It wasn"t long ago when a nice mountain of snow, a rope tow, maybe some inner tubes and a thermos of hot chocolate was all you needed to get started in this business. And there was just a special feeling you"d get from standing atop that mountain ready to begin your run.

Now lift-ticket sales alone won"t even come close to covering the investment needed to run resorts today. And if you consider the actual number of skiers and snowboarders has increased very little during the last decade resorts are being forced to expand. And expansion doesn"t just mean more ski runs and snack bars.

Mammoth Mountain has put $150 million in capital investment in their resort over the last 10 years. And just last week, Starwood Capital bought controlling interest and plans to expand with additional hotels. Because it"s the hotels, condominiums, restaurants and clubs that are bringing in the additional revenue they require. Revenue that once was generated during a few winter months is now coming in all year long.

To successfully turn a day of skiing into a ski vacation you need to provide the whole package. At Snowmass that means building an entire village to go with your mountain. Intrawest and the Aspen Skiiing Co. are teaming up to the tune of $400 million to make that very thing happen. Construction is scheduled to begin next spring and will ultimately include conference space, retail and restaurant space and condominiums, many of which have already been sold.

Ski resorts around the world are now experiencing a Las Vegas type transition. People used to go to Vegas just to gamble. Now with larger resorts, spas, shopping, shows and adventure tours it"s not uncommon for someone to visit that town without ever putting a quarter in a slot machine. And although there are ski areas that do survive without all the bells and whistles more often you will hear about people visiting Mammoth, Aspen, Vail and the like without ever stepping foot atop the mountain.