Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 5, 1992 TAG: 9201080324
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NEAL THOMPSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SLOPES CATER TO KIDS AS SKIERS GROW OLDER
The girl's mom aimed her video camera at her daughter as the girl slid warily down the bunny slope at West Virginia's WinterPlace Resort."There she is. There's my girl," the mom said, pointing to her 10-year-old in zebra-striped pants.
She started skiing last year, the mom said. Both mom and dad try to encourage her as much as possible. "It needs to be a family thing," she said.
That's what the ski resorts like to hear. Virginia and West Virginia ski areas would love to see more families like this one.
The future of the ski industry relies on the support of today's children. So, many resorts cater to the youngster who will someday teach his or her own children to ski and keep the cycle going.
To attract the little ones, most ski areas offer free skiing for children 5 and under. Resorts that offer the national SKIwee program combine day care with ski lessons. They take kids age 4 and up first thing in the morning and keep them all day, giving them rentals, lessons, lunch, snacks and a full day of skiing for around $45. Other resorts have cut-rate lesson and racing programs for kids, such as Fast Cats, Snow Cats and Mogul Busters.
Some of those programs, like Kids in Action at Wintergreen Resort, start teaching kids at age 2.
"And if we get the kids up there, they'll bring their parents with them," said Steve Showalter of Massanutten Village resort.
Baby boomers in their teens brought the ski industry to its peak in the late 1960s, but now those boomers are aging and their children aren't necessarily following in their ski tracks.
A 1989 survey of Colorado skiers found that only 15 percent of the skiers in 1968 were over 35. Now, more than 52 percent are over 35. In that same survey, 54 percent of skiers in 1968 were between 18 and 34, 21 percent were between 13 and 17 and 10 percent were under age 12. By 1988, it had plummetted to 42 percent ages 18-34, 4.6 percent ages 13-17 and a measly 0.4 percent under age 12.
With stats like that, resorts know what they need to do.
"We really kind of cater to kids," said WinterPlace SKIwee instructor Robin Simmons.
Simmons is a dental hygienist during the week and an instructor on weekends, when her students are usually tikes. One recent Saturday, she was teaching fundamentals to 4-year-old Luke.
"Kids are so flexible. They never get hurt," she said as Luke got tangled up in his skis. "It's a great age to learn."
Simmons said the sooner kids start skiing, the better. They're fearless at young ages and aren't afraid to fall.
"They don't mind falling, they don't mind the cold, they don't mind anything. They're just having fun," she said. "The laws of gravity work for you instead of against you when you're a kid."
Kids tend to be impatient, though. Simmons tries to get kids used to the awkwardness of skis and boots before taking them down slopes. But when it was Luke's turn to lead during a follow-the-leader exercise, he pointed slopeward and said, "I wanna go down there."
Sepp Kober, the longtime ski director at The Homestead, said he does physical education programs with kids in area schools to promote interest in skiing. The resort also offers skiing to college students, who can earn up to six credits for skiing.
Kober also has tried to keep up with the trend that threatens to hurt regular skiing: the snowboard. He feels he got the jump on that by hiring instructors for snowboarding lessons.