Preventing the "I've skied once" syndrome

You must ski at a place where lots of people return. I think the actual percentage of non-returning 1st time skiers is way higher than 60%. If 40% of the people in beginner classes came back, skiing would be growing instead of stagnant.

I could gladly have quit after my first day and never looked back. Ice Queen really us to start skiing and I committed to doing 3 days of lessons and giving it my best shot. Day 1: I wore way too much cloths and was cooked by the time I got rental boots fitted and on. Then your clunking around up and down steps in boots, carrying skis, poles, etc. Then you finally get on skis and you're trying to do a sliding sport when you've never done a sliding sport in your life. And I started at a rather advanced age so I wasn't very confident I could learn to ski and was quite afraid I'd break my ass trying. When I told colleagues at work we were going skiing they said things like like "you're only going cross country skiing, aren't you?" The first day was not really fun for me but I'd promised to give it a real try. The 2nd day something clicked. I wasn't fighting the skis as much and was letting them run (just a tiny bit). I started having fun. All of a sudden we started doing day trips almost every weekend for the rest of the year and now we plan our vacations around skiing. I recall an aha moment about our 4th or 5th time out. We got into the lodge, threw our gear and boots on and both commented that that was certainly getting a lot easier. I think it's a pretty foreign activity and the first day or two presents a real challenge. I definately think that if you can get folks past the first couple of days a lot more will get hooked on skiing.

First, you must be brutally honest with the person before they ever click in ... tell them you will fall a lot, you will be sore, you'll be scared, you boots will hurt, and you may have some fun. I believe the first time skier has to have low a expectation going in as skiing is such a precision sport. The person that naturally gets the hang of it he first time out is rare.

Second, you have to fight your desire to leave first timers behind to "sink or swim", while you head to the "top". I recall a letter in SKI a couple of years back wherein a wife wrote in about her husband. He was totally consumed with skiing, and while the wife did not come close to his level of passion, the husband took the time to teach and develop her, he skied with her down the greens, bought her decent gear, and coached her to the point that she became a comfortable green-blue skier. And while she still is not to his level of passion, she enjoys going and we have the benefit of having another skier amongst us. Had he not invested the time and effort our ranks would be minus one skier.

When an experienced skier invites a first timer along, you have to treat it like an investment, and not just sink or swim.

Sno-time Inc., with three mountains, Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail, as a coupon program designed to encourage first-time skiers to return. The program has received aawrards from the NSAA, for its success. Our best return rates are just shy of 25%.

What can we do to improve return rates: we have to compete for potential skiers' time and money by offering a reat experience. IMO, this involves meeting skiers needs, and I have suggested Maslow's heirarchy of needs as a model. People who have survival or security needs are not likely to have resources to ski, and very few people are really self-actualizaing, so that leaves us with the third and fourth level needs, social and esteem needs. Ski areas should strive to present a great social environment, perhaps where barriers to meeting other people are reduced. Longer group lessons, which extend through the day, giving folks a chance to talk at lunch would be such a situation. Inviting lesson groups back as groups might also help. We can also address esteem needs. We can give people awards for various levels of achievement. I know hte old awards systemhad its drawbacks, but giving out badges would seem to help retain interest in skiing. Of course, good lessons help first timers ski better, so maybe an effort should be made to have the best instructors teach introductory lessons, with learning instructors teaching the second or third lessons.

My friend Tracy is an over enthusiastic snowboarder who manages to convince at least 1 non-snow person a season to make the 3-hour trek to Tahoe with her for a weekend. She sets them up with gear and coddles them down the mountain. Of the people she has taken to the mountains, none have returned after that initial trip. Now some of my other friends have suggested that Tracy, who is probably a high-end beginner/low-end intermediate, should just get the people up to the mountain and enroll them in a lesson. Her reasoning is that she wants to get them comfortable on the hill before they take a lesson. Have them aclimate by hanging out with a patient friend to see if they actually enjoy the sport.

At any rate, I believe she's 0-3 for the past 3 seasons (i.e. none of the people she's taken to the mountain have returned).

