A New Hampshire ski resort bets on tech to compete with industry giants

JACKSON, N.H. (AP) — A skier since age 4, Thomas Brennick now enjoys regular trips to New Hampshire’s Black Mountain with his two grandchildren.

“It’s back to the old days,” he said from the Summit Double chairlift on a recent sunny Friday. “It's just good, old-time skiing at its best.”

Behind the scenes, the experience is now propelled by a high-tech system designed to increase efficiency at the state’s oldest ski area. And while small, independent resorts can’t compete on infrastructure or buying power with conglomerates like Vail, which owns nearby Attitash Mountain Resort and seven others in the Northeast alone, at least one entrepreneur is betting technology will be “a really great equalizer.”

That businessman is Erik Mogensen, who bought Black Mountain last year and turned it into a lab for his ski mountain consultancy, Entabeni Systems. The company builds systems that put lift tickets sales, lesson reservations and equipment rentals online while collecting detailed data to inform decisions such as where to make more snow and how much.

“A lot of general managers will go out and look at how many rows of cars are parked, and that’s kind of how they tell how busy they are,” Mogensen said. “We really want to look at that transactional data down to the deepest level.”

That includes analyzing everything from the most popular time to sell hot dogs in the lodge to how many runs a season pass holder makes per visit.

“The large operators, they can do a lot of things at scale that we can’t. They can buy 20 snow cats at a time, 10 chairlifts, those types of things. We can’t do that, but we’re really nimble,” Mogensen said. “We can decide to change the way we groom very quickly, or change the way we open trails, or change our (food and beverage) menu in the middle of a day.”

Mogensen, who says his happiest moments are tied to skiing, started Entabeni Systems in 2015, driven by the desire to keep the sport accessible. In 2023, he bought the company Indy Pass, which allows buyers to ski for two days each at 230 independent ski areas, including Black Mountain. It's an alternative to the Epic and Ikon multi-resort passes offered by the Vail and Alterra conglomerates.

Black Mountain was an early participant in Indy Pass. When Mogensen learned it was in danger of closing, he was reminded of his hometown's long-gone ski area. He bought Black Mountain aiming to ultimately transform it into a cooperative.

Many Indy Pass resorts also are clients of Entabeni Systems, including Utah's Beaver Mountain, which bills itself as the longest continuously-run family owned mountain resort in the U.S.

Kristy Seeholzer, whose husband’s grandfather founded Beaver Mountain, said Entabeni streamlined its ticketing and season pass system. That led to new, lower-priced passes for those willing to forgo skiing during holiday weeks or weekends, she said.

“A lot of our season pass holders were self-limiting anyway. They only want to ski weekdays because they don’t want to deal with weekends,” she said. “We could never have kept track of that manually."

Though she is pleased overall, Seeholzer said the software can be challenging and slow.

“There are some really great programs out there, like on the retail side of things or the sales side of things. And one of the things that was a little frustrating was it felt like we were reinventing the wheel,” she said.

Sam Shirley, 25, grew up skiing in New Hampshire and worked as a ski instructor and ski school director in Maine while attending college. But he said increasing technology has drastically changed the way he skis, pushing him to switch mostly to cross-country.

“As a customer, it’s made things more complicated,” he said. "It just becomes an extra hassle.”

Shirley used to enjoy spur-of-the-moment trips around New England, but has been put off by ski areas reserving lower rates for those who buy tickets ahead. He doesn’t like having to provide detailed contact information, sometimes even a photograph, just to get a lift ticket.

It's not just independent ski areas that are focused on technology and data. Many others are using lift tickets and passes embedded with radio frequency identification chips that track skiers' movements.

Vail resorts pings cell phones to better understand how lift lines are forming, which informs staffing decisions, said John Plack, director of communications. Lift wait times have decreased each year for the past three years, with 97% under 10 minutes this year, he said.

“Our company is a wildly data-driven company. We know a lot about our guest set. We know their tastes. We know what they like to ski, we know when they like to ski. And we’re able to use that data to really improve the guest experience,” he said.

That improvement comes at a cost. A one-day lift ticket at Vail's Keystone Resort in Colorado sold for $292 last week. A season pass cost $418, a potentially good deal for diehard skiers, but also a reliable revenue stream guaranteeing Vail a certain amount of income even as ski areas face less snow and shorter winters.

The revenue from such passes, especially the multi-resort Epic Pass, allowed the company to invest $100 million in snowmaking, Plack said.

“By committing to the season ahead of time, that gives us certainty and allows us to reinvest in our resorts," he said.

Mogensen insists bigger isn’t always better, however. Lift tickets at Black Mountain cost $59 to $99 per day and a season's pass is about $450.

“You don’t just come skiing to turn left and right. You come skiing because of the way the hot chocolate tastes and the way the fire pit smells and what spring skiing is and what the beer tastes like and who you’re around,” he said. “Skiing doesn’t have to be a luxury good. It can be a community center.”

Brennick, the Black Mountain lift rider who was skiing with his grandchildren, said he has noticed a difference since the ski area was sold.

“I can see the change,” he said. “They're making a lot of snow and it shows.”

Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

Skiers and snowboarders ride a lift at Keystone Ski Resort in Keystone, Colo., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Skiers and snowboarders ride a lift at Keystone Ski Resort in Keystone, Colo., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Skiers and snowboarders ride a lift at Keystone Ski Resort in Keystone, Colo., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Skiers and snowboarders make their way down a run at Keystone Ski Resort in Keystone, Colo., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A skier makes their way down a mogul run at Keystone Ski Resort in Keystone, Colo., Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Skiers enjoy their lunch on picnic tables outside the Alpine Cabin, a mid-slope refreshment stop, at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Skier Bill Eppich, of Hanover, Mass., uses a computer display to order lunch at the Alpine Cabin, a mid-slope refreshment stop, at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Cars are parked near a lift at the base of the Black Mountain ski area, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Lift attendant Veronica Crespo Jimenez scans a skier's pass, which are embedded with an RFID chip, at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Empty champagne bottles are displayed at the Alpine Cabin, a mid-slope refreshment stop, as skiers ride the lift to the summit at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Skiers ride downhill at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A digital terminal displays the Black Mountain logo at the lift ticket point of sale location at the base of the mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A skier wearing shorts heads down a trail as a rider takes a chair lift to the summit at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Erik Mogensen, right, founder of Entabeni Systems and the general manager of Black Mountain, talks with engineers in a temporary hardware and software technical center at the base of the mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Erik Mogensen, founder of Entabeni Systems and the general manager of Black Mountain, is interviewed slope side at the mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Lift attendant Veronica Crespo Jimenez uses a handheld device to scan a skier's pass, which is embedded with an RFID chip, at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Skiers head down a trail at Black Mountain, Friday, March 14, 2025, in Jackson, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — Tuesday's special elections for two Florida congressional seats in heavily pro-Trump districts have become an unexpected source of concern for national Republicans as Democrats have poured millions in fundraising into the races.

Both seats opened when President Donald Trump chose their representatives for jobs in his second administration. Matt Gaetz was briefly nominated to be Trump's attorney general before withdrawing, while Mike Waltz became national security adviser.

Florida state Sen. Randy Fine, running for Waltz's seat, and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, running to replace Gaetz, are widely expected to hold the seats in their reliably conservative districts, which would give Republicans a 220 to 213 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. House. But both have been outraised by their Democratic counterparts, and Republicans in Florida and Washington have begun trying to distance themselves from any potential underperformance.

Fine has attached himself closely to Trump. He texted The Associated Press on Monday a post on the social platform X from Trump, who encouraged voters to turn out for Fine on Election Day and said Fine was an “incredible fighter.”

The president amplified his message in a Tuesday post on his Truth Social platform.

“Randy Fine has my Complete and Total Endorsement! Election Day is TODAY. GET OUT AND VOTE FOR RANDY — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!,” the post said.

Special elections are often low-turnout events that can lead to surprising results. But anything other than blowout victories in either district would be noteworthy.

In the November election, Gaetz won the 1st Congressional District in Florida’s heavily conservative Panhandle by 32 percentage points. Waltz won the 6th Congressional District — which includes deeply red regions in northeastern Florida — by about 33 percentage points.

Both Patronis and Fine have been outspent and outraised by their Democratic opponents, Gay Valimont in District 1 and Josh Weil in District 6.

Valimont has raised about $6.5 million according to fundraising reports, versus Patronis’ $2.1 million. Weil has raised $9 million for his race, compared to about $1 million raised by Fine, according to his campaign contributions report.

Democrats credit the money raised in these races to grassroots support fueled by anger at the first two months of the second Trump administration.

This momentum is placing unexpected pressure on Fine, a self-described conservative firebrand who lives outside of the district. Fine said last week that he put $600,000 of his own money into the race.

Fine is known for his support of Israel and his efforts to restrict LGBTQ+ rights. Over the past few years, he has sparred with Gov. Ron DeSantis, recently during the Legislature's special session on immigration, and again in August when he criticized the governor's trip to Ireland, calling it an “antisemitic country" after the island nation recognized a Palestinian state.

DeSantis, who formerly represented the 6th Congressional District before becoming governor, said last week that he expects Fine to deliver an “underperformance" compared to the votes he and Trump got in that district. He called it a “reflection of the specific candidate running in that race” rather than a reflection on Trump.

“I think the district is so overwhelmingly Republican that it’s almost impossible for someone with an R by their name to lose that district, so I would anticipate (a) Republican candidate is still going to be successful,” DeSantis said.

Weil is an educator and single father with two boys who describes himself as a “proud progressive.” He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that was occupied by Republican Marco Rubio. Weil withdrew his candidacy before the primary in a crowded field that ended up nominating former Rep. Val Demings, who lost to Rubio.

He appeared at a Monday rally of about 100 volunteers, veterans, retired residents and even Republicans who decided to work in his campaign. He thanked the group for their support.

“Your voices are essential for me being able to serve you in Congress,” Weil said.

The crowd cheered and waved signs reading “A Teacher Representing You.”

Peter Schaper, a 34-year-old resident who lives with his parents in the Villages, said he voted for Weil because he is concerned about his parents being affected by any threats to Medicare and Social Security.

He said his dad has been on lots of medication since liver transplant surgery in 2017, and he is worried about the Trump administration potentially cutting parts of Medicare and Social Security.

“If God forbid something happened to Medicare or Social Security, as it looks like it might, I don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” Schaper said of his parents.

In Daytona Beach, 82-year-old Francis Allen said she has been voting for 30 years in every election, whether special or primary, and she believed it was important to turn out in this election because she heard it was going to be close.

Allen said she voted for Trump in November, because she believes he’s bringing this country in the right direction, and she voted for Fine because he’s “on the same wavelength” as Trump.

“I think it goes hand in hand. His (Trump) people are on the same wavelength he’s on. It’s like peanut butter and jelly,” Allen said.

North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, who heads the National Republican Congressional Committee, also acknowledged Fine should have stepped up his fundraising earlier but said he still expects him to win.

“I’m not concerned about margins,” Hudson said. “I mean, special elections are special.”

Associated Press writer Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Fla., contributed to this report.

Josh Weil talks to a group of supporters during a Get Out the Vote event in Ocala, Fla., Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)