Concessionare has new winter recreation ideas for park
MIKE STARK Billings Gazette | Posted: Thursday, December 8, 2005 12:00 am
When the winter season opens in Yellowstone National Park this month, visitors may be more likely to hear the swish of cross-country skis than the buzz of snowmobiles.
The business of Yellowstone in winter is undergoing a shift that seems less focused on resolving the long-standing dispute over snowmobiles and more about in adapting to a changing market.
Xanterra Parks and Resorts, the largest concessions company in Yellowstone, is offering a slew of new services this winter, including more groomed trails for cross-country skiing, ice skating near Old Faithful and massage therapy at Snow Lodge.
The company still offers snowmobile tours, but it's no longer the dominant force it once was in Yellowstone.
"It's a new day," said Rick Hoeninghausen, director of sales and marketing for Xanterra. "It'll never be what it was where the largest part of the market is snowmobilers coming in on their own sleds."
That shift has been nudged along by years of disagreement, study and lawsuits over snowmobiles in the park.
Under a temporary plan scheduled to last through next winter, up to 720 snowmobiles a day will be allowed into Yellowstone, and all riders must be accompanied by commercial guides. Meanwhile, the National Park Service is undergoing a third major study of the issue in the hope of creating a new, more permanent plan.
While the fight has continued in the courts and elsewhere, businesses have scrambled to survive.
Several companies in West Yellowstone have beefed up their fleets of snowcoaches and reduced their emphasis on snowmobiles.
Last year, snowmobiling was still the most popular way to see Yellowstone, but the numbers of sleds fell by 20 percent from the previous year, which was already much lower than the year before.
The number of snowcoach riders, however, grew by 16 percent.
West Yellowstone, which once billed itself the snowmobile capital of the world, is now promoting cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowcoaches along with snowmobiles.
The market and the services are diversifying and West Yellowstone is looking to preserve its position as a top stop for winter visitors, said Mary Sue Costello, director of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce.
"We want to get away from being any one thing," Costello said. "Basically if you can do it in the snow, you should come here."
A Yellowstone ski festival drew more than 1,000 people recently to West Yellowstone, a sign that there continues to be interest in the miles of trails around town. A new snowshoe trail near Hebgen Lake is also getting some attention.
Machines are still part of the town's business. Marketers are emphasizing the educational value of guided snowmobile or snowcoach tours in Yellowstone and the vast stretches of snowmobile trails outside the park, where guides are not required.
Still, local businesses have suffered with the dramatic decline in snowmobiling business and ongoing uncertainty about what the Park Service will and won't allow in Yellowstone in the future.
"There's considerable apprehension," Costello said. "No one's sure what the market will be and how to enhance that market."
Xanterra is pinning its hope on a new kind of winter tourist, one that's interested in seeing Yellowstone in a variety of ways.
The company will groom cross-country trails near Old Faithful, Mammoth, Canyon and Tower. Some areas will feature both ski skating lanes along with trails for more traditional stride skiing.
Ski and snowshoe classes and shuttles will be offered along with snowmobile and snowcoach tours and educational programs.
The winter atmosphere is also taking on a more resort-like feel with the addition of massage services at Snow Lodge.
So far, reservations this year are up about 10 percent over last year's lackluster turnout. Hoeninghausen said Xanterra's latest changes are just the opening steps in an attempt to keep Yellowstone's winter visitors happy.
What hasn't changed, he said, is the allure of the park in the winter - howling wolves, shaggy bison, steaming geysers and the quiet of snow piled deep and far. The place sells itself.
"It's like no other time of year," Hoeninghausen said.