Moving Through Transition (and other ski metaphors)

A little slice of autumn after arriving home from NZ recently.

It’s the first week in November and, amazingly, there are already a few resorts in the Eastern USA open for skiing and riding. We can, as we all say, “make some turns”. Not one turn, but lots of them. Arc ‘em and spark ‘em. Turn ‘till you burn. Tip and rip. For instructors, coaches and athletes, the theme, the moment, the phase of ski technique where we spend the bulk of our time is how we transition from one of those turns to the next; always the next one. It’s that transition between turns where we find out how good we really are. Not surprisingly, there are broader lessons to be learned from our focus on transition, on moving into the future, and they don’t necessarily have anything to do with skiing.

Okemo has changed a lot, evolving in order to become and then remain at the top of our industry. Still, no changes have effected the core of who we are as a resort in the same way as what we are undergoing right now. After several decades at the helm, putting Okemo on the map and making it the leader it is today, Diane and Tim Mueller recently concluded the sale of their resorts (Okemo here in Vermont, Sunapee in New Hampshire, and Crested Butte in Colorado) to Vail. Yes, that Vail.

When the official announcement about Vail’s acquisition came out last spring, the overwhelming response from the folks here in our little town of Ludlow – business owners, merchants, realtors, tradesmen, ski pros, and our many guests – was that this is a great thing for all of us. I agree completely and without hesitation, for a million reasons. Some good people have lost their jobs, and I do smirk a bit thinking about Vail’s corporate managers scratching their heads as they have to adjust their thinking in order to do business in our tiny little Vermont town. Still, there can be no question that this is terrific for our resort, for those of us who work here, and for those of us who play here.

Right now the open question for us, all of us, is how will the transition go? Yes, I know that I’m an instructor geek, but this transition is much like our skiing and we can ask the same questions. Did we get the details right as we finished the old phase so that we’re balanced and moving forward assertively into this new one from a position of strength? Have we set ourselves up so that we can we move where we want to go as a resort, as a team, without going somewhere else first? Are we feeling confident and is our awareness of what to do clear? In skiing, reticence, lack of confidence, fear of what comes next, or a lack of awareness of what it should feel like to move well through transition are some of the classic issues we focus on with our guests. Like our guests’ skiing, we’re going there anyway, it’s all happening, so let’s move in a way that allows us to be confident and find success.

In my own skiing, the piece of the puzzle that I’m working on improving (and have been for a while) is how my ankle and foot are set up within my inside boot as I finish one turn so that I enter each next turn with a strong platform on that same ski now as the new outside ski. It’s transition, plain and simple. Doing this well sets me up to be balanced along the length of my ski, moving unhurried and with selective control, ready for whatever comes next. Thankfully, I work with an exceptional boot fitter, I have an amazing coach to keep me honest, and I get a million reps to practice, so I’m making progress. As for Okemo, things get complex in a hurry and it may be tougher to keep fundamentals in focus while seemingly every detail of how we conduct business will be different.

Thankfully, these Vail people know what they are doing. They’ve been down this road a bunch of times before, I’m sure there’s nothing they haven’t seen in the acquisition process, and they sure as heck know how to run a successful resort. If our managers can focus on how to get from one turn to the next and keep their eyes on where we’re going, they too will be able to move forward with confidence and lead those of us on the staff into our new direction. It’s an exciting time to be here at Okemo, and it’s going to be an Epic season here in Ludlow … and there’s snow in the forecast!