Lake Placid Conference Center – September 21-23

Below are seminars that will be at the show and we have more coming soon in all areas. Please note subject to change.

KEYNOTE by Kelly Brush of the Kelly Brush Foundation

Operations Sessions

NSAA Lift Bootcamp – Mike Lane – NSAA

This day-long session will be presented on Monday of the EXPO at Whiteface Mountain with in class and hands-on training. More information coming soon.

Incident Investigation in the Field: From Scene to Report with Earl Saline of NSAA and Mark Petrozzi of AlpenRisk

When an incident occurs on the mountain, the quality of the investigation that follows impacts the claims and litigation that sometimes follow. This full-day, hands-on course walks risk managers and patrollers through the entire investigation process, from the first fifteen minutes on scene through evidence collection, witness interviews, and report writing. Morning classroom sessions cover the legal foundations, immediate response protocols, and documentation considerations for photos, measurements, conditions, and recording. The afternoon moves outside for on-hill application where participants will practice scene documentation and mock witness interviews before returning indoors to draft and compare incident reports. You will leave equipped to run a well-documented investigation the next time an incident happens at your area.

Takeaways:

Relevant for risk managers, ski patrol, and others involved in the incident investigation process
A step-by-step protocol for securing the scene and addressing priorities
Techniques for documenting the invaestigation, from photos to terrain measurements
Practical interview skills for gathering reliable statements from guests and staff
Hands-on practice running a full investigation, from scene to report

Advanced Ski Lift Math, designing a lift w/ Mike – Mike Lane – NSAA

No calculator needed – overview and design understanding. The class contains a brief refresher on simple lift calculations such as capacity, speed, intervals, then moves to understand why certain Lift configurations are more costly, then expanding to what actually happens in the design process based on ski area input. The 201 and 301 Class for Lift Math.- an overview w/ enough detail to get you thinking.

NSAA’s Incidents & Component Failure Database – Mike Lane – NSAA

NSAA has created a lift related incident and critical component failure database. The database and submittals to it will help in notifying the ropeway maintenance crews of trends, and expand educational opportunities to address potential issues. Mike will discuss the process of submitting the form electronically and further discuss what should and shouldn’t be submitted.

Takeaways:

Understanding of the purpose of the database, the data’s security, and personal protected information.
Understanding of the submittal process.
Understanding of what and what should not be reported.

Why and How to Write a Quality Assurance Program for Your Lift Maintenance Program – Mike Lane – NSAA

A strong quality assurance (QA) program keeps lifts reliable, teams aligned, and documentation audit ready. This session explains why QA is essential to safety, uptime, and guest trust, and outlines how to build a right-sized system for any ski area.

Takeaways: Reference LMRG – ANSI B77.1 Quality Assurance and Documentation

Understand the core components of QA: standards, verification steps, documentation tools, and corrective-action cycles.
Map your maintenance workflow and identify critical controls and verification steps.
Create simple, consistent documentation—checklists, sign-offs, variance logs, and corrective-action tracking.
Establish a sustainable QA cycle with internal audits, supervisor ride-alongs, metrics, and structured follow-up.
Apply manufacturer guidance and current best practices to reduce rework and standardize procedures.
Use practical templates and processes to strengthen recordkeeping and demonstrate due diligence.

This session will be especially beneficial to lift maintenance leaders, operations managers, and teams responsible for reliability, documentation, and compliance.

Leveraging AI in Mountain Operations – Earl Saline, Director of Education, NSAA

Operations teams are being asked to do more with tight staffing, shifting conditions, and constant pressure to keep work safe, efficient, and consistent. This session will dive into how ski areas can use accessible AI tools to support everyday operational work across mountain operations, snowmaking, grooming, and lift teams. Drawing on practical examples from document review, training development, inspection support, and planning, it explains where AI can save time, where human judgment must be incorporated, and how to use these tools without exposing sensitive information. Attendees will see how AI can help turn existing SOPs, logs, and standards into clearer checklists, training outlines, and first drafts that staff can refine for real-world use. You will leave with a practical framework for testing AI on one operational task right away to improve consistency, speed up preparation, and support better decisions on the mountain.

Takeaways:

Identify operational tasks where AI can be used without replacing the human component
Use AI to build first drafts of checklists, training materials, and planning documents from existing resources
Recognize what information is safe to use in consumer AI tools and what should stay out
Apply prompt-writing techniques that produce more useful, resort-ready results
Designed for operations managers and on-mountain teams.

Snowmaking Panel – details coming soon.

Snowmaking Math and Numbers – Tim Wang, Ratnik Industries

This will cover formulas, calculations and numerical data in several aspects in snowmaking and how they relate in real life to snowmaking personnel.

