Industry News
I remember the light illuminating white flakes before the black sky as I sat on the chairlift with my friend Jason, the top sheets of our skis collecting a layer of snow as we rode to the top. I was in middle school then, visiting Afton Alps with our ski club during one of our twice-a-month outings to the local hill after school. The snow accumulated to the top buckles of our childish boots by the end of the night, and we stayed until the last lift to make the most of our first-ever deep day. I remember Jason spotting his dad when he arrived to pick us up, yelling with contagious excitement, “It was a Minnesota powder day!”
A decade and several hundred ski days have passed since that first experience with powder, (many of which, several times deeper), yet I still think back to that middle school night with Jason. Despite having many days with longer runs and better conditions since then, my mind returns to that memory time and time again for a few reasons. The first is that it was a novelty; my first deep turns! How could I forget? But likewise, it was because of circumstance: I had just finished a tough week of sixth grade, and I got to put it all behind me and go skiing with one of my best friends. That night was what childhood dreams are made of, kindling to a burning love for the sport of skiing, and was all made possible by my after-school ski club.
I’ve learned in the years following that countless others have fallen in love with winter sports because of an introduction through a school club, including Jake Campbell, who had an integral role in launching Slope Days. Like myself, Jake was enrolled in an after-school winter sports club which he credits for fostering new friendships and his lifelong love for snowboarding.
With Jake’s help, Vail Resorts has launched the new program Slope Days through its smaller resorts. The program aims to welcome new kids into the sports of skiing and snowboarding at a young age and help grow the sport, while giving youth groups, school clubs, and field trips easier access to the lifts. This program has three or five-week options and is intended for groups of 15 or more kids between the ages of seven and 18, who will have an advisor 18 years or older to accompany them.
Slope Days includes a day-specific lift ticket, rental package, and an hour-long lesson, all at a value rate. This combination package is intended to allow kids who otherwise wouldn’t be on the mountain to ride along, as well as give newcomers the opportunity to get a few pointers —a little coaching can go a long way!
The program is launching this year at several of Epic’s smaller mountains across the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New Hampshire. The mountains are the following:
Midwest (Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton, Wilmot Mountain, Paoli Peaks, Snow Creek, Hidden Valley (MO), Mad River Mountain, BMBW and Alpine Valley (OH)
Mid-Atlantic (Jack Frost, Big Boulder, Laurel Mtn, Seven Springs, Liberty Mountain and Whitetail)
New Hampshire (Crotched, Mount Sunapee, Wild Cat)
My after-school ski club was a great experience that I remember to this day, and it’s exciting for an idea like this to bring that opportunity to the next generation. As Bill Snyder from Mt. Brighton wisely said, “There is no new school without the old school.”
So now I wonder, how many of you have memories of an after school ski-club? And did any of you fall in love with the sport because of it? While I wasn’t introduced to the sport through my club, being a part of it in middle school definitely helped grow my love for the sport, and I’d be more than happy to share that passion with the kids of today.
