As the diversity buzz grows stronger through the snowsports industry, pockets of successful programs are taking the seeds they have planted and building something bigger.

Consider this: in a three-month period this past fall and winter, the leader of SOS Colorado met with a group of industry marketing executives to promote cooperation in expanding diversity programs; the head of a successful New York program met with multiple resort leaders in his area to work toward expanding its program; and the leaders of the powerful National Brotherhood of Skiing formed a new entity whose goal will be, primarily, to promote diversity in the snowsport industry.

In all three cases, the actions were taken with the same sense of purpose: a group that’s tasted success in marketing to a more diverse market is taking the issue of growth into its own hands.

“We don’t need more studies,” says Arn Menconi, founder and executive director of SOS Colorado, a program that has brought nearly 5,000 new and diverse skiers and riders to the slopes nationwide this winter. “The good news is: every ski resort in America does something for outreach. You know, when it comes down to it, everyone has a sort of ‘givingness’ in this industry.

“What I’m noticing though, is that our giving is not being done effectively. It seems that effectiveness through collaboration is difficult.” He’d like to see more collective action, not just individual effort.

Menconi knows something about collective action. He has seen his program grow in its 17 years from a small start-up in Colorado that linked needy kids to the mountains and asked them to take part in community service, to a program that now operates at nearly 30 resorts nationally. Still, he has waited years for the industry to embrace such programs in a truly national way. This would benefit not just those kids in need, but the industry too, he says.

“Even though skiing is doing well now, we are going to see a cliff effect in the next eight years,” he notes. “There is a solution, and it’s been replicated in other industries such as golf. But the solution is going to take leadership.”


I Love New York Snowsliding
In New York, a state not only with the most ski resorts in the nation but with almost all of them within a two-hour drive from a major metropolitan area, the Ski Areas of New York (SANY) has joined forces with two major radio stations—one a hip-hop giant and the other the largest Latino station in New York—and created a program that looks to bring more of the millions of youths in their state cities to the slopes.

To whip up interest, the association partnered with the schools in a program that uses reading as a measure and gives a winning fourth grade class a full day of skiing, lessons and fun, including transportation there and back (30 inner city schools are competing).

SANY worked on a major marketing blitz on those radio stations and best of all, found a role model. DJ Envy, well known in New York and nationally as both a morning DJ and as a spinner for such stars as Jay-Z, and a dedicated snowboarder, is a father and the face of the promotion. He’s visible in this program, tweeting daily on how much he loves N.Y. skiing and the program, and showing up on the slopes each weekend to ride with his kids and anyone else who happens to be around.

The ski resorts have been able to embrace the program because, says SANY president Scott Brandi, it’s been worked in a cooperative way, with the cost being shouldered by many enterprises, not just the resorts. Some funding came from the “I Love NY” program, and all the advertising (which has been substantial) came in trade. As they move forward, Brandi says they are working on making it even bigger, and with more of a team on board.

“We are reaching out to the retailers and manufacturers to come on board,” he says. “We want to brainstorm with them. Can we figure out a better way to do rentals? A better packet sale system? I have to tell you, this is just the beginning. I’m dedicated to this.”

Like most industry executives who are pushing for better diversity programs, Brandi has a back story. He grew up in the Bronx where basically no one he knew skied or rode. “I was introduced to skiing as an eight-year-old at Whiteface and Hunter, and almost right away, I was hooked,” he says. “But it was so foreign to everyone in my neighborhood. I always kept in the back of my mind that some day, somehow, we had to do a better job of getting kids in neighborhoods like mine to know skiing and riding.”

With the buzz this year’s program has created, Brandi feels now is the time to spread the word. “Could this be a national program? It needs to be on the table and looked at,” he says. “There are things that are unique to New York, but there are lessons in this, too.”


The Brotherhood’s Plan
Meanwhile, at its annual meeting this past winter at Winter Park, the National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS), perhaps the most vocal enthusiast for building better diversity in skiing, voted to create what it is calling the “Winter Sports Education Foundation.” The Foundation will be run by a board of directors comprised of about 70 percent non-NBS members, including leaders from ski industry groups such as NSAA and the U.S. Ski Association. The goal will be to become an independently functioning group within four years. And the mission of that group—to be set by the board—will most likely include a national effort to improve diversity in skiing and riding.

The goal, says Schone Malliet, a banker by trade but a passionate member of the ski world via NBS and other roles he’s played (“I’m a volunteer at heart”), will be to help people who may never have even considered getting out and trying skiing and riding to become “passionate skiers and riders.”

“I’ve coached. I’ve been a racing official. I’ve run large portions of the NBS. I’m a parent of a skier,” says Malliet. “Having been on the industry and policy side, I don’t look at this as diversity. I look at it as a marketing opportunity.”

Malliet says that, in some ways, he feels the word “diversity” itself may be what has stalled the progress toward national programs in the past. “I don’t use the word,” he says. “Right or wrong, it becomes synonymous with low income and not being able to pay one’s way. Rather, I see the objective as ‘how do we increase participants and retain them in a cost-effective way for all parties?’”

He believes the answer is threefold: access, retention and enthusiasm. Access can come through partnering with such groups as YES in Boston and SOS in Colorado, which finds people who are interested and brings them to mountains (and partners to make that affordable). But they need to reach a bigger audience. For that, he believes, the answers are right in plain view. “Who has access to lots of kids in New York City?” he asks rhetorically. “The YMCA.” That’s why one of the new board’s members is a YMCA leader.

Retention and enthusiasm have to come from more than just loving the feel of snow under skis and boards. Malliet believes it comes mostly from a sense of community. He says that while many resorts shy away from ski clubs (feeling they are looking for discounts and deals), they may be the key to building that community. Put a kid on skis, he points out, and they might like it. Put a kid on skis with a giant group of friends over and over, and the kid is going to love it.

The new national board, he believes, will be able to work toward just that happening on a large-scale level.

“We will now be able to convene in a way that will help the industry,” he says. “You know, there’s a lot to look at. Like: how come we don’t have more kids from Salt Lake City skiing and riding? The answer is complex, but we can now work toward finding the answers, and bringing them in.”


Looking for Leaders
All those who are organizing these programs agree that national leadership is needed—a more powerful and interconnected leadership than exists now. With that, they believe, the jump to national focus on diversity will come. And with that, they argue, will come success for all.

Some resort managers agree. “Look at what Arn has done with SOS,” says Bill Jensen, CEO of Intrawest. “He has created thousands and thousands of individuals who will always identify themselves as skier or riders. This is extremely beneficial to all of us. We need to bring new people to this sport who otherwise may never have connected with it, and we need to give them what they need to become lifetime skiers or riders. That’s the goal.

“SOS did it one person at a time at the beginning; now they are doing it hundreds at a time. We want to find a way to do it thousands of people at a time. Now is the right time.”

NBS hopes to have pilot programs up and running next ski season, and move onward from there with more programs the following year, and a fully functioning independent national program shortly after that.

What makes all these people so passionate about developing new skiers and riders in communities that don’t have a history of involvement? Several share that childhood experience of discovering skiing or riding while living in a community where no one else does. But there’s more, too, says, Malliet.

“For Arn, it comes from the heart. Me? It’s economic. This industry needs something to help it grow. This is not just my goal. It’s everybody’s.”