I personally do not have the patience or wherewithall to convince anybody who has never skied to come to the mountains. I have a hard enough time convincing those with gear to go!

Soapbox

This is indeed a problem for any business trying to make a living off of skiing. Skiing requires a certain amount of affluence (although not much, if you're really determined), the right climate and terrain, and a willingness to undertake at least some training and skill development in cold weather. Although there is a small group of enthusiasts who are taking skiing to places it's never been before, along with a larger population that enjoys "conventional" alpine resort skiing, the barriers of money, cold and physical skill requirements don't seem to have created a winning combination in the last two or three decades.

Given the tendency of North Americans to gain weight, I don't think skiing is going to become any more popular in the future. The popularity of snowboards, terrain parks and "new school" skiing notwithstanding, the vast majority of people who might become skiers prefer video games, television, and Big Gulps(tm). Many people today find skiing uncomfortable and inconvenient. It requires too much precious vacation time to get reasonably good at it. Even so-called "ski vacations" include almost anything but skiing. Skiing becomes a minor diversion on a vacation dedicated to shopping, dining out, drinking and soaking in the hot tub.

A few people are interested in adventure, new experiences and skill. Most are interested in comfort and ease. They will never find the fun and fulfillment beyond the initial frustration, and they don't particularly care.

It's possible that skiing (never as popular as watching football or soccer) is destined to become a niche sport, like whitewater kayaking. This is not good news for the big resorts, and they're fighting it with all the marketing they can muster. They are also hedging their bets, turning themselves into "four-season" resorts, offering golf, among other things. Golf has the advantage of being low perceived risk with relatively low physical fitness requirements. Even if they're not very good at it, people still find it fun to drive around in the cart and whack the ball. And the club beverage cart makes it convenient to drink while you're driving!

If skiing becomes a niche sport, maybe, in some sense, it will be a purer one.

That's my soapbox. Skiing will get leaner because Americans are getting fatter.

^"the vast majority of people who might become skiers prefer video games, television, and Big Gulps(tm)"

I work for a videogame editorial website (http://www.ign.com/) and more or less came to this very conclusion, not only from working in an office where rigorous gulping of Mountain Dew and scarfing of chicken fingers is the norm, but also on our community forums and message boards and blogs. I've made the general assumption that most of the youth of today would much rather engage in the latest Grand Theft Auto adventure than get out on the slopes. Case in point, my blog focused on skiing. Nobody read it. A co-workers blog which focuses on the new Wii videogame console routinely gets 500,000 hits!

Now while I agree with the observation that many of the youth of today would rather eat Cheetos and play videogames, I've also noticed that many of my co-workers in their late 20s would much rather party than ride the mountain. I found it increasingly difficult to find snow buddies last season as the co-workers I know of who ride were much more apt to give up a weekend on the slopes in exchange for a night on the town. Case in point, I couldn't get anybody to join me for St. Patrick's Day weekend. They were much more concerned with slugging down green beer than riding on white snow.

I'm not exactly sure if the money thing is really a factor. Most of the folks I work with snowboard, which is considerably cheaper than skiing (their boots don't cost $700, for example). I think it all comes down to priorities and if the majority of your friends are going to the gym and then getting drunk in the Marina on F/S/S, why would you do any different?

First thing first: competent instructors. A lot of the people who try to pick up skiing end up being taught by someone with no or very little experience about teaching: husband, wife, friend, cousin, etc. If these people took classes, maybe they would enjoy the first time more and return.

Note that I said maybe: the state of instruction, at the very least up here in Quebec, is downright ridiculous when it comes low-level ski instructors. The CSIA 1 exam is way too easy and isn't intensive enough: they basically give you some pointers and let you slide even if you can't ski your way out of a paper bag. Ski instruction is a very difficult job and many of the teen or adults who start are nowhere near the level of preparedness and skill that it needs to teach even the very beginners (or should I say, even more the beginners).

