It was mid-November 2012, a few short weeks before Camelback planned to open for the season. More than 200 snowsports instructors were gearing up with their curriculum. Grooming schedules and snowmaking plans were complete, and marketing was set on its advertising path. And then members of the Camelback team, including marketing, snowsports, mountain operations, the GM and owner Art Berry, decided to implement terrain-based teaching immediately—a decision that would change the way learn-to-ski and -ride have been taught for years and impact just about every other department as well.

Terrain-based teaching (TBT) and all that’s wrapped around it—from snowmaking and grooming to sales and marketing, and from teaching curriculum to instructor buy-in—all components were implemented in a few short weeks. And the reward was far more than expected.

“The sculpted terrain and the way our instructors rallied around this new teaching technique helped produced more than 20,000 new skiers and snowboarders this past season,” says Tony Keller, director of snowsports at Camelback.

This overnight transformation required an experienced quarterback. Camelback brought on Joe Hession at the onset of the TBT goal to help guide the project and provide valued consulting on the processes and put-through. Hession was also a motivating source, as he spoke to the snowsports staff about the reasoning behind TBT and supplied experience that eased a number of staff concerns about the learning program.

And his experience was much needed. Once snowmaking and grooming were on track and built the features, the GM, snowsports director, and a very eager and exited owner took the first TBT lessons. The excitement and support from upper management filled the instructor staff with a curiosity and a drive to further understand and use these new features.


LOCATION AND MTN. OPS
Initially, the implementation of TBT teaching sounded easy. You just make more snow, shape it, and then teach using the new features…done!

Except it’s not that easy. Since the learn-to terrain is at the one of the lowest elevations of the mountain, making more snow there took commitment. An unseasonably warm December led to a late snowmaking start, so constructing the TBT features was not as simple as priming the line and turning on the guns. It took constant communication between instructors, the snowsports director, snowmaking and grooming to create and maintain the TBT features. The almost daily question snowmaking and snowsports wrestled with during the early season was, “We only have a few hours of snowmaking tonight, where is the most important place for us to make snow?”

Once Mother Nature decided to cooperate, opening the mountain was balanced with the TBT snowmaking objectives, and focus was placed on the TBT’s mini-pipes, banked turns, and rollers.

Camelback faced other physical challenges as well. Not least was working around Camelbeach’s waterpark slides. These physical restraints required creative thinking and planning to develop a realistic TBT program. We needed to find a practical location for the TBT features, where snowmaking existed and the groomer could sculpt and form. Could guests easily access the features and traverse downhill from one to the next? This flow is crucial for a TBT implementation.


BUILDING & MAINTAINING
The fun began when the snow shaping commenced. As the TBT features unveiled themselves, the feeling was unanimous: it was going to be something special.

It took several components to reach that stage. It started with drawings and discussions to plan feature orientation and location, to promote productive grooming as well as learning. It helped greatly to have a groomer operator who was comfortable shaping snow, as well as one who was familiar with the lay of the land, including the slope’s natural pitch. Having a terrain park grooming machine with a lot of articulation and flexibility helped, too.

Did I mention communications? There were many mornings when the snowsports director would arrive at 3 a.m. to ride with the groomer and give feedback on the build based on information instructors had provided on their mountain reports. This step helped ensure that first-time guests would be comfortable using the features later the same day.

Given the realities of snowmaking, the TBT features didn’t pop up overnight. Snowsports decided what features were important to introduce first, and what features could be added in the following weeks. The mini-pipe was constructed first; next came the banked turns; after that, the rollers at top of the Magic Carpet; and finally, the “pitch of the perfect slope” feature. During the month of March, as the snowpack dwindled, snowsports had to make concessions about which features would be pushed flat first and turned back into the original learning pitch.

The features also require daily maintenance. It became quickly evident where we needed to focus our attention, such as on the back-to-back mini-pipes. At times during snowmelt, grooming and snowmaking, we discovered that the snow level of the decks and pitch became uneven due to the uneven slope of the natural terrain underneath. On warmer days the firm lip of the pipes turned into soft curves, creating more of a roller effect than desired. None of these issues greatly influenced the effectiveness of the TBT, but Camelback took these physical changes into consideration each night.


