I enjoy the written articles more than the podcasts, but I do like both. I do appreciate having the written backstory to the podcasts since it adds so much context (and sometimes explains controversy) that you don't talk about in the recording. If your shorter form recordings don't have a written component, I hope you find a way to not lose that piece of the puzzle.
Yes Q+A would be great. What are your favorites mountains? If you were to buy a ski condo, where would you buy? Where is the ski industry going in the next 5 years? Where are the hidden gems? What resorts are putting in the most into infrastructure?
Stuart, I wish you all the best in the alterations to a wonderful garment. The Tuxedo of ski publications. Speaking strictly for me, I like the written word. As the NYT recently published, readers are becoming rara avis, succumbing to mind numbing bytes from social media - perhaps better described as dysocial media - and that the whole Truth.
I am, and always will be, a reader and writer first. The writing will always be the heart of The Storm. But I need to make sure the world isn’t leaving the pub behind. Maybe I can use the short-form
pod to drive a few watchers back to the written part!
I like the direction you are heading. I am planning my next season adventures and worried about the El Niño that is developing that will impact skiing and conditions this year. Pacific NW and the northern rockies could be in for another dismal season from what I have seen. Finding the right source(s) to discuss this topic would benefit your audience. Keep up the good work. Also I appreciate your insight to dealing with a MRI. Even with relaxation prescriptions I still have problems going through the MRI process.
Yeah this is def a chance to get folks from Open Snow and other platforms on to help us with macro-trends. To another comment’s point above, I’m not going to get too involved with weather, storm-chasing, or mountain ops issues (broken lifts etc). The broad topics will be the stuff I analyze now - passes, infrastructure, consolidation, owners and managers and who’s creating a great experience. Thanks for the feedback.
You could report on why ski areas feel compelled to pay OpenSnow to forecast when their weather embeded into ski area websites is often unreadable, misleading, and lacks pertinent details on where on the mountain or what times the forecasts are for. NOAA is consistently a better source for weather, and it is free. I may have been spoiled getting mountain weather forecasts at Bridger Bowl and now it seems like most other ski areas don't put any effort into forecasting, reporting current weather, or writing a snow report that has any detail or truth to it beyond "get ready for another sunny day on the slopes!". Marketing teams don't seem to understand that managing expectations can be more helpful to their business than building hype.
Sounds great, looking forward to it! From its inception, I've enjoyed the Storm as a replacement for the demise of Ski and Skiing in print. The Storm has always read as an objective, informative, and fun capture of skiing. Shorter, but more frequent content with some interaction would certainly be interesting.
Good move. I'm an OG groupie of the Storm, and I only listen to the pods when I am on the road, and even then, only about resorts or passes I am likely to ski. There are some really great people who would be a delight to interview, along with breaking news. Your strength is in analysis and lively writing. You're reading the room right, methinks. A lot better than Darth Katz did in his latest press release, for damn sure. (I cannot comment without trashing VR). There is a wide open lane to deliver ski news that is not simple regurgitating of press releases. As for the physical maladies, get used to it, whippersnapper. I loathe the MRI machine almost as much as I loathe packed gondy cabins at Whistler.
This is. at its best, a great addition (an American version of the Ski Podcast out of mostly Europe that you guested on last season)... The key perhaps is to avoid too much weather and don't over focus on the big resorts out West at the expense of the North East or cool niche places like Hately Pointe).
I guess I am the world's biggest high intermediate ski nut but I really like the long form podcast which really cannot be long enough or in depth enough for me and is why I am here...
For sure, and I believe this format will actually allow me to focus MORE on small ski areas. Take a guy like Mike Taylor at Holiday Mountain, NY, who’s doing an incredible job rebuilding an almost-lost area. I text or talk to Mike all the time, but he’s only been on the pod once. This would give me a chance to check in with him far more often. I have dozens of relationships like that. And don’t worry - I will still do long-form! Just fewer. Thanks for the feedback.
Here is my issue. I do not watch podcasts, ever. The information density is too small, among other things. But I like transcripts, even if only lightly edited. Quite a few Substacks manage to provide such transcripts. Please consider doing that.
Actually - turns out I am a first-rate dumbass and the transcripts HAVE NOT been appearing for a while. I must have missed a settings change. Anyway, I'm going through and making all the transcripts visible now. Every episode after 90 or so SHOULD have a transcript, but give me a beat to go through them all. Thanks for flagging this issue.
You need an assistant, but since you likely can’t pay one, then you need an intern.
Good luck, Stuart! Sounds like a great move
I enjoy the written articles more than the podcasts, but I do like both. I do appreciate having the written backstory to the podcasts since it adds so much context (and sometimes explains controversy) that you don't talk about in the recording. If your shorter form recordings don't have a written component, I hope you find a way to not lose that piece of the puzzle.