I saw (and committed) cardinal sins when I was at a major resort up here all because it's the name of the game: getting the client on the slopes and making him "ski". I cannot count how many times I've seen instructors give all their attention to the more successful students of their class, letting pupils go out on the slope with boots 3x too big for them, not explaining edlerdly ladies how to stop before going up the bunny hill, etc. Also, the ski instructing buisiness at the very base of the pyramid, is at its widest: a lot of people teach the low level classes and just qui after 2-3 years because of low pay, low benefits, thus getting their skill and experience out of the pool... I've seen ski schools with a bigger employees rotation than a Burger King... A lot of the more successful buisinesses employ (and treat very well) a smaller group of skilled and experienced people, but also offer guidance and training to their new employess, something larger resorts (at least, in my experience) omit entirely.

Interesting topic. The first time one goes skiing should probably be handled as delicately as the first time one has sex. A bad first experience can set the stage for problems later on, even if one decides to return. (to either activity!)

The first time I went skiing, I did not return for another 12 years. Here's why:

I was working at a gym at an upscale, luxury condo in NYC. They had planned a bus trip, and were using one of the ski trip comapanies in New York. The bus arrived two hours late. The reason: the first stop was a sanitation plant in Long Island, where they picked up about 25 other people. By the time they got to New York, the guys had thrown up all over the bus. The toilet had over flowed. The bus was filled with smoke.

Since I had been to Vermont many times before, I was not prepared for the horror that calls itself Killington. To this day, I still wonder how hard they had to work to make a Vermont town look and smell exactly like Newark New Jersey!

The ski class had about 20 people. The instructor was rude, arrogant and had no teaching skills whatsoever.

The people at the slope were the type of people that eventually caused me to leave New York and move West.

That about sums it up!

A few of reasons people only ski once:

1) It's hard - your first day is cold, wet, and at least a little painful. Unless you're athletically gifted, the competency required to get down the bunny hill without falling (even to get on and off the lift without incident) is a dot in the distance.

2) Most people don't live particularly close to a ski area. Skiing involves long drives, getting up early, etc.

3) It's expensive.

While you don't have to ski at a very high level to have fun, getting to that point still requires a commitment of time and money that many can't or won't make.

Great topic,

I've always wanted to learn how to ski since I was very little. I waited until I was 50 and in 4 years became the queen of the groom black diamonds. I would ski everyday if I could.
You have to want to do it, all of it, the falling with the leg twisting, the turning, waiting for the binding to pop and the twisting again, the face plants, the bruises, the sprains and the Oh sh@*(##!Ts. The first season was horrible, a disaster. I'm lucky I didn't rip my knees apart. But it all got better towards the end of that first season. The control came together and the turns started to make sense.
This year I've rented a ski house and invited six other friends to come up and ski for just a weekend. Only me and a ski buddy will really ski on this trip. I'm coming up a day or two to enjoy myself. The rest , brave souls, are either newbies, tried "it" when they were young, or were too drunk to remember much back then and that's probably a good thing. They're willing to give it a try again. I will encourage them to take a group lesson. I will tell to wear just one pair of thin socks and not to tuck their ski pants inside their boots. I will help them with their rental boots and guide them through the lodge. I will show them where to meet for their lesson. I will take off and enjoy myself and I will meet them after their lesson. I will ride the beginners lift with some of them if they feel they're past the rope tow, cross my fingers. I will go to their yard sales on the bunny slopes and help them collect themselves. I will give them arnica and listen to their crash stories. I will not be instructor just guide. Most will probably never return, one or two might. But I know they won't forget that weekend.
I'm looking forward to it as much as anyone on the trip.

Your other friends are exactly right. Tracy's heart is in the right place, but since she's not a trained instructor and her day isn't dedicated exclusively to teaching, she really isn't in a position to help them "see if they actually enjoy the sport." If they aren't learning the sport from a good, enthusiastic instructor who knows different ways to get both the technique and the love of the sport across to them, how can they enjoy it? I'm sure she's fine in expressing her enthusiasm but if she isn't an instructor, they're probably having some frustration or disconnect about "what's so great about skiing?".

Tracy should keep on bringing friends up to the mountain, show them the town, get them exposed to the mountain lifestyle and the overall "ski area experience" but should leave the teaching, especially the initial never-ever experience, to the pros. Then go out and ski some runs with her now new-skier friend to celebrate and practice what the friend just learned.