LEARNING USING TERRAIN
Before guests could learn how to ski or snowboard with the TBT features, the snowsports instructors had to learn how to teach using the features. There were daily trainings for the first few weeks of operation, and open discussions at the morning meetings to serve as a refresher for staff throughout the season. Each instructor had a pocket booklet that broke down what to do on each feature. Signage introduced each feature to the guest and described the skills the guest would be learning.

Language was carefully chosen for both skiers and snowboarders, with the thought that they would use these words when talking about their learning experience. Words and phrases such as “transition,” “dropping in,” “switch,” “ollies,” “flow,” “jibbing,” and “sliding” were constantly spoken by instructors and mimicked by guests.

With the staff living and breathing TBT, translating their knowledge to the guests improved customer attitude and Level 1 success.

The first step in each lesson was to move to the “flat training area” where basic movements such as foot-to-foot, flex/extension, rotation movements, toe-to-heel movements, balance, and ollies were introduced and combined with one another to create the building blocks for the lesson. Guests were able to play with nollies, ollies, presses, twisting, spinning and center of balance. The time spent on the flats set the tone for the lesson and introduced all the movement patterns that would be needed throughout.

The next feature introduced was the mini-pipe, where guests got a sense of sliding, exploring fore/aft movement, dropping in, and pumping through the pipe to practice shifting weight from tip to tail. Guests then were able to explore turning via a twisting motion without the fear of not being able to stop. Guests no longer looked fearfully downhill, but at the other side of the mini-pipe. Learning how to traverse was made easy by a uniform pitch of the mini-pipe wall, which was also long enough for guests to learn the needed edging skill. Finally, the skills learned in turning and traversing were combined into a stop and exit from the feature.

The third feature, banked turns, allowed guests to practice a change of direction and served as a connector to deliver guests to the Magic Carpet without having to skate or walk any distance. Building off of skills learned earlier in the lesson, guests used the banked turns to learn timing and get a sense of what it feels like to link turns on snow. With the mellow angle of the banks and pitch of terrain, the turns were almost effortless and occurred naturally.

The fourth feature, and one of the most popular, was the “rollers and return wall.” Located at the top of the 500’ Magic Carpet, this offered a space where guests could connect all the pieces of their lesson, from dropping in to linking turns to a stop. This feature produced a no-fault environment where guests could practice their new skills.

Lastly, Camelback’s groomers formed a “perfect pitch slope” where the outside fall lines gently eased beginners back to the center, and the pitch was generally consistent from top to bottom.


PROOF IN THE PUDDING
The lesson wrap-up reviewed the movements learned and lesson goals, and gave us an opportunity to strengthen our bond with the guest. For guests who had purchased a single learn-to lesson for $95 (weekends and holidays) or $80 (midweek/non-holiday), we offered two additional days of lift tickets, rentals, and 90-minute lessons for only $34. We sold nearly 600 upgrades, which averaged 1.29 subsequent visits. This up-sell was based on our retention and conversion efforts, and essentially brought the guest into a three-visit “Explorer Card,” which sold for $129. The Explorer Card upgrade got guests really interested in learning and excited to return for their next two visits.

In total, the Explorer Card program produced nearly 4,300 total sales, and 69 percent of those buyers took a fourth and fifth day of lessons. That retention rate made Camelback an NSAA Conversion Cup finalist.

There’s no doubt that terrain-based teaching is the wave of the future in learn-to-ski and -ride programs. Many resorts will embrace these techniques in the years to come. Guests are less fearful, more reassured, and generally, the increased comfort level makes for a relaxed learning environment.

Camelback is preparing to further develop its teaching terrain and to improve the guest experience every year. Already, though, we have completed one major change—to the mindset at Camelback regarding the process. Instead of calling it “terrain-based teaching,” we will refer to it as “terrain-based learning.” That puts the focus where it belongs: instructors teach, guests learn. In the end, it’s all about the guest.

In the September issue of SAM, Jay Peak, Vt., will share its experiences with TBT.