Reversing the Downhill Slide: Getting More People on Snow – Dave Belin, SnowPartners

Participation in downhill skiing and snowboarding dipped this winter — and after a lackluster season nationally, the industry is ready to turn it around. The goal is simple: more people, sliding on snow, at your ski area. Sounds simple, but you might be asking yourself: what’s the best way to approach this always challenging issue? Brand-new skiers or lapsed ones? What message actually gets someone out on the snow? To take a lesson or not to take a lesson? And what’s working right now at ski areas like yours?

Dave Belin, chair of NSAA’s Growth Committee, will present what the committee is prioritizing, who the target it, and how they’re tracking it. Then a panel of ski area operators shares what’s actually moving the needle — and what they’re trying next. Walk out with a plan to bring more people to your mountain this winter — first-timers and lapsed skiers alike.

MORE SESSIONS COMING SOON

Management Sessions

Active shooter session – More info coming soon

Business Succession Planning: Assuring the Successful Continuation of Your Ski Area while Navigating New Tax Law Shift and Labor Challenges – Lee Resnick – Resnick Associates/Resnick Succession Group

In understandable language, SANY business owner attendees will learn about the 1/1/2026 federal estate tax law change that could have a direct impact on their overall wealth and future health of their ski area. In addition, there will be discussion surrounding vital strategies in the areas of business succession as well as eventual transition of assets (with special focus on the business). Typically, the more successful business owners become, they also become more vulnerable. Accordingly, techniques will be discussed showing how to combat those vulnerabilities and assure that the business remains ongoingly successful! Among the areas of focus will be why profitable businesses ultimately fail, the importance of business owners coordinating business succession plans with estate plans, addressing active vs. inactive children within a family business (does it make sense to leave the business and related businesses to all your children?), liquidity issues, valuation methodologies that will satisfy the IRS while lowering the tax bill, the proper type of buy-sell agreement that allows for maximum tax savings/cost efficiency and frequent insurance funding mistakes that oftentimes result in massive tax liabilities that could have been legally avoided. The session concludes by tying in many of the areas of the seminar discussion into a compelling real life family business case!

***Special attention will be given to the June 2024 United States Supreme Court Ruling that will severely impact business owners that have specific types of buy/sell agreements that are funded with insurance (which most are). Current labor challenges and how to retain key personnel will be addressed, and much more!

This session drives home the point that as a business owner, when it comes to business succession and estate planning, you must know more than you have ‘something in place’ and realize that the specifics of the plan directly correlate to the success and outcome of your plan!

Building the Future Ski Industry Workforce: How The Pipeline Project is Connecting Career & Technical Education to Resort Careers – Tiffany Whitcomb, The Pipeline Project

The ski industry has a workforce challenge—but it also has an opportunity. This presentation explores how The Pipeline Project is connecting Career & Technical Education (CTE) students with meaningful careers in the ski industry through year-round workforce development. Learn why today’s CTE students represent an untapped talent pipeline, the barriers that currently exist between schools and resorts, and how The Pipeline Project is helping bridge that gap through partnerships, career exploration, and hands-on workforce initiatives.

From Stoke to Staying Power: What Keeps Seasonal Employees Coming Back – Kathleen Brennan, CEO – PSIA-AASI Eastern Region

Seasonal staffing remains one of the biggest challenges facing ski areas and outdoor recreation businesses. While much attention is given to recruiting employees, long-term success depends on creating an environment that inspires people to return year after year.

Drawing on decades of experience in snowsports education, workforce development, and leadership in a variety of seasonal businesses, this session explores what transforms an enthusiastic first-season employee into a committed member of your team. Participants will examine the role of passion, mentorship, belonging, recognition, and personal growth in employee retention, and discuss practical ways to create experiences that encourage seasonal staff to return, contribute, and grow.

This session is relevant to managers and supervisors across all departments, including snowsports, lift operations, rentals, guest services, food and beverage, patrol, and mountain operations.

MORE SESSIONS COMING SOON

Marketing Sessions

Leveraging AI in Mountain Operations – Earl Saline, Director of Education, NSAA

Takeaways:

Identify operational tasks where AI can be used without replacing the human component
Use AI to build first drafts of checklists, training materials, and planning documents from existing resources
Recognize what information is safe to use in consumer AI tools and what should stay out
Apply prompt-writing techniques that produce more useful, resort-ready results
Designed for operations managers and on-mountain teams.

Where Marketing Meets Risk: Aligning Brand, Safety, and the Guest Experience – Hugh Reynolds

Marketing and risk management have traditionally occupied opposite sides of the chair lift. Marketing teams are tasked with showcasing the excitement, progression, and adventure that define snowsports, while risk managers focus on safety, reducing incidents, liability, and exposure. In today’s digital-first environment, however, the two disciplines have become increasingly intertwined.

