Rookie downhill skier Sarah Nick has a snow load of advice for ski areas looking to attract and retain the many beginner skiers and snowboarders who slide down their slopes.
“Make sure there are no bumps in the road, beginners don’t want headaches,” says Sarah, a morning radio host on 104.7 The Lizard in Kelowna, B.C., who started downhill skiing late last year. “Offer competitive pricing, great customer service with lots of advice, and do your best to keep lineups short when buying lift tickets, renting gear and hopping onto the chairs.”
Sarah first stepped into a pair of ski bindings in November 2022 at Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, where her experience was top notch. In addition to excellent customer service when renting equipment, booking lessons, and buying lift tickets, she appreciates Big White’s well-marked beginner hills, apres-ski offerings, and comfy accommodations. She was overjoyed when staff welcomed her dog Shrek into the ski-in, ski-out chalet she rented.
“I’m loving the life,” says Sarah, who recently purchased her own equipment and holds a season’s pass at Big White. “I plan to stick with it.”
Sarah’s happy experience is music to the ears of Paul Pinchbeck, President and CEO of the Canadian Ski Council, which says beginners make up nearly 21% of the 3.1 million active skiers and snowboarders at many Canadian ski areas, representing a significant chunk of annual and future business. Last season, that amounted to 649,000 people, “which is huge for ski areas, especially if they can be converted to lifers,” says Pinchbeck.
Ski area operators recognize the value of attracting first-timers to their slopes, and are mostly aware of the various speed bumps can cause enthusiasts, in particular newbies, to quit the sport and spend their money on other winter pursuits.
“Mount St. Louis Moonstone believes strongly that ensuring a new guest’s experience is fast, warm and welcoming is integral to the resort’s success,” says Assistant General Manager Sarah Huter, whose Coldwater, Ontario, ski area relies on beginners for 15% of its daily lift ticket sales.
To keep newcomers coming back, MSLM offers the Rossignol Experience Centre, the latest rental equipment, and one of the most spacious rental departments in the province. Its online purchase process and updated radio frequency identification lift entry system reduce line-ups and increase the speed for guests to receive their rentals. Along with 11 tech desks to ensure equipment is quickly, properly, and safely set for their ability, MSLM offers exceptional beginner terrain including wide hills and one of Ontario’s largest learning areas.
It has invested heavily in its lift system, adding a quad chair and a loading carpet that ensures beginners can easily learn and transition from the magic carpet to a chairlift. Last summer another conveyor carpet was added, making it Ontario’s only dual moving carpet to ensure shorter queue times at peak visitation periods, which means more skiing and snowboarding and less waiting in a lift line “to improve the overall beginner experience,” says Huter.
“All guests are important to the resort’s bottom line, however guests who rent equipment or identify as first-timers certainly have the highest revenue spend per visit. These guests take lessons and rent equipment on top of the daily lift ticket spend, so as a result automatically increase resort revenue across all departments. MSLM encourages every guest to purchase food and beverages by offering quality menu items, fast, friendly service and this season started a partnership with global hospitality provider Sodexo Live! to improve and update our overall food services.”
At Big White, where beginners account for seven per cent of lift ticket sales, first timers are introduced to skiing and snowboarding through the facility’s Discovery Program, which serves skiers and snowboarders of all ages and genders, says Michael Richards, Director of Mountain Sports. Big White participates in the Canadian Ski Council’s Never Ever Days initiative, which offers beginners everything they need to get onto the slopes for $25 plus tax, and offers package pricing and deals on lift tickets and season passes.
“In an effort to attract first timers, we target the whole family and offer a strong kids’ program,” says Richards. “Children can start at age three and take lessons to age 12.”
To demonstrate how Big White over the years has turned many newbies into lifers, Richards cites this story. “In early January, I taught a lesson to Gabby from Brisbane, Australia who grew up taking lessons in our Kids Centre. She was here with her partner and her family. She signed up for an adult group lesson because you never stop learning. Clearly, this shows how important it is for ski areas to properly introduce people to what can become a life-long sport.”
As at other ski areas, new entrants to the sport are huge for Big White.
“If a person goes through the entry level programs and carries onward, that is when they are paying the full fare for rentals and lift tickets and this adds to the dollars spent at the resort,” says Michael Richards, Director of Mountain Sports. “Most times friends and family are attached to the beginners, which also contributes … and those who stick with us tend to purchase a season’s pass and purchase equipment.”
That’s precisely what beginner Sarah Nick has done.
Adds Huter, of MSLM: “It is the resort’s hope that if they (beginners) learn the love of skiing and riding at MSLM, the mountain will be considered their home. The resort will hold a special place, mean that much more to them and equal return visits again and again. As a result of this personal experience, it will work to ensure increased revenue spent over a guest’s lifetime.”