Sounds like a great move. I’ve often wished for your newsletter in monologue form to hear the snark and sarcasm.
Yes Q+A would be great. What are your favorites mountains? If you were to buy a ski condo, where would you buy? Where is the ski industry going in the next 5 years? Where are the hidden gems? What resorts are putting in the most into infrastructure?
Stuart, I wish you all the best in the alterations to a wonderful garment. The Tuxedo of ski publications. Speaking strictly for me, I like the written word. As the NYT recently published, readers are becoming rara avis, succumbing to mind numbing bytes from social media - perhaps better described as dysocial media - and that the whole Truth.
I am, and always will be, a reader and writer first. The writing will always be the heart of The Storm. But I need to make sure the world isn’t leaving the pub behind. Maybe I can use the short-form
pod to drive a few watchers back to the written part!
I like the direction you are heading. I am planning my next season adventures and worried about the El Niño that is developing that will impact skiing and conditions this year. Pacific NW and the northern rockies could be in for another dismal season from what I have seen. Finding the right source(s) to discuss this topic would benefit your audience. Keep up the good work. Also I appreciate your insight to dealing with a MRI. Even with relaxation prescriptions I still have problems going through the MRI process.
Yeah this is def a chance to get folks from Open Snow and other platforms on to help us with macro-trends. To another comment’s point above, I’m not going to get too involved with weather, storm-chasing, or mountain ops issues (broken lifts etc). The broad topics will be the stuff I analyze now - passes, infrastructure, consolidation, owners and managers and who’s creating a great experience. Thanks for the feedback.
You could report on why ski areas feel compelled to pay OpenSnow to forecast when their weather embeded into ski area websites is often unreadable, misleading, and lacks pertinent details on where on the mountain or what times the forecasts are for. NOAA is consistently a better source for weather, and it is free. I may have been spoiled getting mountain weather forecasts at Bridger Bowl and now it seems like most other ski areas don't put any effort into forecasting, reporting current weather, or writing a snow report that has any detail or truth to it beyond "get ready for another sunny day on the slopes!". Marketing teams don't seem to understand that managing expectations can be more helpful to their business than building hype.
Yeah that's exactly the sort of larger trend story I would look at around weather, rather than focusing on storm watches etc.
Thank you Stuart for all your great work. It’s trulybappreciated. Your proposed changes all sound great.
Sounds great, looking forward to it! From its inception, I've enjoyed the Storm as a replacement for the demise of Ski and Skiing in print. The Storm has always read as an objective, informative, and fun capture of skiing. Shorter, but more frequent content with some interaction would certainly be interesting.
Good move. I'm an OG groupie of the Storm, and I only listen to the pods when I am on the road, and even then, only about resorts or passes I am likely to ski. There are some really great people who would be a delight to interview, along with breaking news. Your strength is in analysis and lively writing. You're reading the room right, methinks. A lot better than Darth Katz did in his latest press release, for damn sure. (I cannot comment without trashing VR). There is a wide open lane to deliver ski news that is not simple regurgitating of press releases. As for the physical maladies, get used to it, whippersnapper. I loathe the MRI machine almost as much as I loathe packed gondy cabins at Whistler.
This is. at its best, a great addition (an American version of the Ski Podcast out of mostly Europe that you guested on last season)... The key perhaps is to avoid too much weather and don't over focus on the big resorts out West at the expense of the North East or cool niche places like Hately Pointe).
I guess I am the world's biggest high intermediate ski nut but I really like the long form podcast which really cannot be long enough or in depth enough for me and is why I am here...
For sure, and I believe this format will actually allow me to focus MORE on small ski areas. Take a guy like Mike Taylor at Holiday Mountain, NY, who’s doing an incredible job rebuilding an almost-lost area. I text or talk to Mike all the time, but he’s only been on the pod once. This would give me a chance to check in with him far more often. I have dozens of relationships like that. And don’t worry - I will still do long-form! Just fewer. Thanks for the feedback.
So when are you going to book His Holiness Two Buddha, Prophet and Founder of the Holy Church of Vail?
Here is my issue. I do not watch podcasts, ever. The information density is too small, among other things. But I like transcripts, even if only lightly edited. Quite a few Substacks manage to provide such transcripts. Please consider doing that.
Actually - turns out I am a first-rate dumbass and the transcripts HAVE NOT been appearing for a while. I must have missed a settings change. Anyway, I'm going through and making all the transcripts visible now. Every episode after 90 or so SHOULD have a transcript, but give me a beat to go through them all. Thanks for flagging this issue.
Very much appreciated!!
I already do! There should be a “trancript” tab at the top of each pod. If it’s not appearing for you, let me know so I can look into my settings!