it gets into this thing of, like, you know, why are you here at this mountain? And the reality is, there's a good chance the person that's there is the dependent, you know, son of an employee, right? And, like, there's many ways by which it's just, like, when you go buy a hotel right now, there's many ways you can go buy, you know that transaction, ultimately you're coming. And I just, it's, it's, it's a conversation we don't have enough, I think, because I care about everybody is there as family, everyone is there as friends, everyone that's there is a local they're there, right? They got there, and they want to be there. How they got there changes all the time, and it's really funny.

I will say, I won't call the person online or here publicly, but we tracked the guy that was like, ah, Ikon ruining it. And the next year, you bought an Ikon pass at Snow Basin and then went back to somebody like they transition back and forth based on their life experiences and what they're going through. And I just think it's kind of funny. I really wanted to call that person out and be like, glad you enjoyed that pass. And we don't, you know, we care about it in that way, like our pass holders. I think what's amazing about it is we have people that are skiing 100 days. We have, you know, the Guinness Book of Records that you know skier Tom that was born against he's there. He has a Snowbasin Season Pass. He hits it every day, and it's awesome. So we have people that ski a few days. We have people ski hundreds of days. And I, you know, it's not us to tell them any other way. We just love that they're there. And when they're there, their family will take care of them.

Sara: You know, what I think is incredible on that point too, is, I think as Ogden locals, we really claim and own Snowbasin as our own right. I mean, it has place in all of our memories, our childhood, our hearts. We love it and want to keep it as our own. And being in the industry of bringing visitors into our community. It's really awesome for us to see visitors take that same ownership and pride in place once they have that experience there. And I think that's what we want, is people who come into our community, whether you're you live here full time, whether you live in a neighboring county, whether you live in a neighboring state, any state, and you come and you experience what we have to offer in this incredible mountain and ski experience. And you start to if you claim it as your own, it means you're taking care of it. It means you respect it. It means you're, you know, making friends with the people sitting at the table next to you. It's, it's the type of experience we want to create forever.

Davy: I think you said that perfectly. I think it, what we want is for people to come up and feel like that, you know for at least that day, that they're escaping whatever the world is throwing at them, and that they feel safe and happy, and, you know, having an amazing time, that's what I care about. And I've seen it, and I see it day in and day out with families that are struggling. And we hear those stories, and it's some it's the stuff that we don't talk about. Be like, that's why we take so much, you know. A gratification, in what we do like we know it's powerful for people. We hear those stories and and so when you hear that other stuff, I really dismiss it very quickly, because I care about what our guests ultimately want to need, and we're delivering on that and delivering in a really spectacular way up there. And it's again, very, very proud of the team. I just think it's, you know, it's one of those funny things, but RFID, and, you know, our ability to, you know, just, it's very simple, keep it in your jacket. Just, you know, you'll go through the scanners, yeah, keep it in your jacket, and then you just go through. And it'll be very, very easy. And I'm sure there'll be an educational period for people be patient, you know, with us. But what I will say that's been very valuable, again, for those that are listening, is go up and get your pass now on the weekends, like because you do have to change out your media and your you know, what you can do is upload your photo in advance to the website. Then it's easy. You just go in and you do it, and easy peasy. And then, you know, that way on opening weekend, you're not waiting in line for a pass, you just go ski.

Shane: I'm just gonna stick with my old photo. So I say looking young on all my future, right? Yeah.

Davy: Is that? Yeah, yeah. We haven't ever stopped you and go, ah, is this you?

Shane: So Sara mentioned, like, how locals feel about this mountain, how much we love it, and how much we feel ownership and a stake in it. Let's transition over to visitors really quickly. Let's, let's pretend you're a visitor that's never been here. I mean, everyone approaches the mountain their own way. We have our secrets, parking spots where we think are more convenient, or our way. We're going to ski out to the car instead of what you know, someone there for a couple runs because we have to get to work. What if you're a visitor that's coming to spend the day? To spend the day? What's the must do? Must experience part of Snowbasin. And now, how do they do a perfect day at Snowbasin?