From social media content and influencer partnerships to safety campaigns, incident response, and reputation management, marketing now plays a critical role in shaping guest behavior and supporting resort safety objectives. In this panel discussion, resort operators, risk managers, and marketing leaders will explore how successful resorts are bridging the gap between brand storytelling and guest safety. Panelists will share real-world examples, lessons learned, and practical strategies for using marketing as a tool to strengthen safety culture, support risk management efforts, and protect both guests and the business.

Solving the “Lesson Conversion Crisis” via Marketing Funnels – Sam Rufo, nxtConcepts

The 10% year-over-year drop in lesson visits flagged by Mike Reitzell, at NSAA, isn’t an operations problem. It’s a marketing funnel problem. This highly tactical “revenue recovery” workshop reframes lesson and rental bookings as a funnel you can fix, stage by stage, using marketing tools you already have plus the newer ones reshaping how guests find and book you.

We’ll work top to bottom through the funnel.
Get found (awareness). How guests now discover ski areas through AI search and answer engines (AEO/GEO), and what it takes to be the answer when a first-timer asks ChatGPT or Google “where can I learn to ski near me.”
Remove the friction (booking). A live audit of the first-timer mobile booking experience and landing page, finding the clicks and confusion that quietly kill sales.
Nurture and convert (re-engagement). Building automated, non-salesy lifecycle email sequences that move lift-ticket buyers toward lessons and rentals, plus custom audiences and ad retargeting to bring back the guests who didn’t book the first time.
Target precisely (the thread throughout). Moving beyond the “blast email” by segmenting local vs. destination and skier vs. rider, so every message fits the guest.
Throughout the session, you’ll see how to build these pieces faster using the AI already inside the software you use. We’ll compare Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude.

What you’ll walk away with: a concrete, dated digital playbook for this coming winter.

This is a working session, not a lecture. Bring a phone or laptop.

Practical AI for Every Department – Dave Gibson – Propeller Media Works/Accessbility Works

There is not a single department at any resort that has enough staff or resources. That’s not a complaint – that’s just the ski industry. But for the first time, there’s something you can actually do about it that doesn’t involve hiring a unicorn or burning out your best people.

AI won’t just help your team do more with less. It will give them capabilities they flat out didn’t have before. That’s not an exaggeration – it’s what’s already happening at organizations that have stopped debating it and started using it.

This session covers real use cases across operations, training, finance, administration, marketing, and customer service – plus the workflows that cut across every department. We’ll also take a deeper look at two areas where AI is creating both urgent risk and real opportunity: the emerging agentic web and what it means for how guests find and choose resorts, and how AI is reshaping the customer service experience.

Bring your questions. You’ll leave Lake Placid with something you can put to work immediately. AKA Superpowers. Cape not included.

MORE SESSIONS COMING SOON

Risk Management Sessions

NSAA’s Fall Education Series (FES) is returning to the SKI NY-PORA EXPO with another packed agenda of current trends in risk management, legal updates, operational best practices, and helpful technologies emerging across the ski industry. Sponsored by MountainGuard for 33 straight years since its inception in 1993, MountainGuard’s Ryan Lavoie and NSAA’s Dave Byrd will again helm the FES—along with assistance from our amazing local ASDA counsel in New York. This year, the FES will be taking place in four distinct sessions on Tuesday, September 22.

The series will take a fresh look at where the industry is on operational challenges involving terrain parks, including new ideas on guest education, park layout, investigations, and events in the park. In addition, there are a lot of recent industry updates, including upcoming changes to ANSI B77, ASTM and padding, night lighting and surveillance—with a special focus on NSAA’s new Lift Safety Toolkit for the industry. As we discussed a lot recently, OSHA is aggressively scrutinizing the ski industry, with an unprecedented number of ski area unannounced inspections—as a result, we will be highlighting the best ways to prioritize overall employee safety and accountability.

Of course, we always incorporate a round-up of legal claims, court rulings, and current litigation updates, including some important wins on releases of liability, legislation, and ski statutes—still, there is a critical need to address some of the industry’s challenges with our internal written policies and manuals that often complicates claims. Indeed, the overall litigation landscape still remains problematic with increasingly high demands and especially aggressive tactics from plaintiffs’ counsel. The fall education seminars are a big success because of the incredible collaboration and sharing within our industry, and the sharing of best practices.

Where Marketing Meets Risk: Aligning Brand, Safety, and the Guest Experience – Hugh Reynolds, Chief Marketing Officer, SnowPartners