Altitudes With Attitudes
Author: Carolyn Koenig
March 2007
Features
For meeting professionals, summer brings another type of opportunity:
Fewer crowds, easier access to hotel room blocks and, in some cases, the possibility of lower rates. And that’s just for starters.
When winter shrugs off its snowy mantle—and even die-hard spring skiers have packed up their gear—another spectacular season arrives in the West’s mountains. Summer glides in, bringing a blanket of grass, wildflowers, warmer days and a seemingly endless array of recreation opportunities.
Consider also that people tend to take vacations in the summer, and with the time-pressed world we live in today, the prospect of a summer mountain meeting—plus a few days extra pre- or post—is very appealing. Summer, too, is family time, so that many group members may want to bring their families along for a mini-vacation. Both add up to increased attendance, or at the least, a double dose of enthusiasm.
Plus, ski resorts and ski resort communities are eager to attract additional business in what is often their “off-season,” ramping up the appeal of their natural attractions with events like the Park City Art Festival and Sun Valley’s Summer Symphony concert series. Add the prospect of golf, after what may be, for many duffers, a long winter’s hibernation, and it’s a win-win situation.
“Any time you involve people with the outdoors, you energize them more than if you’re just meeting indoors,” says Charlene Christensen, director of services for the Utah Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Of course, you’ll need to keep certain factors in mind. Airlift may be reduced and, fearing lack of crowds, some restaurants and entertainment venues may be closed.
Altitude is another consideration. Driving from the airport to the resort may take you from 5,000 feet to 10,000 feet above sea level very quickly, so be sure to keep your group hydrated and the activities limited to a slower pace on the first day.
That said, the mountains are an antidote to city meetings—they’re invigorating and energetic, with inspirational venues for retreats, board meetings, incentives and every kind of team-building session you can imagine. Here are a few possibilities.
COLORADO
As a state with more than 54 peaks over 14,000 feet, Colorado could define “mountain meeting.” Seventy-five miles from Denver, Copper Mountain Resort in the southern Rockies is a base camp that, well, rocks with activities in summer. Start by hiking, biking or chartering their new pontoon boat on Dillon Lake. Events may include concerts featuring some of country music’s biggest stars, a rodeo, marathons and cycling races.
The resort encompasses three villages, including the Village at Copper, action central for shopping, dining and entertainment. It’s also the site of the Copper Conference Center, with 15,568 sq. ft. of meeting space, and Copper Pavilion, a Clearspan structure with 18,000 sq. ft. of open, unobstructed space. Copper Station, located in the East Village, is the center of the Copper Creek championship golf course, and delivers 18,749 sq. ft. of space.
“I liked how self-contained it was, almost like an all-inclusive,” says Sandra Hunter, meeting coordinator for Performance Solutions, a division of GE Healthcare. “No matter where you went, you saw people from your group; there are a lot of places to sit outdoors and eat.”
Hunter, who brought 200 attendees to Copper for an annual meeting, energized her group with a team-building event that combined “an amazing race with an intergalactic travel-type theme, where their teams had to build spaceships, then go out all over Copper and shoot aliens...”
Tucked into a scenic mountain valley to the south, the bustling ski town of Breckenridge takes on a less-frenzied pace in summer. There’s ample to do downtown, where the pretty main streets are lined with more than 200 Victorian buildings. But golfers may want to perfect their swing at the Breckenridge Golf Club, featuring 27 holes of Jack Nicklaus-designed courses (four other courses are just a short drive away).
For meeting groups, Breckenridge Lodging & Hospitality offers three distinctly different types of lodging, totaling more than 600 guest rooms and suites. Two—The Village at Breckenridge and Great Divide Lodge—are both scheduled to undergo more than $3.5 million in renovations including the Village’s meeeting space. Altogether, the three deliver 43,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor event space.
IDAHO
Sun Valley put Idaho on the map as a ski resort destination back in 1936, adding the first chairlifts in North America. In summer, the resort’s chairlifts sweep you up to the summit of Mt. Baldy, where a network of biking and hiking trails lets you explore a wonderland of natural terrains. There’s also golfing on-site, fishing, shooting at their gun club, and ice skating in their outdoor rink, which is also the scene of summer ice shows featuring the world’s best skaters under the stars. July and August also bring the resort’s renowned, free outdoor concert series with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, the largest music festival of its kind in the country.