Taylor: The weather conditions are perfect. Everything is open, bluebird day,

Shane: including traffic, parking, all of well,

Davy: You know, you know what's funny is, we've had guests that wake up in Miami and then fly home to Miami the same day. Wow. So yeah, we have people from all over the world, right? Like so the accessibility to Utah. Let's start there. First of it is, there's nothing better, right? Utah is the most accessible ski market in the country, and I would dare say Snow Basin, because of the 45 minutes from the airport, the fact that we have the most amount of parking of any ski resort in America, and it's free, and that's really important. Don't have to have reservation. We have enough capacity to handle it and to get people in there, the efficiency that we've done with, you know, working on the roads and getting people in, you know, there. That's the thing. Is, when other ski resorts are challenged getting open, not because of anything like, say, a heavy snow weekend, right? When it's which is great, but it has its own operational challenges we can open. And I think that's what makes us kind of special. We have the way the mountain is laid out. We can get the mountain open. We can get to keep the roads moving, which is great. So first off, very first thing, you should know, you can get to us and not pay for parking.

Shane: And, yeah, trust your parking attendants. Yeah, go where they tell you they're gonna get you to the right spot.

Davy: And what's funny for those guests, when you get there, I mean, you have a lot of parking, right? But we have shuttles that pick you up and drop you arrive. You don't have to do anything, right, right? Take it out of your car, get on the shuttle. You're there. It's like, it's right there. And when you arrive, like, you know, whether you have a day ticket or a pass, or whatever pass product you're on, you know, one of the first things you'll see, even if it's on a bluebird, busy Saturday weekend, because that's when you can come right? It's on a it's on Martin, Martin Luther King, week that our presents, whatever the big periods are, or Christmas, whatever it might be, if you're calm, what you'll see right away is, is a pretty nice spot right the buildings and the lodges and everything up there are world class. Go on in. Get some breakfast. Chill for a minute. The lift lines of why there might be a line at the bottom right when you first start, right when you go, because that's how you access the resort. Once that's through, you're moving, you're, you are already spread out on that mountain.

We have incredible high speed lifts that go everywhere. We have terrain of all sorts. So if your family wants to do Little Cat and get some laps, get their legs on the room, do it, it's right there. But if you're ready to jump on the gondola and get up to some bigger terrain, you can and I think they what I will say for like, bucket list items, for those guests that are coming, that I've never been before, there's a lift. It's off of the JP lift, John Paul lift, is the lift that you see on kind of the Olympic side, the our Olympic Heritage side of the mountain, where we had the downhills take a chance and ride that lift. There it you can get is blue terrain you can there is blue terrain off of that lift, but it is some of the more advanced skiing on the mountain. But there is blue terrain to get off when you ride that lift and you're about to get off at the JP Lodge at the top. Just look around, because that is some of the most spectacular scenery. And I've been all over this ski world, right? And it is still one of the most beautifully visual spots you'll see in skiing, just getting off that lift.

But what's great about that is you'll see where the Olympics were held, right? You'll see the runs from 2002 that we stay active today. We're one of the, I think, three resorts in America that have active downhill Olympic runs, and they'll be back in 2034, right? And so I think people to say you've skied an Olympic run is kind of a big deal. You should not try skied as fast as them. Please. Don't do that. You won't be as successful, and it won't end well for you.

But those runs are amazing, and then when you get a little bit tired, you can go to one of our lodges and get some amazing food, where we've always

Sara: And enjoy spectacular, spectacular views.

Davy: And it's funny because I say this, and this is not a hit. I've said this a few times the other you know, I go to Jimmy John's a lot. I love, you know, Turkey Tom best ever. Shout out Jimmy John's. It's like $13.50 for a meal at Jimmy John's, right? And I eat it, and I eat it in my truck in a parking lot, and I'm loving it, but I'm in a truck in a parking lot, you can go to the top of a mountain and have an incredible meal and have views for days and sit and just appreciate your life in that moment. And I always think it's it, yeah? People look at it and say, well, a burger is 20 bucks. It's like, Do you know how hard it was to get this burger? Yeah? So feel free to sit in a truck in a parking lot and enjoy your Jimmy John's or come up to one of our lodges and see what it's like to have world class food at elevation and have used that, you know, bring a tear to your eye and

Sara: very notable, cheese fries.

