January 1, 2010 E-MAIL PRINT

Start to change

by Tony Chamberlain/

In order to turn first-timers into frequent returnees, resorts should consider investing more in making the first visit a comfortable one. (photo: Stowe Mountain Resort)

In order to turn first-timers into frequent returnees, resorts should consider investing more in making the first visit a comfortable one. (photo: Stowe Mountain Resort)

Last month, I told the story of two friends of mine who tried skiing once and never again. They both had such bad experiences at one of the most mellow introductory areas (the late King Ridge) that their story deserved a bit of reflection.

For Betty, it was a terror of chairlifts, a touch of vertigo, that came roaring at her and traumatized her. For Jim, a misfitted pair of rental boots was killing his feet so bad by 11 that he kicked them off, never to be tried again.

I have another friend who became a tenuous intermediate — a blue/green skier — who was injured in a collision perpetrated by an out-of-control boarder and has never been back to the slopes since.

Sure. Sure, you say. We all know that stuff happens, and we really do regret it. There’s no perfecting a sport that draws 57 million-plus skier/boarder visits every year. There’s bound to be some negativity.

But let’s not miss a few points here. Yes, ski areas do try to control speed in high-traffic areas, and they do try to match the best equipment and instruction with newer skiers and riders. Some go so far as (in post-potty training years) to act as loco parentis for gaggles of young kids, freeing parents to roam as they will in splendid liberation.

If that isn’t enough to keep young parents from coming back to a ski area, it’s hard to imagine much greater incentive.

But the sad truth is that this sport of sliding on snow, either skis or boards, is flat, and has been for some time. Even with the great influx of snowboarding in the 1980s that seemed to pick up the slack in sagging skier numbers, the overall picture shows only isolated, sporadic and minimal growth spikes.

“The market overall is flat,” Saddleback’s Warren Cook says. “We’re all looking for our own brand that will attract skiers. But what we should all be doing is creating new people in the sport.”

Cook, a seasoned owner in the snowsports industry, former owner of Sugarloaf, also understands that new recruits at this point are not likely. Pick any one of half a dozen bogeymen to blame: the economy, demographics (mainstream skiers getting older and out of the sport), competition from other recreation and travel deals to warm places.

There’s even a case to be made — judging from the growing weight of young people — that less and less time is spent at outdoor activities than in front of computer screens.

Judging from the mass whining I hear around the Boston area every time snow flurries creep into evening weather forecasts, maybe we’re just getting soft. Snow lovers are made to feel as if we’re part of a very small, very insane cult of some kind.

Back to my friends Jim and Betty. Is there anything a ski area could have done to keep them from being first-time washouts?

We all know the blinding, awful pain of boots too tight that strangle blood circulation. When that happens, it is totally impossible to find pleasure in anything else you’re doing.

Recognizing a first-timer, perhaps the renting attendant or group ski instructor might have pointed out that tightening boots should be a gradual process, and that most people ease the tension between runs by loosening the buckles.

For Betty, with no magic carpet available, it’s hard to see what would have made her feel less at ease — a chair or T-bar the only two options. And perhaps there is a fundamental base of athleticism — which may include age — beyond which one may not be cut out for a sport as lively and active as skiing.

The point is that, as American Skiing Company’s Les Otten was last to accomplish, the ski/snowsports industry simply must keep working to bridge the gap between first-time experiences on the slopes and bringing that person back for more.

Ski areas must cherish beginners, keep them isolated from the full-speed slopes, make their lift rides low stress, use the softer-fitting boots on rank beginners — they won’t be carving figure 8s today.

And, most important of all, give away the first-time instruction. If every brand newbie had a full-hour private lesson, almost all the issues that require professional attention would be addressed. Both Jim and Betty would have had seasoned eyes watching them, anticipating the issues that drove them forever from the sport in a very short time.

For the ski area, this would be a sacrifice of about $50 retail per new skier. I’ll leave it to the MBAs to figure out just how many Jim and Bettys returning to the sport it would take to justify this expenditure.

I’ve got to think very few, because when the newcomer arrives at that first plateau — maybe the second or third day — in which they’re suddenly delirious about skiing and riding, then they’re hooked for a lifetime.

After all, skiing and snowboarding are not about amusement park rides. They require achievement and mastery. That is where the thrill comes from, and in that context the industry can hardly give away too much free instruction.

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