New name, same old ski resort

By RICHARD HANNERS

Whitefish Pilot

Skiers and snowboarders heading up to ski at Big Mountain next winter — the resort's 60th year anniversary — will find a host of changes, including relocated chairlifts and a fully operational Day Lodge.

They'll also notice the name change — it won't be Big Mountain anymore. It will be Whitefish Mountain Resort.

Winter Sports Inc. spokesman Brian Schott said serious talk about changing the ski resort's name has been going on for at least 10 years. The problem is that the "Big" in Big Mountain is often confused with Big Sky, the destination ski resort south of Bozeman.

Schott recounted the number of times he was escorting journalists on the mountain who thought they were reviewing Big Sky, not Big Mountain. Another journalist researching a skiing-paragliding event once held at Big Mountain thought it had taken place at Big Sky.

But there's more to the name change than just mixing up ski resorts, Schott said. WSI recognizes Whitefish as an important resort town and wants to improve the connection between the two.

"Big Sky is a 'purpose-built resort,' but Whitefish is an authentic town with a real history," Schott said. "Big Mountain grew out of the town — it was built by its people."

Schott pointed out that destination skiers often identify with the town located next to a ski resort, not the resort's name.

"People say, 'I'm going to ski Aspen,' not Snowmass," he said.

Numerous ski resorts have made a similar name change. Utah's Treasure Mountain resort opened to skiers in 1965. The next season, it took on the name of the nearby town and became Park City Mountain Resort.

Another example is Purgatory Resort, which opened in 1965 and changed its name to Durango Mountain Resort in 1999. A ski resort spokesperson there said "it's not necessarily a name change but a name development." A bumper sticker visible on a chairlift there in 2004, however, read "It's still Purg."

Destination skiers at Big Mountain make the same kind of connections, Schott said.

"Canadians all say, 'We're going to ski Whitefish.'" he said. "I've even seen that in headlines in Canadian newspapers."

The "name game" is not new to Big Mountain, according to Jean Arthur in "Hellroaring — Fifty Years On The Big Mountain." Arthur wrote that the ski area's original promoters "stumbled upon the name 'The Big Mountain' simply because Mully Muldown pointed up to the peak he dearly loved to ski and called it 'that big mountain.'"

Arthur went on to explain how that name "stuck" and others did not. She noted that Otto Ost recalled skiing on "Haskill Mountain" in 1941. Over the years, to avoid marketing confusion, people suggested changing the name to "Hellroaring." In the 1980s, a marketing manager proposed changing the name to "Legendary," Arthur wrote.

With the ski resort celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and WSI investing more than $20 million in chairlifts and other skier improvements, now was the time to make a name change, said WSI president and CEO Fred Jones.

"It's not just name confusion — it's saying who we are," Jones said.

WSI turned to two professionals to develop a new brand for the ski resort. Charles Rashall is president and founder of BrandAdvisors, a San Francisco-based company that has developed names, logos and brands for big-name corporations such as FedEx, Pizza Hut and NFL.

Locally, WSI turned to artist Tom Suiter, whose office overlooks Depot Park in downtown Whitefish. Suiter has known Rashall since 1990. A fine artist with children who regularly ski at Big Mountain, Suiter has worked on brands and logos for United Airlines, Hyatt hotels, Pebble Beach golf course and Apple computers, where he once worked as creative director.

Branding involves a wide range of design work, from highway signs to Web pages to embossed chocolate bars. It also affects employee attitudes and how a lodge is designed. WSI has plans to build a dozen large buildings in its village over the next dozen years, and providing small spaces for people to gather will foster an informal small-town feeling.

Rashall's research included one-on-one interviews with 40 "stakeholders" — skiers, employees, local business people and city officials. He also looked at Big Mountain's eight main competitors to see how they operate and communicate.

"Big Mountain is the 10th largest resort in North America, with more than 3,000 acres," said Rashall, a skier himself. "It has the seventh-longest ski run, ranks 21st in vertical feet, and has a good mix of beginner, intermediate and expert terrain."

Unlike other world-class ski resorts, Big Mountain also offers views of Whitefish Lake and Glacier National Park. And unlike other resorts in its class, Big Mountain has a reputation for no pretentious people, no hassles and no cookie-cutter amenities, Rashall said.

Suiter said he went through hundreds of iterations looking for the perfect symbol to represent the ski resort. Switching from a snowflake to a fish was not entirely original — the "Ski The Fish" slogan has been around since the 1990s.

Suiter combined all the elements in one logo — Whitefish High School colors, green and gold, blue lake water in the tail, and white mountains instead of dorsal fins. In their variations, the logos will also refer to the ski resort's start in 1947 and its location atop Big Mountain.

Implementing the new name and logo will be sweeping — new signs on roads, buildings and lift equipment; new uniforms for employees and race teams; new letterheads on stationary; and historical signs scattered around the mountain reminding skiers of important moments in the ski resort's history.