Ep.28 - Paul Anderson, CEO of NZSki

Imagine waking up in Queenstown, looking out at the Mountains, knowing you’ve got three ski areas to run, a massive expansion project in the works, Australians pouring across the Tasman, and climate change quietly asking you to rethink what the next 20 years of skiing is going to look like.

Oh, and you just came into the ski industry from finance.

Welcome back to Selling Snow, the podcast for ski industry pros,  marketers  or anyone who wants to learn how ski areas attract visitors.. I’m your host, Andrew Zwicker, with 25 years in and around marketing skiing,. This is a place to learn from your peers, share knowledge and experience, and discover what’s working, and what’s not at ski areas around the world, to take back to your home hill.

Today’s guest is Paul Anderson, CEO of NZSki which owns Mt. Hutt, The Remarkables and Coronet Peak in New Zealand.

In this episode, we talk about how NZSki manages three very different mountain personalities under one company, and why sometimes the smartest marketing move is to let the individual mountain brands do the talking.

We also dig into the massive expansion planned for The Remarkables, the importance of getting people hooked on skiing when they’re young, how they’re using everything from CRM to reality TV to reach different audiences, and why climate adaptation is becoming part of the long-term business plan whether we like it or not.

So grab a flat white, chuck on your jandals, and let’s head over to Queenstown for a chat with Paul Anderson, CEO of NZSki.

10 Actionable Insights from Paul Anderson, CEO of NZSki

1. Build the Brand Around How You Want Guests to Feel

Quick description: The strongest mountain brands aren't built around a list of terrain, lifts and amenities. They're built around a distinct feeling that guests can understand before they arrive and experience when they get there.

How NZSki uses it:NZSki deliberately moved away from marketing itself as one corporate brand. Instead, each mountain has its own personality:

• The Remarkables: Freedom

• Mount Hutt: A more rustic, authentic “real mountain” experience

• Coronet Peak: The “home of good times” and a quick, accessible local experience

Paul's key point is that the brand isn't something marketing simply invents. They ask, “What is this mountain actually about? What has it become?” Then they make every touchpoint reinforce that feeling. 

How other mountains can use it:Stop asking, “What should our next campaign say?” and ask:

“If our mountain were a person, what would guests say it feels like?”

Pick one or two emotional territories and build the website, social content, advertising, events, staff culture and on-mountain experience around them.

If your answer is “family-friendly, great snow, 2,000 acres and 12 lifts,” you don't have a brand yet.

2. Centralize the Business, Not the Personality

Quick description:Consolidation doesn't have to mean turning multiple mountains into one generic brand. You can gain the efficiencies of a larger organization while preserving what makes each mountain special.

How NZSki uses it:Paul describes NZSki as the “Intel inside” the mountains. The company provides the infrastructure behind the scenes: technology, people development, investment, lifts, operational expertise and products.

But customers primarily see The Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Mount Hutt, not NZSki. Marketing is led at the individual mountain level because guests should know what experience they're going to get at each one. 

At the same time, NZSki makes the customer proposition simple through products such as the New Zealand Super Pass, which lets guests ski multiple participating mountains. 

How other mountains can use it:If you operate multiple mountains, identify what should be one system and what should remain locally distinctive.

Centralize:

• Technology

• CRM

• HR systems

• Purchasing

• Data

• Finance

• Pass products

Keep distinct:

• Brand personality

• Storytelling

• Local culture

• Guest experience

• Content

The goal isn't one brand. It's one powerful platform underneath multiple great brands.

3. Don't Optimize Only for Today's Highest-Value Customer

Quick description:It's tempting to chase the guest who spends the most today. But ski areas also need to continuously create the next generation of skiers.

How NZSki uses it:Paul acknowledges that NZSki can target high-yielding skiers who are already skiing, taking lessons and renting equipment.

But they're simultaneously investing in the top of the funnel through heavily discounted school programs and youth passes.

The reasoning is particularly important: skiing becomes financially difficult for people at different stages of life. NZSki wants to build enough passion early that skiing remains part of people's lives even when disposable income temporarily declines. 

How other mountains can use it:Divide your customer strategy into two buckets:

Monetize today:How do we increase spend from existing skiers?

Build tomorrow:How do we create lifelong skiers?

Measure both.

A $20 youth program may look terrible on a short-term revenue-per-guest report. But if that customer becomes a season-pass holder, brings a partner, introduces their kids and skis for 40 years, the economics look very different.

4. Make “Local Stoked” a Business Strategy

Quick description:A mountain shouldn't treat its local community simply as another customer segment. Local enthusiasm can become one of your most powerful marketing assets.

How NZSki uses it:NZSki brought back Queenstown's Winter Festival after it had disappeared following COVID.

The event was deliberately designed for locals. They brought snow downtown, created a rail jam and attracted thousands of people.

Paul's objective wasn't simply ticket revenue. It was to get the community excited that winter had arrived. 

They also make sure local young people can participate in larger events such as Snow Machine. 

How other mountains can use it:Create at least one major piece of marketing every year where the primary customer is your local community, not the tourist.

Ask:

“What could we do in town that would make locals say, ‘Winter is here!’?”

Then let the resulting energy become your tourism marketing.

A destination full of locals who are visibly excited about skiing is a much more compelling destination than one where residents are annoyed by the tourists.

5. Treat Climate Adaptation as a Business Strategy, Not an Environmental Side Project

Quick description:Climate resilience shouldn't simply mean buying more snowmaking. The more powerful approach is to build future flexibility into major capital decisions.

