Brian Head Resort aims to keep skiers coming back — PHOTOS

Have you ever gone to a place so often that it becomes mundane? And then you return years later and rediscover why you went there in the first place?

That's how it was with Brian Head Resort in southern Utah. I learned to ski at Brian Head more than 20 years ago. One could easily go there for a weekend or day trip as Brian Head is less than three hours from Las Vegas.

I went there so often that I knew all the ski runs. But that wasn't difficult; back then, only three of the current eight chairlifts existed. Although it was always a fun time, I longed for something new — and bigger. So my husband and I started skiing at the larger resorts in the West, such as Mammoth and Heavenly. But more acreage comes at a steep price.

Last spring, we returned to Brian Head Resort for a weekend visit and were pleasantly surprised at the improvements. It felt like the same friendly Brian Head, just better.

In December 2014, Brian Head celebrated its 50th anniversary with the debut of a high-speed, detachable quad lift that replaced chair No. 2, a slow-moving triple-seat that took 11 minutes to reach the top of the run. Giant Steps Express carries skiers up the mountain in half the time.

The construction of the high-speed quad was the result of a guest survey taken by a new ownership group that bought the resort in 2012. But that wasn't the only change that the group, led by John Grissinger, put in place.

"John, the new owner, has helped create a new culture here that wasn't there before, and we're really seeing it in our guest experience," said public relations/marketing coordinator Austin Seymour, who came to the resort in 2012 and recently left for a job in Oregon. "That's what it's all about is getting the experience that they can't get elsewhere. And when they come, they want to come back."

That experience certainly rang true for Paige Gunnell, who was visiting the resort for her fourth time during the 2014-15 season with her friend Jillian Virgi. The women are students at Utah State University in Logan, north of Salt Lake City, an area with about a dozen ski resorts in a two-hour radius.

Brian Head has a reciprocal relationship with Beaver Mountain in Logan, meaning Gunnell could use her season pass at the northern Utah resort to ski three free days at the southern Utah resort.

"It's a fun mountain. It's good weather," Gunnell said. "The lifts aren't too long, but they're long enough. You get different variety. You can get big mountain stuff the higher you go, or you can stay right here and cruise in the (terrain) park."

"I like the employees here. They're tons of fun," Virgi said. "We rode (the lifts) the last three days and I feel like I know them."

"They're quick lifts. You can get a lot of runs in," Gunnell said.

Virgi added, "You're definitely tired by the end of the day."

And for those who aren't tired at sundown, there's night skiing. Tubing is available on the weekends.

But the customer experience doesn't end on the slopes. Part of the new culture is events that keep people on the mountain after the lifts close. During our weekend visit, those events included Cosmos on the Mountain (stargazing at Navajo Lodge), 5@5 ($5 dinner at 5 p.m. at Giant Steps Lodge) and a DJ, raffle prizes and live music at Last Chair Saloon.

"It's kind of that whole experience thing. It's not just about skiing on the slopes in the afternoon; it's about what you can do in Brian Head once the slopes close," Seymour said.

"We're offering the experience, the value that you just can't get anymore," he continued. "Skiing has become very exclusive, I think, and that's kind of the Vail resort model. You're paying $120 for a lift ticket on a Thursday and then $17 for a cheeseburger. And then if you want a cup of coffee that's another $6. It's become so exclusive."

A weekend full-day adult lift ticket at Brian Head will set you back $54 ($35 weekdays). Compare that to Mammoth Mountain Resort in California or Heavenly Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe, where single-day weekend tickets are more than $100. Mammoth and Heavenly are larger resorts, for sure, but for a beginner skier or large family, Brian Head is a great deal.

"In Utah, we have big families," Seymour said. "With the ski gear and then if you have a family of seven, to go skiing is a huge financial endeavor. Let alone the logistics of getting seven kids up here."

Utah accounts for 40 percent of Brian Head's market, with Las Vegas at 30 percent to 35 percent and Southern California at 20 percent.

"These people kind of forget that this is your backyard," Seymour said. "If you live in southern Utah or Las Vegas, this is your mountain and that's what we're really trying to brand. And it's very successful if you look at it that way.

"If I can get someone here, they're going to come back. They're getting the experience, the value that you don't get at other mountains."

The national standard of return for first-time skiers — or snowboarders — is 17 percent, which would be a killer for most businesses. The resort is trying to beat those odds with its Brian Head University, a risk-free program that guarantees it will have first-timers skiing or snowboarding in just three lessons. The $199 package includes three lessons, rentals and the Ski in Three or It's Free program.

"Once you complete the three lessons, you're able to ski all over Navajo (the resort's beginner terrain)," Seymour said.

"We give you a season pass for the rest of the year and then we give you 50 percent off of next year's season pass and 25 percent off the following year's season pass," he continued. "We're really trying to create a new generation of skiers. These are people who are going to have families someday, and we want Brian Head to have a place in their heart where they come to ski."

As part of its push for successful visitor turnover, Brian Head University debuted the Terrain Based Learning program during the 2014-15 season. The program introduces the sensation of skiing with small features such as rollers with a steep return wall, mini half-pipe and Nordic track with banked turns on a shallow hill.

SNOW Operating, which trademarked Terrain Based Learning, used Whistler Mountain in British Columbia, Canada, as a testing ground. That 17 percent of skier/snowboarder return visits went to 32 percent in the first year of trying it. So the program almost doubled the national average.

"It's a great learning program that we've seen very successful turnover. People try it once and they're like, 'This is really fun,' " Seymour said. "There's been a big increase in our first-time skier visits and now they want to come back. And then within three lessons they identify themselves as a skier."

The 2015-16 ski season is shaping up to be a good one for Western resorts, which haven't seen much snow in recent years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting this winter to trend wetter than average over much of the southern tier of the nation, from California into the Desert Southwest.

Brian Head Resort opened Nov. 20 with a base of 24 feet, courtesy of early snowfall and snow-making equipment.