Running a ski resort, Josh Faber will tell you, is a lot like being a farmer. Which means he always has his eye on the weather forecast, and, especially, the temperature gauge.
That’s because in southern Wisconsin, the temperatures need to be cold enough to make snow (roughly 28 degrees) or there often won’t be anything to slide on. Mother Nature simply doesn’t provide enough white stuff on her own to operate a resort, says the 33-year-old Faber, who took over management of the Tyrol Basin ski and snowboard resort this past summer from Don McKay, who ran it for several decades.
For much of December, the bearded Faber fretted because temperatures seldom dipped below freezing. And when he and his crew were able to make snow, it was sometimes followed with rain, which washed some of the snow away. Making snow, he points out, is “almost always a gamble.”
Fortunately, the resort — located west of Madison near Mount Horeb — got six inches of natural snow after Christmas, and January has been colder. Better yet, Tyrol Basin’s location in a valley surrounded by 300-foot-tall hills means temperatures are often four degrees colder than the surrounding landscape, he said.
Still, the first month of operation was a “rough way to start the season,” said Faber, who grew up outside of Chicago and frequently skied at Tyrol Basin as a kid. He was attracted to the Dane County resort because managers allowed skiers into the terrain parks, which were limited to snowboarders only at many other areas.
“I look out at newly made snow and see that it is pretty and white and exciting. But it’s also a huge cost from where I sit on my side of the desk,” Faber said. “So you’ve got to weigh things: If you make a lot of snow and it melts in three days, that’s not good. Electricity and labor are our two biggest costs, and we use a lot of both making snow. At a big area out West, the costs could run $10,000 a night. Here it’s a lot less, but it’s still expensive.”
Faber said his resort focused on laying down manmade snow on the Bump Buster run initially because it was building a 500-foot-long Magic Carpet conveyer. It is located on the Trollway run and is aimed at making it easier for novices to get up the beginner slope. The conveyer replaced a handle tow that had been a standard at the resort for years.
“Skiing and snowboarding are hard enough for beginners,” he said. “Now with Magic Carpet, you stand on it and it takes you to the top effortlessly. That should really rejuvenate getting families and school groups back and make it as easy and fun as possible for newbies.” Faber said he’s happy to be back in Wisconsin after more than a decade of working at other resorts around the Midwest. His original plan was to become a pilot, but he finished his training about the time of the 911 terrorist attacks and airlines were not hiring.
“I worked at Hidden Valley outside St. Louis right after college and got a lot of great experience with Peak Resorts right out of the gate,” he said. “I started as a lift operator — so I could ski for free — and pretty soon after that moved up into managing the lifts, grooming and snowmaking.
“The owners took me under their wings and gave me the full run of the place and showed me every little nook and cranny. Then they sent me to Mad River, which is just outside of Columbus, Ohio. I worked there as the general manager. The situation was similar to here because I followed on the heels of a guy who was retiring after 30 years.”
After that post, he became overall manager of Peak Resorts’ four Ohio hills before moving to northeast Pennsylvania, where he oversaw the company’s Pennsylvania and Ohio operations. He also spent a couple of seasons at Vail in Colorado as a ski bum, he recalled.
Being back at Tyrol Basin, he said, is a bit like coming “full circle.” Faber, who has two young daughters, said he and his wife wanted to move closer to their families.
And while Tyrol is making some internal changes, he says his focus is on ensuring skiers and snowboarders have “that fun experience out on the slopes.”
“Now, if the snow gods are willing, I’d like to bring some more excitement to this resort,” Faber said. “We have a great foundation, but I’d like to revitalize the terrain parks with more events and create some buzz with things like grills at the top of the hill for cooking out on nice days. That’s my goal for this first year.”
— By Brian Clark,
For WisBusiness.com