I'd love to see friends learn to ski, but I don't really want the sport to grow (like golf a few years back was growing). The slopes are crowded enough as it is.

NSAA Model for Growth

Ok - here we go

The NSAA model for growth specifically addresses this issue. Their stats from before the program started were:
15% of first time skiers get converted into long term skiers (I believe the measurement was returning 3 times or more within the next 2 years)
10% of first timers take lessons from non-instructors or no lessons.

The model lays out an industry wide plan for how to grow the industry. Improving the first timer retention rate is one small piece of the plan. Suggestions for improvement range from changes to instructor behavior all the way through little things like parking issues. The goal for first time conversion was to improve the hit rate to 25% over a 15 year period.

The model also addresses the changing demographics in America and the competition for the entertainment/recreation dollar. The development of the model also included an analysis of demographics in other countries as well. Although the figures gathered present a shocking wake up call, they also highlight some obvious strategies that have a decent chance of working.

Not all of the information is available online, but the online info is a good starting place if you are interested in the topic.

skibiscuit,

You sound like a good friend. I'd really encourage them to take at least 2 and maybe 3 days of lessons. I really think there is a hump you have to get over and then...

There's a sign at Stowe that says something like the following: "Friends don't let friends teach friends how to ski."

MarkXS: I think I am beginning to agree about the Friends Don't Let Friends Teach angle.

Though in my friend's defense, I believe that the people she has been able to coax up to the mountains wouldn't otherwise go if they had to shell out extra money for a lesson. While I don't find skiing too cost prohibitive, I also give up drinking, a once serious comic book collecting hobby, and other things in order that I may spend my extra $$ on skiing. I think there is some validity to the price that it costs not only to travel to the mountain (3 hours from SF to Tahoe), but the cost of the gear itself, whether renting, demoing or purchasing to own.

I guess in the end it all boils down to how committed you are and whether or not you can roll with questionable weather, the cold, the wetness, and all the cumbersome gear.

Do people want to make the effort to do something cool and fun or do they want to be like every other person schlumping through life in the flatlands? If the latter, then they're going to miss my company (as much as I can manage)...

I'm in the friends/SOs don't teach friends/SOs camp. Dookey has heard my schpiel on this before, but I'd coddle a beginner by making them comfortable (transport/lodging/clothes/equipment), and set them up with lessons. After the lesson, ski the greens with them for a while & then let them take a break & ski on your own. If they want to keep practicing on their own, then they'll make it b/c they're determined enough.

This type of arrangement takes several weekends, but you end up with an SO/friend who you can ski with again. After 3 weekends or 6 days skiing (in about a 2 month period), most people can ski blue groomers. In my experience, those who can't usually quit before then.

I did this with my wife (or a modified version), and now she skis groomer blue/blacks...

ease them into it

Although I question whether we need more people hitting the slopes, the best thing we can do for a beginner is the make the sport as easy as possible.

My first few times skiing were on 210cm straight boards back in the 80's. I absolutely despised the sport, but loved the mountains. In the late 90's my uncoordinated brother introduced me to skiboards. The first day I was skiing with confidence and really enjoying the sport. I have since moved on the longer skis and can ski them well.

My best friend wanted to try skiing last year and went to Breck for a couple of days. He was givin a pair of 165's and sent out on a lesson. He had a hell of a time picking it up and was convinced he was not cut out for it. I found him a pair of Rossie 120cm adult learning skis on ebay and gave them to him. Within 30 minutes he was teraing up the blue grooomers and loving it.

The main thing was that he was enjoying the sport, not fighting it.

I'm with you Birdman. I surf as well (a little bit), which is a sport filled with people who don't want others to start so the waves don't get even more overcrowded. I saw a bumper sticker in a Hawaiian surfer hangout that says "Don't try surfing - it sucks." Maybe we can make one up for skiing. :

The first time I went skiing I was with my best friend. She is sort of clumsey anyways, and broke her arm while "skiing" (really gliding) on a flat surface at the bottom by the lifts. That was the only skiing she has even done, 7 years later. It just depends on your first experience. I am natually cordinated and I picked it up fast, so I've been at it ever since.