“In terms of occupancy, summer is our biggest season,” says Jack Sibbach, director of sales, marketing and public relations for Sun Valley Resort. “The weather is dry, usually 75–85 degrees and drops down to 45–55 in the evening.”
The great weather and variety of activities make Sun Valley family friendly—it’s one of the main reasons planners choose the resort as a meetings destination in summer, he says. Delegates also feel safe attending their meetings and leaving their families here.
Counting the inn and the lodge, the resort has approximately 25,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, not including a host of outdoor venues around lakes, along streams or even the ice-skating facility, a unique experience, he says.
Northwest of Sun Valley, the lively town of McCall is situated on the southern shore of Payette Lake, a pristine glacier lake near the center of the Payette National Forest. Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008, McCall is known for its Winter Carnival and for having the highest mean snowfall in the state. But, come summer, the lake and surrounding forest take center stage. And in the spotlight is Whitetail Club & Resort, a jewel on 1,300 acres with a private beach and marina, a fleet of boats and personal watercraft, tennis, volleyball and fully stocked fishing ponds.
Not surprisingly, “July, August and September are our peak season,” says Jocelyn Kidd, director of sales and marketing for the resort. “We always [encourage] people to bring the family, as we are a family resort. We have programs for spouses and children.”
There’s also golf on-site, and the resort works with great flyfishing and white-water rafting outfitters that put you in, or on, any number of nearby rivers.
And speaking of work—the resort has 13,000 sq. ft. of meeting space to accompany its 77 guest rooms.
LAKE TAHOE (CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA)
Where else in the West can your team go geo-caching in a forest by day and cashing-in at a casino at night? Mountain biking by day and clubbing by night? If it’s summer in the Sierra Nevada, we’re talking about Lake Tahoe. The outdoor playground—shared by both California and Nevada—combines the best of mountain meeting spaces with an almost inexhaustible variety of activities, many centered around its pristine lake, the second largest alpine lake in the world. Marinas are filled, cheek by jowl, with pleasure craft available for charter or rent. Sea-Doos, water bikes and jet skis are revved and ready, kayaks set to paddle. “You can kayak the lake and pull into secret coves that are unreachable except by boat,” says Patrick Kaler, executive director of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority.
On the South Shore, Heavenly Mountain Resort’s gondola switches seamlessly from skiers to bikers, who are similarly pumped for the adrenaline rush on the return, just outfitted in different gear.
Most of Lake Tahoe’s meeting properties are clustered on the South Shore, along what’s dubbed “the fun zone”—or more officially, “Blue Avenue,” that portion of Highway 50 that connects the California side with the 24/7 Nevada side. Together, the casino resorts (and Embassy Suites on the California side of the state line) provide approximately 80,000 sq. ft. of function space—enough for a small citywide that will enlarge after construction is completed on a new conference center slated to break ground this spring and be completed in 2009–2010.
MONTANA
There’s a reason it’s called “Big Sky.” As you travel Montana’s wide open spaces, your eyes are filled with a seemingly endless, panoramic horizon—interrupted occasionally by big, jagged bursts of mountains. This is where Flathead Valley comes into play: the gateway to Glacier National Park, the picturesque valley is the setting for several resorts that epitomize the Montana mountain experience. To the north of the valley, Big Mountain Resort, near the town of Whitefish, has easy-access trails for hiking and biking, plus gondola rides and stargazing, all with spectacular views. Its recently opened, 35,000-square-foot day lodge is ideal for small and mid-size meetings.
Anglers may be familiar with Flathead Lake, the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi, and Whitefish Lake, a scenic sister lake known for its namesake fish as well as a hearty trout population. The Lodge at Whitefish Lake is a full-service resort with enough activities to satisfy even the most ardent water-sports enthusiasts, plus it offers the Lady of the Lake, a classic cruiser. In addition to more than 8,000 sq. ft. of indoor conference space, there are lakeside outdoor venues for receptions and special events.