How NZSki uses it:The planned Remarkables expansion isn't just about adding terrain and increasing capacity from approximately 3,500 to 6,000 skiers per day.

NZSki deliberately selected a basin with characteristics that should help retain natural snow: a southeast-facing aspect, greater shade and natural wind loading. Paul explicitly describes the expansion as a climate adaptation strategydesigned to support the long-term viability of skiing in New Zealand. 

They're also working with university researchers to collect actual climate and snowpack data rather than relying entirely on anecdotal memories of past winters. 

How other mountains can use it:For every major capital project, add a question:

“How does this investment perform in the mountain we're likely to have 20 years from now?”

That could influence:

• Terrain location

• Elevation

• Aspect

• Snowmaking

• Water infrastructure

• Summer operations

• Base facilities

• Lift locations

• Access

• Energy systems

Don't just ask whether a project works today. Ask whether it makes your mountain more adaptable.

6. Stop Calling Summer a “Shoulder Season”

Quick description:One of the more interesting strategic ideas in the interview is that summer shouldn't necessarily be treated as something that fills the gap between winters. It can be an entirely different business.

How NZSki uses it:NZSki isn't trying to make every mountain a summer resort. Instead, they're matching summer opportunities to the characteristics of each mountain.

Coronet Peak is close to Queenstown, has existing infrastructure and already has mountain biking and other summer activities. Remarkables, meanwhile, is more remote but already attracts hundreds of people simply hiking toward an alpine lake. 

How other mountains can use it:Instead of asking:

“What summer activity can we put on our mountain?”

ask:

“What does our destination already have that people want to do in summer?”

Then determine whether the mountain can play a role.

The answer might be biking. It might be hiking. It might be events, sightseeing, weddings, camping, food, festivals or simply providing access to an existing attraction.

7. Get Your Distribution Partners to Sell the Right Product

Quick description:A distribution partner isn't just a sales channel. If they sell the wrong product to the wrong customer, the ski area inherits the problem.

How NZSki uses it:NZSki works heavily with Australian wholesale and travel operators, but Paul says they are very selective about who they partner with.

Why?

Because if an agent sells the wrong product to a guest, the guest arrives disappointed, NZSki has to deal with the complaint and the company absorbs the cost.

So NZSki invests heavily in training those partners on:

• What the mountains offer

• Which product is appropriate

• What customers should expect 

How other mountains can use it:Audit your top travel agents, lodging partners, tourism operators and booking channels.

Ask:

“If this partner described our mountain to a customer, would we agree with every word?”

If not, train them.

A great distribution partner isn't the one who sells the most tickets. It's the one who sells the right tickets to the right customers with the right expectations.

8. Your Staff Experience Is Part of Your Marketing

Quick description:Your brand doesn't live in your advertising. It lives in the interactions guests have with your employees.

How NZSki uses it:NZSki places enormous emphasis on people and culture. Paul says their greatest strength is their people and describes the goal as creating a shared purpose around why everyone is there.

They receive roughly 5,000–6,000 applications for approximately 600–700 new seasonal positions, allowing them to be selective about culture and values fit. 

But there's an important second piece: they don't assume good culture happens automatically.

They explicitly define:

• Management fundamentals

• Leadership expectations

• Company values

• Shared purpose

• Recognition

• Reward systems

And they connect recognition directly to those values. 

How other mountains can use it:Don't just tell employees:

“Give great guest service.”

Define exactly what that means.

Then hire for it, train for it, recognize it and promote people who demonstrate it.

Your frontline staff are potentially your most powerful brand ambassadors. Treat them that way.

9. When Something Goes Wrong, Ask “What Did Leadership Do to Cause This?”

Quick description:This may be one of the most useful leadership lessons in the entire interview.

Instead of automatically blaming an employee when something goes wrong, examine the system that put them in that situation.

How NZSki uses it:Paul says that when something goes wrong, leaders should ask:

What could we have done differently to change the outcome?

That could mean better:

• Training

• Support

• Communication

• Reminders

• Rewards

• Expectations

He sees leadership's role as supporting employees rather than simply judging their mistakes. 

This ties directly into another lesson he learned: don't assume people know what you expect.

How other mountains can use it:The next time a guest complains about an employee, don't start with:

“Why did they do that?”

Start with:

“What did we fail to make clear, teach, support or reinforce?”

That shift can turn individual mistakes into organizational learning.

10. Plan for the Five-Year Mountain, Not the One-Year Mountain

Quick description:Ski areas are uniquely vulnerable to making bad strategic decisions based on one good or bad season.

How NZSki uses it:Paul's financial background taught him to think differently about the volatility of ski areas. His rule of thumb is that over five years, you might get roughly two good seasons, two bad seasons and one average season.

That means leadership has to resist overreacting to individual years and instead maintain a longer-term view. 

That philosophy has shaped NZSki's long-term investment approach, including the massive

Remarkables expansion and ongoing infrastructure investment.

How other mountains can use it:Build your strategic plan around a five-year range of possible winters, not one forecast.

Before making a major decision, ask:

• Would we still want this project after a terrible snow year?

• Can we survive financially if the next two seasons are bad?

• What happens if visitation grows faster than expected?

• What happens if it doesn't?

• Does this investment make us stronger regardless of snow conditions?

Don't let one epic powder year make you overconfident or one terrible winter make you panic.