Davy: Some of the best cheese fries. And by the way, one year, we tried to change the recipe in that cheese fries, and I got my butt handed to me, and my chef was like, we're gonna upgrade it with some fancy cheese. And I was like, Don't do it. Don't do it. They will come after you. And they did. Yeah, people let you know when you're doing well and when you're not doing well.

Sara: One other note too I'd love to add is Davey mentioned, you know that we're such an easy 45 minutes from Salt Lake International Airport with direct flights from all over the world, but we are also only about 20 minutes from Ogden Airport, if you live in the Greater LA Metro area, with a flight out of John Wayne Airport on Breeze Airlines. So another great opportunity to come visit us for a quick ski trip.

Davy: Yeah. And I would say, like for those that you know, when people come to Utah. They sample, right? They may stay in so like they may stay in Park City, and they may sample. But the reality is, we have a lot of people that stay up here also, and then they sample from here. This is your home base. Snowbasin. Can be your home base for your trip. It is for a lot of people.

And then go sample Snowbird, go sample Park City, Deer Valley. That you know, that is what Utah skiing is about. But it is, we're seeing more and more and more people understand, like going, going to, you know, getting a place to stay in the Ogden Valley is just stunning and amazing and unique. Or Ogden Right, right? We're right where we're based right now. There's great lodging all the way around us. And I think it's, again, super accessible to get there. So it's one of the great benefits of this space. We kind of have it all. And staying in Ogden overnight, whether it's hotel, there's some great dining, some great bars, great entertainment, and then go skiing throughout the day. So it's all Yeah, it is all right, here

Taylor: Talk about the other side of the mountain. We got on one side pretty well. What's, what's the other side of the mountain look like? And what, what is the De Moisey lift done for that side? Yeah.

Davy: Yeah, I mean, the moisey has opened up. What's interesting, again, this is inside baseball for those curious, right? Like the Strawberry Lift, the Gondola that we have outside out in Strawberry is incredible workhorse, right? But when you have a stormy day that wins, that can just shut down that lift for a while. And so the thing about De Moisey is, again, it's kind of the sure thing when you had a lift shut down because of wind or wind holes, then the train is shut down effectively, right? That doesn't happen anymore with De Moisey, and I think that's what we've seen, is a migration of people just saying I can get more time in at Strawberry. And it's an assured kind of experience. De Moisey has been a workhorse and an incredible value to us. And so, you know, we did Middle Bowl, done Wildcat and De Moisey We're doing Becker. You know, obviously I get asked a lot about Porky. I don't know. I have no idea, although I will tell you

Sara: I have such mixed emotions about upgrading Porky.

Davy: Everybody does too. And people like see just sitting on that lift for the 13 minutes and enjoying their rival lift. Right? It is, and the train, the skiers, right train, and the trees right there when you get off work, is some of my favorite skiing so fun.

Taylor: Are there any really iconic runs for those advanced skiers, like, are there things that people wait to open up at Snow Basin? Are there areas where that sort of stuff people are doing their I got to do certain runs every year?

Davy: I mean, I mentioned that the downhills the Olympic runs. I mean, when do you get to say you've done that absolutely and so I say those ones are just, you know, iconic. I'd say there's terrain off of Strawberry that is beloved. And I had a very personal experience out there alone one morning, eight in the morning, and I was up there, and I I reflected a lot on what got me here. I'm a kid from Ireland. It makes no sense that I'm running a ski resort from the history I had growing up.

And I was up there eight in the morning, you know, before you folks got to go over the mountain, because I was inspecting something, and I was up there looking, I was alone, and I, I, that's what I mean by the kind of mental health aspect of this is, you know, I was up there and it was, it's tough my job sometimes, right? It's a lot going on. But I sit up there and I looked around, and I was like, This is wild that I'm here and I and this is home, right? This feels like home and and I share it with a lot of other people, and it makes no sense how lucky I am to be in that spot. And, yeah, so that area of the mountain, like Strawberry in particular, has has something, some connection to me. I think when you talk about other things that we've done in the mountain, you'll see some more improvements to the Learn, the kids learning areas. That's a lot of some of that Bear Hollow work and others. But you'll see more of that this year.

