By Shannon Lukens.
The 24th Annual Airline Partners Summit continues at Steamboat Resort today. Airline industry representatives and partners in the travel industry heard speakers Tuesday from Steamboat Resort, Southwest and United Airlines. Attendees were from Routt and Moffat counties, and throughout the state.
Jared Smith is the President and CEO of Alterra Mountain Company, which owns Steamboat Resort. He was one of the guest speakers.
“Our mission is to shape the future of mountain adventure which is to say we’re committed to building on the heritage and history that each one of our unique communities like Steamboat has created over decades and decades in this industry, and to make it better, to make it more inclusive, to make it easier for people to enjoy these wonderful lands that we have the privilege to be able to operate on.”
Smith says Alterra owns 16 Mountain Destinations with 56 Ikon pass Partner Destinations, 11 million annual skier visits, and 23K winter team members, with 6,000 year-round employees.
The four corporate values of Alterra are Empowerment, Authenticity, Collaboration, and Purpose.
Smith says they will continue to work on bettering uphill capacity, have better terrain and better snowmaking and upgrade skier services. He said two different hotel groups are in Steamboat right now, looking to invest and build at the base area.
He said for their employees, Alterra’s focus is on inclusion, equity, mental health and well-being.
He finished his talk with accolades for the Steamboat staff. “The Steamboat team is one of the best in the industry.”
Steamboat Marketing Director Katie Brown welcomed everyone to the seminars. “Welcome and howdy, on behalf of Ski Town USA.”
Brown said Steamboat Resort and Northwest Colorado is served by six airlines with 16 non-stop airports.
This is the 38th winter of the Steamboat Air Program Winter Flights. Four years ago, service began for the non-winter season, with Southwest and United.
She spoke of Steamboat’s timeless western values. “We are a Western Welcoming Town. We want to share our town with everyone.”
Pro Rodeo announcer John Shipley was the emcee of the Airline Summit. The screens in the room described him as “Emcee and Local Legend.”
Dave Hunter is the new Steamboat Resort Lead. He started off his portion of the seminar talking about the 8’ of snow Steamboat Resort has received in January. He said Full Steam Ahead was a three-year project, but is the resort’s vision for the future. He spoke of Greenhorn Ranch, increased snowmaking at Sunshine Peak with over 60 new snow guns, the terrain expansion into Mahogany Ridge and Fish Creek Canyon, and the new Wild Blue Gondola. Hunter and Rob Perlman took Jared Smith on the new Wild Blue Gondola Tuesday as well.
Hunter said the resort is working on a high-speed gondola from the Meadows Lot so they no longer have to have shuttle buses. He spoke of multi-modal transportation and working with stakeholders in the City of Steamboat Springs, Routt and Moffat counties and the State of Colorado for creating passenger rail from Denver to Craig.
Aileron Pacific is an Aviation Consulting firm that said 2023 was a year for record revenues for U.S. airlines, earning $223.5 billion, with $209.3 billion in expenses. Denver represents 41% of seats to Steamboat.
Wednesday is the last day for the Airline Summit.