Over the holiday break, I decided to turn a couple of leisure trips into business. First up, meeting with the marketing director of Diamond Peak Ski Resort. I had been monitoring them via Twitter leading up to their opening day - December 17th. Ski and snowboard fans experienced some great fun, trivia and contests. Did they work? Let’s find out.

1. First up, their “30 Day Countdown to Open Trivia Contest” that awarded one lucky winner of the trivia question of the day - Free All Day Lift Pass.

The contest ran for 30 days and increased their web traffic by 110% and a 13% increase in Facebook fans. In such a competitive landscape, Diamond Peak for sure marked this as a WIN.

2. With over 15 ski resorts in the Tahoe region, Diamond Peak gets innovative. Next up, Last Tracks Wine Tasting. The resort sales a limited amount of tickets every Saturday for those who want to enjoy the beautiful views of Lake Tahoe while tasting fine wines and tasty appetizers. Afterward, guests ski, telemark or snowboard down a freshly groomed blue corduroy run to the bottom (Ummm, I’d pay extra for that).

Why does this work? Because they took advantage of a feature that other resorts can’t compete with - The Diamond Peak Resort view of Lake Tahoe. We also spoke about a new concept “Early up powder.” Reminds me of the extended Disney Theme Park hours.

Well done!