And then, when you look to look ahead, you know, as we get kind of prep for the the Olympics, we do have another base area building coming online. It'll be coming online in the spring, and that's that will seed about 200 people, and there'll be some outdoor seating too with it, and it's there to kind of supplement the base area needs. So, you know, bathrooms, place to sit and eat, it will definitely support the ski school program. But one of the big things that we see is, ultimately, a lot of people come up and just need a place to sit because their kids are in ski school and and currently they're taking up dining seats, right? Like they'll sit in Earl's Lodge, where those tables are used for food service, just like any restaurant. And so creating this space where we can say, yeah, if you don't want to buy food, you're not hungry, there is still a space that's nice and warm and has beautiful views of the mountain, but then the dining seats are available for our guests that are needing that.

So it solves many issues. And that building will have kind of a mixed use, you know, ability to support the operation in the base here. So that's coming online next year. And then when we look further ahead and towards the Olympics, I mean, I think everything that's unique about that event and what we're working on, and Sarah and the team is, obviously, you guys are all very involved in it. I'm quite involved. And I, you know, as an as being a host venue, beyond the pride of all of it and the work that will go into it, which will be extraordinary to have pulled off two Olympics.

And you know what that means for a community. The reality is, it could happen tomorrow. And I think that's what makes our Olympics special is, you know, the investment in 2002 and you know, what you see historically with Olympics is lots of investment. It doesn't always pan out in venues, or they're not repeatable. It is here, and it is at Snowbasin. And I think what's cool about it is the reality is, whether we do more or not, which is still a lot to talk about, a lot of things that we could do at the resort, but whether you do or you don't, you can pull off an Olympics right now. And that is something to say, right? That is something to hold claim to.

And I think that gives us, it gives the the Olympic Organizing Committee and the rest of Utah a lot of breathing room to say, hey, at any given time, we can, we can do this, and we can do it at the highest level. And you know, the downhills, and what we did in 2002 is put on one of the best downhill events you can and we'll be able to do more. We'll be able to do the technical events along with that. So yeah, as we gear up towards that, you'll see, you know, more improvements and advancements coming along. Some of them, we just kind of have to wait and let people be excited about but for now, there's a lot to be excited, but this upcoming winter season,

Taylor: Awesome. So we're starting to wrap our day up. We're tired. It's the end of Snowbasin, but we just don't want the party to stop. What are some of the best apres options? Should people stick around and eat some food locally? Maybe we can have someone dive in about some of the local operate options. But what do people do after they're done skiing at Snowbasin? What's the best way to explore

Davy: I know what I do. I always say hi to Sara because she's there. She's I'm like, Oh, hey, Sara, last bell last year. I'm like, Hey, we go into the we go into the Cinnabar. You know, someone may have, you know, an adult beverage, or a soda, whatever you're into, and

Sara: the potato skin.

Taylor: Those are good. Oh, my better check that those are stillother menu items this year?

Davy: Oh, I got what did chef just today said something that he was super excited about. What was he he said, Oh, he said, on the menu in cinnabar, they're gonna have a French onion soup that he's stoked on. So I love it again. Another plug. To at least become the general manager of a ski area, you do have to sample all the food. And so like in it, like, two weeks from now, I'm sampling the menu.

Sara: Need anyone to join you? For me that's gonna

Shane: Sit in his truck in the parking lot and sample all of it.

Davy: But yeah, cinnabar at the end of the day is a great one. And people stand out. Have drink. We have muses. In there, and you've

Shane: had some really great music in there, if I do say so myself.

