The Evolution of Teaching Snowsports-
A New Focus on People and Play
By Jenn Weede

The challenges faced by the snowsports industry are not new: America's increasingly sedentary lifestyle, stiff competition for free time and money, and a likely decline in snowsports participation based on shifting demographics. But the measures the industry is taking to overcome them are.

To increase the number of participants and encourage them to become passionate enthusiasts, the industry is shedding exclusivity in favor of becoming inclusive, largely by shifting the perception of skiing and snowboarding from rad sport to warm and wonderful mountain experience. Warren Miller will still make his action-packed movies, but at the resorts, the focus is on welcoming newcomers, building relationships, and catering to participants who simply want to spend time vacationing at resorts.

"We are delivering a mountain experience, not just teaching skiing," said Linda Crockett, education director of the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (AASI). "Technical knowledge is important, but good communication and establishing relationships are the most valuable tools for creating a positive experience."

In effect, the snowsports industry is becoming more and more like the cruise industry, where the cruise ship is merely a vehicle for living a dream. Ski resorts must offer paradise found, not just a day of skiing, if they hope to retain aging participants and react to shifting demographics.

According to Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), the most important issue the industry faces involves altering the "conversion rate," the percentage of first-time skiers or snowboarders that will become core participants. "Some of the challenges are demographic," Berry said. "As Baby Boomers exit the sport in the next 10 years, what numerical replacement will take the place of this large population that has been the majority of skiing for the past 20 years?"

Conversion is the primary issue in NSAA's growth model. NSAA is working to increase the rate of conversion from 15 percent to 25 percent within the next 7 to 10 years. To do so, the organization hopes to see a 1 percent gain each year.

But how?

"We are placing the emphasis on entry and conversion, which is where ski and snowboard schools can be the most valuable for the sport," said Berry. "The most important element is software, the people-to-people aspect, and the teaching profession is key to that."

To build stronger interpersonal relationships, NSAA, PSIA, and AASI have developed a nice synergy in their new philosophies and methods of implementation. The three associations share the philosophy that guests want a wholesome mountain experience and the belief that mountain employees are the way to provide it. The Core Concepts idea, instructional manual, and subsequent educational materials offer a format for delivering it.

Core Concepts for Snowsports Instructors is a two-part, 90-page book, which won the 2002 Grand Award for Publication Excellence in the "Brochures, Manuals, and Reports" category. Part One includes chapters on knowing yourself, discovering and coaching your students, and developing working relationships. Part Two shares tips for creating lasting memories, enjoying the mountain environment, and pursuing professional development.

According to Crockett, who played an integral part in creating the book, three themes emerged as essentials to the Core Concepts: developing trust, reading students, and dealing with the mind-body-spirit connection. The idea behind Core Concepts involves considering the guest's entire resort experience.

"Good instructors have always used the concepts," said Carl Underkoffler, staff trainer and supervisor at Mammoth Mountain in California. "The material in Core Concepts explains it for entry-level instructors. The book is easy to understand and helps instructors do their job better."

Introduced in the fall of 2001, the Core Concepts are proving so valuable that the book has exceeded its sales expectations and its merit is reaching well beyond instructors.

"We are using the Core Concepts to train not only our teachers, but all of our company employees," said Megan Harvey, instructor trainer and ski professional at the Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen, Colorado. "We're using the Core Concepts to make the whole learning environment more user-friendly. We're creating relationships with rental shops to make the process faster, easier, and more accurate, and we're even modifying terrain to make it easier to learn on."

Resort learning centers are helping instructors produce positive experiences by creating special on-snow terrain for learning to parallel, sculpting beginner terrain parks, and offering lesson packages that allow guests to choose their group and instructor. Mountains are also renting new equipment that facilitates learning and are clearly marking entry portals and meeting areas with inflatable figures, flags, or signs.

According to Maggie Loring, director of Utah's Snowbird Mountain School and author of Core Concepts for Snowsports Instructors, "There is more focus on the potential of ski and snowboard schools to influence the future. There is more attention on enhancing the guest experience."

While building relationships and extending lessons into an entire experience are crucial for developing passionate participants, there is still a place for basic instruction. PSIA's Stepping Stones approach guides instructors through the most current teaching techniques because, for many, skiing is actually part of the experience.

The Stepping Stones approach covers everything, from conveying how to balance on two skis to how to help beginners take advantage of new learning equipment. The organization is currently working on similar instruction for snowboarding, as well as Nordic and adaptive skiing. Because teaching techniques are revised more frequently than the Core Concepts themselves, instructional manuals will be updated every two months to two years, as necessary. The PSIA and AASI Web sites, www.psia.org and www.aasi.org, will also be used to convey breaking news.

Changing theories on the resort experience and beginner instruction in particular are making snowsports less intimidating. Not long ago, many people perceived the sport as a time-consuming, difficult-to-learn, elitist pursuit. But the combination of better learning equipment, improved instructional techniques, and a renewed focus on customer service is leading them to reconsider. Today's students enjoy themselves and tend to progress rapidly. And the sooner that these beginners turn into core participants, the sooner they feel the passion that will bring them back time and time again.

"People remember the big picture, starting with how they show up at the mountain. Lessons are part of the continuum. If we can train effective resort employees, they will get people to try and stay with the sports," said Crockett. "It doesn't have to be radical. It's paying attention to the little things all the time."

NSAA, PSIA, and AASI are betting these little things will have a big impact on the future of the snowsports industry, which faces increasing competition and a predicted decline in participation within the next 10 years unless things change. By fine-tuning the way snowsports are taught, implementing the Core Concepts, and focusing on relationships and the experiential "big picture," the organizations hope to preserve the health of the industry for the generations to come.