Chris Stoddard, executive director of the Midwest Ski Areas Assocaition offers these tips that have proven to be successful in his region.

1) The Midwest has the youngest average skier age of any region in the country. Why is this and can you give us some examples of how ski areas in your region capitalize on this fact?

a.       In the Midwest we work with what we have – our hills are smaller, but many are close to our cities; so we have worked to attract younger people and their families while providing opportunities for adults to have fun on the slopes in race leagues and various activities that make skiing for a few hours on our slopes more fun. About 3 million of the 10 million skier visits taken yearly by people who come from the Midwest are taken in the Rockies – so we export a lot of skier visits. But, we recognize that people need a dream and something to aspire to; and we understand that adults who know how to ski want to ski bigger mountains.

b.       I can think of three different kinds of programs that are special to our region. Some of our ski areas have found ways to capitalize on each one and turn the young participant into a lifetime skier or rider.

i.       Field Trip school outings are a great way to introduce kids to snowsports; and we’re very good at this – but by themselves they don’t turn kids into lifetime skiers and snowboarders.   Some of our ski areas have found that very low cost come-back offers are effective. And some of these offers are for the whole family, not just the student; and these seem to work even better. A special 3-time follow-up lesson package is terrific. The areas have to create a take-home goodie bag of information that gets home, since the area may not be capturing the student’s personal information in a way that they can use to follow-up.

ii.       After school bus programs created by a program coordinator at each school do a better job of creating committed skiers/snowboarders because they involve more slope time. The program that my kids used brought them to Afton Alps Ski Area in Minnesota for 5 weekly after school trips and included bussing and lift tickets for about $125. There are two 5 week sessions for a total of 10 weeks. These kids seem to get more from this program but they don’t participate unless they are already interested, or have friends who ski or ride. Boston Mills/Brandywine Ski Area near Cleveland, Ohio has about 40 busses that come each afternoon after school for programs like these.

iii.       Perhaps the most interesting program is the more traditional 3 + ski or snowboard lessons that begin after Christmas. Once the beginner lesson package is completed the child is awarded a free season pass for the rest of the season. This continues the momentum started in the lessons and helps ensure that the snowsport becomes part of the child’s fabric of life. Interestingly, some areas extend the offer for a free or low cost  season pass for the rest of that season to the parents of the beginner – thus getting the family involved and creating a winter family activity. They all rent, and sometimes the parents and other family members also take lessons.

2) There are some other interesting programs that come to mind:

a.       Several of our Midwest ski areas have developed educational programs for students. This helps the school feel good about the field trips that the kids go on ,and allows teachers to integrate the experience back into the classroom. One that has taken off quite widely is “The Science of Snowtubing” which was developed at Sunburst Ski Area in Wisconsin and is now in use at a number of Midwest ski areas. This program for middle-school kids involves math and physics as the kids learn about acceleration, slope angles, and much more. They work together using stopwatches and record various elements of the snowtubes’ descents. Then they write up their findings – and they have more fun all the while.

b.       Mary Jo and SIA have taken this concept and expanded it to chairlifts and other aspects of ski area operations, so the field trips become more educational and brings kids to ski areas for field trips, and hopefully many return visits. The information can be found on SIA’s website: Winter Feels Good.

c.        Another educational program that I think is terrific are the boy scout merit badge classes. Scout groups can come to an area on a specified day and the area provides a skiing/snowboarding merit badge counselor who works with the groups of scouts to go through the merit badge requirements and then signs off on them. It is a great service to the troops and brings out lots of kids who want to earn a merit badge – and the best areas follow up with comeback offers.