by
Jeffrey C. Brunskill and Christopher A. Badurek
Department of Geography
University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Property developer and investor Stone Barrington has just returned from a trip to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Park City, Utah. During the months prior, he had been analyzing potential investments for clients in the Northeast, but was having difficulty identifying attractive real-estate ventures with mass-market appeal. The excitement of the young crowd, the intensity of the athletes, and the media coverage demonstrated that snowboarding was a rapidly growing sport with great potential for continued growth. In fact, Stone was so impressed with the event that he decided to look into developing property for the sport as his next major project; this was a solid commercial opportunity that, if done correctly, had the potential to attract the attention of some of his more adventurous clients. To gauge interest in the project, he decided to develop a proposal for a special snowboarding resort based in Upstate New York for his northeastern clients. Stone knew that he had to convince Wilfred Drake III, the leader of this client group, to support him at this month’s investors’ meeting in order to get the project off the ground.
| Drake: | Stone, great to have you back in our boardroom this morning. It’s always a pleasure to see you pitch your ideas. I heard you were on vacation. How was your trip to the Olympics in Utah? |
| Stone: | Thank you, Mr. Drake, it’s great to be back. Park City was a great place to visit, but the first few days were rather uneventful. The opening ceremony was somewhat moving, and the men’s 5000-meter speed skating trials were certainly worth the price of admission. But, overall, my Olympic experience was nothing really worth writing home about until I found a truly inspiring event that I will talk about today at this meeting…. |
| Drake: | OK, let’s get this meeting called to order then! Attention everyone! Today, Mr. Barrington is giving us an overview of his new ideas for property development. Stone, the floor is yours. |
| Stone: | Thanks, Mr. Drake. It’s great to be here speaking to you all again. I’d like to tell you about a great new opportunity in Upstate New York, specifically the viability of a new snowboarding park. I was inspired to develop this potential investment opportunity for you after seeing an impressive contest at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. On day four of the events, I found myself in the noisy throng of 16,000 rowdy spectators for the finish of the Women’s Halfpipe Snowboarding Competition. The USA’s Kelly Clark had the last run of the day. With a good run, Clark had a solid chance to overtake Dorian Vidal of France and Fabienne Reutuler of Switzerland, currently in first and second in the competition, respectively. Waiting for Clark to make the final run, I surveyed the frenzied hometown crowd that was oblivious to the forceful Rockies’ wind and bitter cold temperatures. The fans stood behind the fenced-in area along the sides of the U-shaped halfpipe and along the fenced-in finish area at the bottom of the descent. This halfpipe was an impressive open tunnel of hard-packed snow, 525 feet long and 17 feet deep. The spectators surrounding the halfpipe were electric from the fabulous stunts the contestants had been pulling throughout the competition. The previous 23 riders had performed well, but reigning champ Vidal had the best run of the day. In this competition, five judges award up to 10 points in each of the following areas: technique, rotation, height, landings, and technical merit. The rider with the highest score wins. Vidal was leading with a high score of 43.0 that featured smooth riding, but fell on her only attempt at the difficult 720 air trick. Clark, the eighteen-year-old boarder, had one final chance on the last run of the competition. In order to come from behind and steal the gold, she would certainly need to land a big trick like the one missed by Vidal. Suddenly, the Guns ’N’ Roses song “Welcome to the Jungle” blared across the competition area and the crowd grew even more frantic as Clark descended from the chute. She began zigzagging down the pipe, crisply sliding up the 15 feet walls and nearly 10 feet more up into the air before smoothly landing. She had impressed the judges with the height she had reached up into the air, gaining many points in this category. She next pulled off the spectacular McTwist trick, rotating 540 degrees in a backwards direction while performing a front flip, and then landing going forward. With the crowd cheering her on, she next attempted the very difficult trick needed to win the gold, the 720 Air. Launching herself up the pipe and over, she rotated 720 degrees, the equivalent of two full spins, before calmly nailing the landing. As she glided into the finish area, the crowd around the fences erupted in excitement as she had completed arguably one of the best runs ever. Capping the dramatic finish, the judges gave her a score of 47.9 out of a possible 50 points, topping Vidal’s 43.0 to steal the victory. The exciting finish left a strong impression on me as Clark took home the first gold medal for the United States in 2002 and the first American gold medal in this event since… |
Mr. Drake, frowning, interrupts Stone in mid-sentence. | |
| Drake: | Stone, this is all very interesting, but is this really going to work? We’re here to make money, not to hear the latest fads for these crazy kids… |
| Stone: | I see your point, Mr. Drake. Following the Olympics, I investigated this idea further and quickly found the selling point I was looking for. I learned that while western ski resorts have obvious advantages over those in the east regarding the average length of ski runs, the shorter runs in the east typically fostered more refined technical abilities. The skiing/boarding mentality produced by the east coast environment also lends itself to the technical aspects of snowboarding, particularly halfpipe competition. This is a sport that has grown tremendously since its inception as an Olympic event in 1998. Although many of the nearly 50 ski resorts in the state of New York offer facilities for boarders, only a few cater directly to snowboarding as a sport. Since there is an existing support infrastructure, I propose the purchase and modification of an existing resort to specifically cater to the interests of snowboarders. Redeveloping an existing resort would offer investors the benefit of an established workforce, restaurants and lodgings, and a civic environment suitable for continued investment and development. I have identified eight potential New York ski resorts here in my preliminary proposal. |
| Drake: | Well, this looks promising, Stone. I admit you’ve picked many winners in the past and we’re willing to give you a shot. What’s the next step? |
| Stone: | In order to complete the analysis we need a series of thorough site investigations to determine the optimal choice. Several independent consulting firms would carry out the site investigations. If you agree to support the initial cost of these analyses, I assure you we’ll be rewarded with a great payoff. |
Suddenly wary of the added expense, the group collectively begins to grumble to each other, shaking their heads in displeasure. | |
| Drake: | Stone, as you know, the market is down and we can’t afford to take another loss. If we agree to fund the competing proposals, we need you to deliver the best resort possible. Don’t let us down! |
| Stone: | Well, I have several good consulting groups in mind. I’ve already contacted a few to provide us with an analysis of the best location to develop this park. I’ve given them my instructions and they should be back to us in about four weeks with their final reports. |
The preliminary report prepared by Stone’s team identified eight New York ski resorts as potentially viable options for investment. However, further investigation is needed to identify the most suitable location and to secure the optimal return on the initial venture. Your task is threefold:
As a basis for your analysis, a variety of information sources have been made available to your group (available on the data CD). This includes statewide census data on population, income, education and labor, interstate highways, annual snowfall, and site-specific data including digital elevation models (DEM), orthophotos, and 1:24,000 topographic maps for each individual ski resort. Spatial analysis and map production will be completed using geographic information system (GIS) software and associated tools. You also have access on the CD to the individual websites of the ski resorts. A more detailed description of the data sources and analysis methods follows.
Develop a written report (approximately 5 to 7 pages, 12 point font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins) discussing your decision criteria, spatial analysis, and suggestions for investment. Include printouts of all maps necessary to make your argument (reference the maps in the text and include as an appendix). In order to model a business report and to standardize student reports, please organize your paper in the following manner:
Note that most public printers print only in black and white. Black and white (grayscale) maps are acceptable. However, make sure that the color scale you use produces useful maps in which different data classifications can be easily identified.
Date Posted: 11/26/04 nas
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