We're talking about how to attract and keep people to the sport right? For sure you need good teachers. To do this you need to have the resorts make skiing a priority first, and attracting new skiers on top of that. I mean even {gasp} at the expense of selling RE or timeshares (oh no!! .

Bottom line though I think you need individual ambassadors, maybe even video games to somehow to relate the feeling of freedom and joy the sport can bring. Give em some videos, get the motivated - that's what will bring them back! My buddy skied with Glenn Plake a while back at Tahoe one day - saw a sign that just said "ski with Glenn Plake here at 1 PM". Well, he and his wife just showed up there. The guy was amazing, had a childlike joy that was infectious - he and the others there couldn't help but be motivated by it. I think they should do more outreach like that to young kids with some of the stars of the sport.

Oh that reminds me - start young - kids fall a shorter distance so it hurts less. And they heal faster . I think as you get older, that whole initial period of falling on your ass all the time gets old quick ....

The other thing that deters people is an injury experience. Delay taking someone beyond their level (to the top or whatever). I had an old girlfriend get a serious wrist injury on a fall from the top that basically stopped her interest (affected work for a while etc).

They went for a weekend with Tracy for the sex. They didn't go again 'cause they didn't get any.

So true!!!

Everyone's first time should be with a licensed professional.

Edit: to be sure I think a private the first time will be MUCH better. Give it time to get into the group thing.

HaHaHa.

I hope we can do something to get everybody to keep coming back. There can never be enough people on the hill, the more the merrier! It's never crowded enough for my taste and the powder never gets tracked out soon enough.

I brought a few bike messengers skiing years ago and they refused to take lessons or even to listen much to my advice. They had a blast, went down blue trails dangerously like they ride their bikes, and never skied again, although I told them whenever they want to go, let me know. Ten years later they still love to reminiscence about the great time we had with huge smiles on their faces. Sometimes, for some people once is enough. I'd like to take credit for not making regular skiers out of them, but I think it was largely a financial issue. I can't eat at the fanciest restaurant in town every night or even once a week, but I can eat there once and enjoy the experience and feel like I know something about dining there.

1. Boots. Rental Boots are often ill-fitting, painful, packed out or both. Why should anyone get excited about taking up a sport that offers only the prospect of constant pain though out the day?

2. Skiing is in many respects a counter-intuitive sport so lessons are important. Price them right, and get good instructors with good people skills for beginners.

3. Create an incentive beyond the typical three day lesson package, even making subsequent lessons for a future trip even the following season part of the package. Although skiers progress at different rates, a ski lesson package beyond the basics could detail what other types of skiing can be experienced. "YOU can ski moguls" "" Off-groomed Adventure" etc. Sort of mini-clinics offered beyond the basic first three days with modest moguls off-piste green runs etc.

The conventionally cited statistic that I''ve often heard is only about 15% of those who have gone skiing continue with the sport. Investing something more up front to enhance the skiing experience might yield worthwhile dividends if such investments result in more lifetime skiers and more frequent ones.

Just some thoughts. I'm sure the sport would be presently growing if the problem was amenable to quick fixes such as I've described. BTW, did I mention BOOTS?

I have taught at roundtop for the last three seasons...the cupon program which we refer to as mountain passport was very successful...i was able to see people return because of this and devolop as skiers it really does work

I have taken many friends skiing. If you are helping get a new skier the most important thing you can do is get them in the propper frame of mind and prepared with gear. Obviously you will fall alot when first learning and if its icy they will probably get bruised a good bit. One big factor is getting them dressed in an appropriate clothing for their avtivity level. To be honest, I think most people over dress in the extreme their first few times out skiing. Getting them setup at the rental shop is also a good place to help out in a big way. Make sure they get equipment that is resonable and boot that resonably fit.

Once you get with them out on the snow, help them learn how to put the skis on, how to take them off, etc... Show them how to flick snow with the skis and how to pop others out of their skis. :P