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RESORTS
Breaking Into Snow Business
To boost tourism, a Utah town courts ski makers along with
vacationers
By REED ALBERGOTTI
March 3, 2007; Page P4
OGDEN, Utah -- During a walk around this former railroad town,
Mayor Matthew Godfrey points out a key part of Ogden's plan
to become a premier center for outdoor tourism: an abandoned
cannery with rotting wood floors and boarded-up windows.
In a few months, it will become home to some of the biggest
brands of the ski industry, including Salomon and two other
units of Helsinki-based Amer Sports. Read
more about Ogden, Utah
"There is no Silicon Valley for the ski industry," says
Mr. Godfrey, a 36-year-old former technology executive. "Why
not us?" Read
more about Ogden, Utah
Ogden, a city of 82,000 perched on the edge of the Wasatch
Mountains, wants the same thing as many other Western communities:
a piece of the growing outdoor-tourism market. But Odgen is
taking an unusual approach. Instead of just courting vacationers,
it's also going after companies that make skis, snowboards
and other outdoor gear. So far, it has gotten more than 10
brands to move to town, including Nidecker and Descente. Read
more about Ogden, Utah
Central to both sides of the town's strategy is a controversial
proposal for an overhead gondola. The gondola -- which is estimated
to cost $35 million to $50 million and would be funded by the
developer -- would carry skiers from Ogden up to the secluded
nearby Malan's Basin ski area. The project's supporters hope
it could eventually be extended to Snowbasin, where the 2002
Winter Olympics held downhill events and saw Bode Miller win
a silver medal. Read
more about Ogden, Utah
Ogden officials, particularly Mr. Godfrey, say the plans are
the town's best hopes for a renaissance. Their pitch to the
ski-and-outdoor companies: an opportunity to get in on the
ground floor with relatively cheap real estate in an up-and-coming
resort area, which makes it attractive for executives, retailers
and other customers to combine vacation and business. If the
gondola project is approved, these companies can also take
potential wholesale buyers up to the nearby slopes to try out
gear. The mountainous location also ties into product credibility
-- companies like Patagonia have seen the benefits of associating
themselves with picturesque, rugged areas.
On the tourism side, the outdoor businesses will have a vested
interest in seeing the town's profile as a destination rise,
says Kurt Geiger, vice president of Descente North America,
an outdoor-clothing maker. In this view, passionate outdoors
types might visit Ogden, in part, to see where their snowboards
and high-performance jackets are made. Some companies are planning
to open showrooms in downtown offices for commercial and retail
customers.
Mr. Geiger says during the 10 years Descente was based in
Denver, clients hardly ever visited. In just over two years
since relocating to Ogden "we've had nearly 200 retailers
who just dropped in," he says. That, plus lower overheads
in Ogden -- which has allowed them to spend more on marketing
-- has helped boost sales, he says. Read
more about Ogden, Utah
But perhaps even more critical to the future of the town is
that these companies could become allies in the battle over
the gondola plan, which is being spearheaded by developer Chris
Peterson. It has divided the city on whether public funds and
resources should be used to help fund a project, which critics
say doesn't solve the community's mass-transit issues and benefits
a private developer (the construction of the gondola would
be funded by a housing development, built in part on hiking
land that the city would sell to Mr. Peterson). Read
more about Ogden, Utah
The idea of a gondola link from Malan's Basin to Snowbasin
has also failed to gain support from Earl Holding, the head
of Sinclair Oil and the owner of Snowbasin resort -- who is
also Mr. Peterson's father-in-law. Clint Ensign, head of government
relations for Sinclair Oil, says that the company studied the
feasibility of a gondola link and thinks that it's too difficult
and costly. (Mr. Peterson also says he has no plans to connect
the two resorts.) Read
more about Ogden, Utah
If the plans come to fruition, "Ogden can be one of the
best, most convenient high-adventure communities in the country," says
Mr. Peterson, who has the support of the town's new ski businesses.
Descente's chief operating officer, Bob Geiger (the son of
Kurt Geiger), is the head of the pro-gondola group, Lift Ogden. Read
more about Ogden, Utah
For now, Ogden's tourism draw is mainly as a cheaper -- though
less convenient -- alternative to Park City. Ogden hotels offer
ski packages to Snowbasin and Powder Mountain, both within
a half-hour drive. There is also cross-country skiing and snowshoeing
along the Wasatch Mountains.
Downtown, historic 25th Street has been attracting new restaurants.
Nearby, the swanky redesigned offices of snowboard maker, Nidecker,
have opened with a showroom and retail store. Further down
the street, crews are finishing construction on the new Salomon
Center. Named for one of the latest big brands to move to town,
the recreation center will have an indoor wave pool, a sky-diving
wind tunnel and rock-climbing walls. Read
more about Ogden, Utah
But the strategy still has skeptics. Though town officials
have succeeded in attracting some companies, others are waiting
to see if the city council approves the gondola project. "Other
companies have intimated that they're interested, but really
would like to see the gondola come through," says Mr.
Godfrey. Read more
about Ogden, Utah
Trip Planner
• How to Get There: It's about a 30-40 minute drive from
Salt Lake City International Airport.
• What to Do: Ogden is about 20-30 minutes from ski mountains including
Snowbasin (known for lodges with giant fireplaces and chandeliers) and Powder
Mountain (known for its backcountry terrain). You can also get to popular spots
like Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude in less than an hour. Try ice climbing
at nearby Waterfall Canyon. In the summer, there is kayaking along the Ogden
River and hiking in the Wasatch Range. For a dose of history, try Union Station,
once a major stop on the Transcontinental Railroad. The George S. Eccles Dinosaur
Park has replicas of T. rex and Triceratops. The Treehouse Children's Museum
is devoted to literacy and language. |
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