“Kids lessons are off the charts,” said Rich Burkley, ski school director at Aspen’s four mountains.
“Kids programs never stop growing,” said Stacy Schuster, marketing director at Crystal Mt., Wash.
“Our kids lessons have grown to the point where they now equal our adult programs,” said Otto Kamstra, general manager of adult ski programs at Whistler/Blackcomb.
“After Christmas we had to do a second round of hiring for kids instructors,” said Jon Hall, marketing director at Ascutney, Vt. where nearly half of the mountain’s 100 instructors now teach in the children’s program.
From Mt. Bachelor, Ore., to Bretton Woods, N.H., from Alpine Meadows, Calif., to Timber Ridge, Mich., children’s lesson programs are bursting at the seams. The surge in kids learn-to-ski-and-ride programs is just one aspect of what is shaping up to be an extraordinary year for ski lessons generally.
At Whistler/Blackcomb, Kamstra said lessons of all types are up 10 to 15 percent over last year. At Mountain Creek, N.J., lessons are up 48 percent over last year. Timberline, W.V., General Manager Tom Blanzy says lessons are at a five-year high there. And before the warm weather hit southern California, lessons during Christmas week at Mountain High were up 17 percent over Christmas 2001, and 53 percent over Christmas 2000.
While most areas report nearly across the board increases in lessons, some trends are emerging. Kids lessons, for one. More privates for another. At Aspen those two trends are even merging.
“We’ve had an unbelievable number of privates going out with nursery kids, six and under,” Burkley said. “Over the holidays we had as many as 40 a day going out, some all day, some half day. We’ve always done a lot of privates with the 7- to 12-, and 13- to 17-year-olds. That’s still very strong. But the little kids, that’s new.”
Other resorts also report big increases in privates, although not at the nursery level.
“We started seeing a trend toward more privates last year,” said Carly Hogan, marketing director at Mt. Bachelor, Ore. “I think people are starting to realize the value of one-on-one instruction.”
Susan DuPlessis, communications manager at Sunday River, Me., where privates are also up, agreed: “I think the whole trend toward personal trainers and one-on-one experiences is making its way into skiing.”
“More and more people are looking for that special experience,” said Maggie Loring, mountain school director at Snowbird, Utah, which this year added “custom groups” to its private lesson offerings.
“It’s a private lesson but you can put more people in it so families or friends can go out together,” Loring said.
Snowboarding lessons are also increasing, particularly among adult women.
“We’re seeing more and more mothers requesting private and semi-private snowboarding lessons so they can keep up with their kids,” said Joan Bailey, marketing director at Timber Ridge, Mich.
“We’ve seen a big increase in the number of women, age 25 to 40, taking specialized snowboarding clinics and beginner snowboard lessons,” said Rachael Woods, communications manager at Alpine Meadows, Calif.
Demand for specialty clinics and lessons is also growing. Pipes and parks are hot, as are “crossover” lessons involving more than one sport and often more than one family member.
“A family will book a pro for the day and the kid might take snowboarding in the morning and a parent skiing in the afternoon,” said Burkley, who has 300 instructors certified in both sports. “Requests for multi-discipline lessons, especially privates, are really growing.”
The number of retention programs is also growing. More and more resorts are offering some sort of beginner 3-pack—three days of lifts, lessons and rentals—for a very low price, often $99 or less, although there are many variations. Bretton Woods, N.H., has a two-for-one lesson package. Sunday River offers skiers who complete its 3-pack the opportunity to purchase a $99 season pass.
The many different programs definitely seem to be “growing the pie” as Schuster says.
Last winter about 1,000 participated in Crystal’s beginner 3-pack program. “Even with the tough snow year we should do about the same number this year,” Schuster said. “This is growth because skier visits overall are down.”
Mt. Bachelor, which used to offer a free beginner package three different Sundays to the first 100 callers, this year switched to a 3-pack program running on three consecutive Sundays. The area is offering three of the 3-week sessions.
“It’s screaming,” Hogan said. “The numbers are way up for all ages for our beginner packages.”
Alpine Meadows used to offer a one-time $20 beginner package in early December. “But there was no retention piece to it,” Woods said.
This year, Alpine Meadows offered the same $20 beginner package in early December and added two coupons that can be redeemed for the same package and price later in the season.
“We’ll have to wait and see what kind of retention we get,” Woods said. “But we already tripled the number of participants for the first weekend.”
Mountain Creek does not have to wait and see how its retention program will turn out. Its $99 beginner 3-pack is already 31 percent ahead of last year for both skiing and snowboarding.
“This is one of those years that makes us all look like we know what we’re doing,” said Burkley.
