Powder Mountain’s Ascent to Modern Collaboration

Powder Mountain, North America’s largest ski resort by skiable acreage, is modernizing to enhance its internal operations and prepare for future growth. Part of this effort was upgrading to Google Workspace from Microsoft Office 365, a pivotal move facilitated by UpCurve Cloud. 

This transition was initiated by Reed Hastings, Powder Mountain’s majority owner and co-founder of Netflix, who had used Google Workspace at Netflix and was very familiar with all of the collaborative and other benefits the productivity suite offers.  

The upgrade enhanced efficiency, improved data security and accessibility, and fostered a more connected work environment. It enabled workers to be more responsive to guest needs, communicate better around weather-related issues, and led to overall business improvements.

A Unique Mountain Destination

Nestled in Eden, Utah, Powder Mountain is a leading destination in the North American ski landscape, with over 8,000 acres of skiable terrain. Powder Mountain has historically prided itself on offering an uncrowded experience, a key differentiator that resonates with skiers and snowboarders seeking a more serene retreat.

This commitment to a less congested environment reflects a broader philosophy centered on the quality of the guest experience. Recent developments signal an exciting new chapter for Powder Mountain. An investment of $100 million by Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, has paved the way for a transformative 10-year development partnership with Meriwether Companies, a leading resort developer.

Technology plays an increasingly vital role in Powder Mountain’s operations. The resort utilizes systems like Axess for managing ski passes and ticketing logistics, and leverages Shopify to enhance its e-commerce capabilities. Google Workspace is a large piece of Powder Mountain’s tech stack for day-to-day operations.

The Challenge

Supporting Internal Growth and Keeping Guests Happy

Powder Mountain needed better technology as it grew. They had issues with legacy systems that slowed things down by impeding collaboration. It was really important for disparate staff to be able to collaborate with each other easily. They also needed a secure place to store their data. Since the resort has busy and slow times depending on the season, they needed tools that could work with changing numbers of staff. In the end, making sure staff can work together well makes the guests happier and more likely to return. They also needed a solution that could work with the various business units, including the resort and real estate developments. 

The Solution

Choosing Google Workspace and Partnering with UpCurve Cloud

In its pursuit of modern collaboration tools, Powder Mountain strategically opted for Google Workspace, recognizing its numerous advantages over alternative solutions like Microsoft 365 – mostly due to the past positive experience of its majority owner at his former company, Netflix. 

A key factor in this decision was Google Workspace’s intuitive and user-friendly interface, which promotes ease of adoption among employees, with many of them already being familiar with Gmail and other Google services. The cloud-based nature of Google Workspace provides accessibility from any device, at any time, which is particularly beneficial for a business with geographically distributed teams and varying work schedules. 

Security is another crucial aspect, and Google Workspace offers robust features to protect company data. Recognizing the complexity of a comprehensive technology upgrade, Powder Mountain made the strategic decision to partner with UpCurve Cloud for the migration and implementation process. 

UpCurve Cloud holds the distinction of being a Google Premier Partner, and boasts a long-standing history as one of the earliest Google resellers, having sold its very first G Suite license in 2007. Since then, UpCurve Cloud has a proven track record of successfully completing over 5,000 Google Workspace and Google Cloud implementations, demonstrating expertise in guiding organizations through complex migrations.

Powder Mountain’s migration can easily be classed as an enterprise-level migration, with hundreds of seasonal workers and full-time, year-round employees. The Google Workspace migration marked the first time that seasonal workers had been onboarded to any productivity suite, and the IT staff found the whole process “really simple and straightforward.” 

Throughout the migration, UpCurve Cloud provided a concierge service for change management, including all the support they needed and training for staff. UpCurve also encouraged the use of a partner’s software, CloudM, to conduct a truly seamless transition. 

Benefits and Outcomes

Transforming Productivity and Collaboration

The implementation of Google Workspace by UpCurve Cloud has yielded significant positive outcomes for Powder Mountain. Improved communication is a primary advantage, with full use especially being made of Gmail, Google Chat, and Google Meet. Prior to the installation, everyone had access to Microsoft Teams, but people weren’t making full use of it. Google Meet is much easier to learn and use. 

Powder Mountain also makes full use of Google Spaces in Google Chat, which allow them to communicate with all of their stakeholders on the mountain when there’s a downtime that they need to be aware of, any kind of network issue, an application issue, or similar items. “Having that easy central point of communication is really nice, and it’s easy for folks to pay attention to it, as opposed to it being an email that gets buried in the other 100 emails that somebody receives in a day.” 

Having timely collaboration at Powder Mountain isn’t just a nice-to-have. The road to the resort can be treacherous, and alerting guests to issues is part of normal operations at the resort. With Google Workspace, one employee can instantly send out a notice to everyone, making the resort a safer and more pleasant place to be for guests and staff. 

In the future, the resort hopes to expand its use of the Gemini AI tools that Workspace offers to make operations even more efficient and fun for guests. Currently, the IT staff are using it to help organize and answer support requests, where it saves them quite a bit of time. 

A Catalyst for Success

The successful Google Workspace upgrade at Powder Mountain is a testament to the expertise and experience that UpCurve Cloud brought to the project. Powder Mountain staff cited not only the professionalism and speed of the migration as excellent, but the video resources that UpCurve supplied as being extremely valuable in providing quick answers to everyone from senior leadership to support staff.

Powder Mountain’s strategic upgrade to Google Workspace, facilitated by the expert guidance of UpCurve Cloud, represents a significant step forward in its digital transformation journey. This move has equipped the resort with leading-edge AI-powered tools that position it for future growth and innovation. 

The enhanced communication, streamlined collaboration, and improved data accessibility offered by Google Workspace will contribute to increased efficiency across Powder Mountain’s diverse operations, ultimately enhancing the experience for both employees and guests. 

The successful partnership between Powder Mountain and UpCurve Cloud highlights the value of combining a forward-thinking technology platform with the expertise of a seasoned implementation partner. As Powder Mountain continues to evolve and invest in its unique vision, the solid foundation provided by Google Workspace will be instrumental in supporting its  goals and maintaining its standing as a premier skiing destination.