Another, smaller option is Kandahar-The Lodge at Big Mountain, a European-style lodge with excellent dining near a unique boardwalk in the tree canopy.
UTAH
You need to know two things about Park City in the summer: (1) there’s plenty of action after the ski crowd has departed, and (2) it’s a deal. Not necessarily in that order.
“Park City is an active community in summer, as far as cultural events, outdoor concerts and festivals,” says Sarah Myers, meeting & convention sales & marketing manager, Park City Chamber of Commerce-Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The range of activities increases, although they’re not overwhelming. It’s still very much a retreat, an escape from the everyday from metropolitan areas.”
Golf is very popular here, and planners have a choice of several courses that allow groups. Plus, Myers says, “there’s a course in nearby Wasatch that’s so reasonable, people who are used to paying more won’t believe it.”
If your group wants to take an active approach, there’s hiking and biking, with more than 360 miles of connected trails offering everything from single track mountain trails to old converted railroad beds, so you can do everything from cruiser bikes to full downhill press.
And the deal part? “There are 23 properties that participate in meetings and conventions,” Myers continues. “There are incredible deals—you get up to 50 percent off regular rates for groups, and you’re still at a high-quality property.”
Utah Valley is another destination to consider for summer meetings. Fitting snuggly against the Wasatch Mountains, Utah Valley provides a springboard to first-class recreation that runs the gamut from hiking and biking to horseback riding, river rafting and flyfishing. At an elevation of 4,500 feet, the valley incorporates both Robert Redford’s year-round Sundance Resort, set on 6,000 wooded acres at the base of Mount Timpanogos, and historic Provo/Orem.
Planner Julie DeLlamas, president of JKD Consulting in Springville, Utah plans an annual summit at Sundance for Flowserve, a $2-billion corporation out of Dallas, where attendees tend to business in roundtable discussions during the day and a concurrent program takes spouses on a spa visit or on a hike up to a waterfall. “In the evening we usually hire a group of singers from Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe to perform, or if there’s a public event, we get in on that,” she says.
Summer in Utah Valley is off-season compared to ski season, the CVB’s Christensen says, but groups with a little smaller budget than suitable for Sun-dance can use meeting space in the valley and incorporate it with mountain activities. “There’s plenty of options, including a local hotel that does barbecues for guests during the week.” Evening activities on the mountains include performances by the local symphony, concerts and outdoor movies, she adds. “If there’s a full moon you can ride the chairlift for a fantastic view.”
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
Yosemite’s grandeur is so compelling that its icons are etched on our consciousness— whether or not we’ve ever visited—from Half Dome to El Capitan, plus the majestic Ahwahnee hotel.
Carved by nature into the Sierra Nevada, Yosemite is one of the most popular national parks, drawing more than 3 million visitors last year—mostly in summer. “Typically, we don’t book large meetings in the summer,” says Kenny Karst, spokesperson for Delaware North Companies, the park’s concessionaire. “The Park Service prefers that we reserve rooms for the general public, who are on vacation in the summer. For many, that’s the only time families can come.”
But don’t rule Yosemite out of the summer picture. DNC owns and operates Tenaya Lodge, a Four-Diamond resort two miles outside the park, with an indoor and outdoor pool, a state-of-the-art spa facility—something Yosemite doesn’t have—plus nine meeting rooms including a ballroom that can accommodate up to 500 guests. It’s also possible to do a group meal and meeting at Tenaya, then do breakouts in the park, where there are lots of recreational possibities. Or, if your group is smaller, you can stay at Tenaya and have a hosted dinner at the Ahwahnee—just not a buyout. “We also own a fleet of luxury motor coaches and can shuttle guests back and forth between the two,” he says.
Another option, only 14 miles from the park’s south entrance, is The Pines Resort and Conference Center on Bass Lake. A classic stone-and-log lodge with 20 suites and 84 chalets, it has seven meeting rooms. The lodge works with outfitters such as Team Worx and Total Adventures for team-building experiences that’ll take you out on their 50-acre property, the lake and into the park.
If you haven’t tried a summer mountain meeting—or if you’re just scouting options—you might take a tip from planner DeLlamas, who sums up the alpine setting and seasonal ambience with a succinct: “They’re so relaxing.”