Davy: You know, I think we all have our favorite places by I is, am I allowed to say my favorite place? Yeah, I might. Table 25 is my favorite place. Man, hands down. Like, the stroganoff there. Yeah, blow your mind. Like, and it is my favorite night they have. They do such a good job. So there's great culinary in Ogden. And so I think a lot of people come down here 25th street party. It Up in Ogden. I want to, I like to party up, and I like to go out and have a good time and see, you know, what's funny is running into employees down there, and I'm like, you know? I'm like, hey, yeah, I also go outside of work, right?

Taylor: Exactly? Well, gosh, is there anything else you want to add? Anything you feel like we've missed as we look to the next season, or just Snowbasin in general, you know?

Davy: I guess it would just say, I mean, I'm grateful I and I love this. I've been working with visit Ogden for a long time now, and I've loved it, and it is genuinely, you know, for those people that are listening, I come see why we get talked about so much, it is special. Well, we have, and I've lived in great places, and I and again, those that want to look into my background, you're looking at, I won't call it all out, but I've lived in great places. I've seen some amazing things and been very, very lucky in my career. But you know, the opportunity to manage a legacy resort like Snowbasin is I don't take it for granted at all. I don't think we take for granted what it is the privilege to tell people to come to our backyards and come to our homes and see why we're so happy. Because I am very, very happy, and I'm grateful for what, you know, I've had in my career. It's, it's a ton of work. It's the most rewarding thing I've ever done.

And I think what we do here in in our jobs, to tell people about this place, is not necessary to, you know, take it away from other people or bring people in. You know, when you know it gets busy on the weekends, it's to showcase why we're great. And I think communities all over the world, whether I'm from Ireland originally, yeah, we love them. When Americans come over to Ireland and took a little bit of that history back with them, because we were proud of our country, and we're proud of what we showed and what we have, and, you know, the history, and everyone has lineage. And I would guy, you know why we want people to come see, why we think we're awesome, like, we think we figured it out, like, we live in this place. And you know, our, you know, our worst day is a guest best day ever. And I, I think there's something to that. Like, you know, people will be in Tennessee right now, and you know, I love going to see their stuff in Tennessee. I love, I love travel and tourism. I love going to see these other places. We're an incredibly welcoming bunch out here. And we have incredible assets. We have Powder Mountain close by, Nordic Valley close by, obviously Snowbasin. We're we're lucky, and, yeah, I think you'll feel very welcomed here

Sara: if once this ski resort gig is up if you want to come work for the destination marketing and management organization it sounds like you got the pitch down.

Davy: by the way, real quick, I think I do work for you. I think I don't get paid. Will you remind me, is there something I get out of this? It's because I get to come to this amazing music studio with nice people and work with people like Sara, for sure.

Taylor: Well, Davy, thank you so much. And if you, if you want to think of find more information on Snowbasin, visit their website. On our vVsit Ogden website, we have a ton of different content of you know, six Snowbasin secrets that you can check out. We have a lot of different things that we write about Snow Basin, we also have ski packages this year so people who are looking to come to Ogden, we do incredible ski deals and discounts that can really save you money. You can stay in Ogden, and when you purchase a eligible hotel stay in Ogden, you can email us, and we will provide you super exclusive discount codes to all three of our ski resorts, and so that's something super special that we're offering this year, and we're really excited about that, because Ogden is one of the most affordable ski towns in America to go and

Shane: Wow. Can I just say that was like I watched you do that. That was hard. Eloquent. Think you delivered

Davy: Hey, I got, well, I got one for you. So, well, I don't how long this is. I feel like we've been having a good time talking. Yeah, listen, if someone, let me just do this real quick, if someone's listening to this, they've lasted all the way to the end, right? They're like, Man, that's a lot of talking, but they're listening to us, and they're all the way the end. The first person this winter that comes up to me, find me. I'm easy, bald, Irish guy, you know, kind of handsome at the resort that comes up and says, Hey, I heard you on that podcast. The first person do that this year, I'll buy you lunch. I mean, I'm easy to find. It'll be fun if first person to do it, second person, I will shake your hand.

Taylor: Well, thanks again. You'll be getting that lunch offer. I just know it. Well you can. I didn't hear any fine print. Someone named Ben Hartman is gonna get my brother now, just kidding. Well, thanks again.