Snow tourism destinations are facing several challenges in navigating through the evolving trends and issues related to climate change, demographic patterns, falling demand and ways into which experiences are constructed and consumed (Morellato, 2008; Steiger, 2011; Unbehaun, Pröbstl, Haider, 2008). Several ski hills in Northern BC as well as club fields in New Zealand are providing examples of old and new approaches where the local community is involved in the factory of winter leisure following a more sustainable development (Milne, Bremner & Delpero, 2006). In certain instances, local identity and social relationships are also wrought around the winter leisure creating what locals and visitors perceived as “authentic and welcoming atmosphere”.

Small ski areas serve as essential recreational spaces for individuals residing and working a few hours away, playing a pivotal role in amenity retention policies for remote areas. They contribute significantly to the development of future generations of skiers and snowboarders. Furthermore, ski hills are attracting savvy tourist who are drifting away from big resorts form many reasons.

The analysis of six ski areas in Northern BC and seven in New Zealand encompasses a range of management models, including non-profit, for-profit, hybrid organizations, and family-owned ski hills. The findings highlight the importance of associative and co-operative management models in fostering high levels of engagement, which can ultimately facilitate effective and sustainable community ownership.

The “community service co-operative” model allows individual and corporate memberships as potential sources of funding as well as the opportunity to compete for public funds. Other places are recently watching to this management model with growing interest. However, the mere adoption of a specific management model is not sufficient to ensure long-term success. It is crucial to understand key factors such as talent recruitment, volunteer retention, resource accessibility among diverse stakeholders. This seems to be the key for ensuring long term resilience of a place and its community (Hudson, Ritchie & Timur, 2004; Reid, 2012). Research has a critical role to play in informing not only policy makers but also the actors in the mountain communities facing the transition process of winter recreation.