The Golden City is shining like a diamond in the eyes of the media.
Fresh off winning Powder Magazine's North America-wide Ski Town Throwdown, Rossland is garnering more attention nationally and in one of the largest newspapers in the U.S.
The New York Times travel section listed Rossland number-eight overall in its feature of “46 places to go in 2013.”
Meanwhile Canada AM, the long-running national morning show on CTV, is coming to Rossland for the winter carnival on Jan. 25.
“We're on a really good roll with all this stuff now,” said Deanne Steven, executive director for Tourism Rossland.
“It really does make a big difference when you have something new to talk about. Combine that with the fact that our downtown has never looked better. It has exceeded everybody's expectations.
“People have been super upbeat here and it's showing.”
The New York Times article is just the latest acknowledgement of Rossland's appeal.
Steven explained that in October’s ski show circuit, Tourism BC organized a series of interviews between tourism representatives and reporters in Seattle.
“It's kinda like speed-dating with journalists.”
She credited the terrain expansion at Red Mountain Resort as the hook that caught the writers' attention.
“We were the only ski resort that had anything new to announce. So it was really a lot easier for us to sell our great story.”
Rio de Janeiro, Marseille, Nicaragua, Ghana, Bhutan, Amsterdam and Houston were rated ahead of Rossland in the New York Times list that also includes such exotic locales as Istanbul, New Delhi, Koh Phangan and Hawaii.
New York Times reporter Christopher Solomon said Rossland was set to “step into the spotlight,” of ski destinations.
“Long known for its steeps, tree-skiing and out-of-the-way location (it’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Spokane) that leaves its lift mazes empty and led Skiing magazine last year to call it the 'most underrated' resort, Red has embarked on a two-year project that will add nearly 1,000 acres on neighbouring Grey Mountain. This winter a 10-dollar ride in a snowcat will haul skiers from Red to Grey to enjoy a few runs that have been cut as well as glade skiing,” wrote Solomon in the Jan. 11 edition of the Times.
“Next winter a new quad chair will access 22 new slopes around the conical peak. Suddenly Red’s trail map will stretch as wide as Jackson Hole’s inbounds terrain,” he added.
Steven said the Times travel writer is expected to visit the area sometime in the next few months for another story.
And while New Yorkers are reading about Rossland's charm, eastern Canada viewers will be waking up to its annual celebration on Jan. 25 when Canada AM broadcasts live from downtown at the start of the Rossland Winter Carnival.
“That's another one we've been working with Tourism BC on,” said Steven. “We've been pitching stories to them for about a month and we keep coming up with crazier and crazier ideas. I don't think they believed us.”
She said one plan is to have all the bobsleds for the annual race lined up downtown like a show and shine event.
However, the one hurdle facing the city is accommodating the eastern Canada viewers for the morning show.
“It's live for eastern Canadian time so it starts at 2:30 a.m., and goes until 6 a.m.”
So Steven has been charged with the task of ensuring a strong turnout fills the streets of Rossland during the telecast.
She has lined up 16 retailers to open their doors during those wee hours on Jan. 25. There will also be over $4,000 in gift certificates from those retailers to hand out in draws.
“It's going to be a massive shopping spree,” she said.
Steven is also planning a promotion involving non-profit societies. If the groups can bring out 50 or more people during the broadcast, a donation will be made to their society.
“We're trying to get
everybody involved.”
She explained there would be shifts involved for the groups so they wouldn't have to stay for the entire broadcast. Their only task would be to mingle, visit the stores and keep the streets looking busy.
Even though a renown ski magazine, a world-recognized newspaper and a nationally-televised morning show have come calling in just the last few weeks, there could be more international publicity on the horizon.
Steven said last week a group of eight journalists from Germany visited the region and more are expected.
“We always get inundated with media but it seems like this year has been even better.”
She credited the domino effect of all the current publicity as well as the on-going effort to promote Rossland around the world.
“I think it's the fact that we've been plugging away at this for six years now and we're all kinda really gelling all the different groups and working nicely together.”