I'm always interested in what ski businesses do to promote the sport. I know what they should do. They should produce inspiring stuff which communicates what resort life feels like. For people who have never skied or boarded, what it feels like when you slide away from the lift and down the slope, tethered to nothing but gravity — and for the experienced who have drifted away from the sport, how technology has changed the rules in their favor.

So I occasionally peek around the web at the promotional writing, photography, and video content on the websites of equipment manufacturers and ski resorts. There is some really good stuff out there — stuff that excites even a somewhat jaded ski carver like me. But the stuff I like is more about communicating the feeling you get when you do the sport right (right being a highly flexible term), and not so much yada yada about the facts and figures of the product. I mean, a guy standing in front of the halfpipe, saying "this is our halfpipe" loses my attention right there — even if it is a pretty cool halfpipe. I want to feel the feeling — the magic — the fantasy — that we resort people experience as we are dropping vertical feet by the hundreds and thousands, and sharing it with our friends without needing to say a word.

Which brings me to a shameless plug for our own video offerings. We recently found this seventeen-year-old kid who has a camera and a laptop and who enjoys playing with visual images. He is a storyteller. Most importantly though, he understands what it means to experience a resort — from skiing & riding, to friends and hot tubbing, to good food and just hanging out waiting for the next cool thing to happen. He doesn't have anything to sell, just stories to tell. And you never know what to expect. Check them out here.

Cary Adgate - BOYNE SnowSports Ambassador