Page 34 - the NOISE January 2015

Businessnews
FlagsTaFF nordic cenTer
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business owner Wendell Johnson readying the Flagstaff Nordic Center
for the first snow of the season.
“The biggest obstacle at the Flagstaff Nordic Center is obvious: the weather. Another struggle at the Nordic center is that not many people do what we do in Arizona,” Mr. Johnson says. “Almost every piece of equipment I get I have to figure out how to repair myself or run up to Colorado to get parts. Snow Bowl has been a good neighbor in that they have a lot of similar stuff and we can call them and see if they have a part.”
Now, after a decade of owning and operating the Flagstaff Nordic Center Mr. Johnson says the business is at a place where it sustains itself. “It’s cyclic and with the long view it all works out. It’s just about being able to run through those cycles.”
Turning the Flagstaff Nordic Center into a year round operation has been a large part of making the business sustainable.
Last year the Flagstaff Nordic Center began renting out Fat Tire bikes that traverse a variety of terrain including snow. “It’s so much fun when it’s snowing,” Mr. Johnson relates. “Last year the snow bikes were a blast. Half of our trails were covered with snow, and half weren’t, so it was perfect for snow biking. People who had never tried it before, tried it and loved it.”
Another recent addition to the Flagstaff Nordic Center are small cabins and Yurts that are available for camping during the summer and winter and are placed along the trails.
Small yurts, cabins, and larger yurts are all fitted with wood burning stoves and basic amenities: table and chairs, an outdoor propane stove, lantern, sleeping pads (in smaller yurts,) a full size off-the-floor pad and bunk beds (in cabins) and bunk beds and a futon (in larger yurts.)
Coyote and Aspen yurt, larger in size, are placed at the edge of a meadow that opens to a view of Kendrick Peak. A small yurt and the furthest out on the trail, the Morning Glory, may provide the best view of all. High up and far away, this small yurt is set in a picturesque meadow and the front door of the yurt opens to a view of the San Francisco Peaks. It’s a trek to get there, but well worth the view.
TEL. 928-220-0550 • Flagstaffnordiccenter.com
| Clair Anna Rose has her eye on the Coyote yurt for her winter destination vacation. editor@thenoise.us
The drive to the Flagstaff Nordic Center from downtown Flagstaff is an easy, scenic drive along highway 180, through the pines and scattered
aspens. On an overcast December day the wind is blow- ing furiously, and the air feels much colder than it really is. Typical of Flagstaff, the previous day was a t-shirt wearing, yard-work and sun basking spring-like day and the next so cold that leaving the house without a jacket is regrettable.
Outside of the Flagstaff Nordic Center the clouds are moving swiftly across the sky as the sun tries to break through small patches of blue. Snow is predicted to fall in the wee hours of the morning and by now, almost anyone you ask is praying for the first real snow of the season.
Flagstaff Nordic Center owner Wendell Johnson is among those hoping for snow, but has found a way to make the Flagstaff Nordic Center a year-round operation and succeed even during drier winters. In addition to winter activities: cross-country skiing, skate skiing and snow shoeing, the Flagstaff Nordic Center hosts special events: weddings, family reunions, team building, running events, group camp outs and can accommodate up to 400 people for special events. On August 22, 2015 the Flagstaff Nordic Center will host the Gaspin’ in the Aspen Summer Woods Run.
The Flagstaff Nordic Center has over 25 miles of ski trails nestled in the Ponderosa Pine forest, with Aspen groves and open meadows that showcase views of the San Francisco Peaks. In a yurt beside the lodge are racks of cross country skis, skate skis, snow shoes and other rental gear for exploring the trail system. A new addition to the Flagstaff Nordic Center rental inventory is their Fat Tire bikes that handle well in a variety of conditions. Ski lessons are available in private and group formats.
The lodge welcomes guests and provides a place for warming up in front of the wood burning stove. It also has running water and coin operated showers for guests.
Mr. Johnson tells me about how he first came to Flagstaff. “I had done a lot of engineering, traveling the world working on Power plants,” Mr. Johnson tells me. “I started a company that was energy based in Tempe, sold it and then my wife and I looked around and were wondering where
we wanted to live. At that time I was consulting on my own. I had a lot of Arizona clients and I could live anywhere in Arizona. We were always up here anyway, so it was natural that we gravitated towards Flagstaff.”
Mr. Johnson had a plan to continue his consulting business and also to buy and renovate old properties.
When he had a gap in his consulting business he began working at Snow Bowl. When he saw the job description for grooming trails at the Flagstaff Nordic Center it sounded more exciting, adventurous and the hours of solitude in the forest grooming the snow suited him well.
“The Flagstaff Nordic Center was up for sale at the time,” Mr. Johnson recalls. “I wasn’t thinking about buying it, but when you’re there every day you start to think of how you might manage it. We ended up purchasing it in 2004.”
The first year he owned the Flagstaff Nordic Center there was snow from the middle of October through the middle of April. “From a skiing standpoint that was great, from a business standpoint it wasn’t,” explains Mr. Johnson. “We never had the time to implement any improvements and we were scrambling the whole time. One of our big issues was that we didn’t have reliable electricity and I ended up having to rewire everything.”
“We didn’t really make that much money the first year, because even though we had a lot of snow, we didn’t capitalize on it because we didn’t have the ability to move a lot of people through there,” Mr. Johnson remembers.
A year of abundant snowfall was followed by a very dry winter with only one week of snow which fell in March. Even though the following year brought only one week of snow, the Flagstaff Nordic Center had a big turnout during that week. “The thing that was really neat with the second year was that it was like the Flagstaff community just wanted us to succeed,” Mr. Johnson says. “People came out of the woodwork to support us, they bought skis and you knew there was only going to be skiing for another week. We had great sales because the community just wanted to support us. As a business it’s good to know that there are people out there that want you to succeed and they’ll do something to help.”
Mr. Johnson used that second year to make improvements to the Flagstaff Nordic center. “We kept people employed and implemented a lot of improvements that we saw come to fruition the next year,” he says. “The next year we didn’t have a big snow year, but at least it began in December.”
Since those first years, the Flagstaff Nordic Center has seen consistency since some winters provide more snow than others, but Mr. Johnson looks at his business from a long view. “Projects done this year may not see returns until two years down the line, but improvements made in years past are paying off now,” he says.
Mr. Johnson discusses the successes and challenges of being a small business owner. “The biggest success is that we get a really solid group of people that support us,” he says.
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