Former New Jersey Ski Area Gets a New Mission

ALTRUISM
AND OPTIMISM:
B Y I S E U LT D E V L I N
Former New Jersey Ski Area
Gets a New Mission
“Angel” had a smile as bright as the sun glinting off the snow as he carefully skied to
a stop next to his friends. Wearing his black North Face jacket, the 8-year-old had just
made his way down the hill with slow, controlled turns. “Finally, I found something I am
good at,” he said. “Great job! You’re so talented,” said his coach, Mr. Mike.
A
ngel and his friends were participating in
a ground-breaking program piloted this
past winter at the former Hidden Valley
ski area in Vernon, New Jersey, which was
forced to close its doors in 2012 due to
economic hard times.
The nonprofit organization National Winter
Activity Center (NWAC) is currently in the process of purchasing the 140-acre property, renaming
it to reflect an ambitious, altruistic goal: introduce
thousands of kids to snowsports over the next three
years in an affordable and welcoming way—many of
whom might otherwise never have the opportunity
to experience skiing and riding.
New Purpose for an Old Ski Area
Over the years resorts have rolled out some very
enticing incentives to attract beginner skiers and
snowboarders and encourage them to stick with the
sport, and many have had great success, upping their
own retention rates beyond the 17 percent national
conversion average. There have been some pretty
sweet deals, too, including Killington’s 4-Day Elan
Discovery package with its ski giveaway incentive,
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and the free season pass Sugarbush gives guests who
complete its First-Timer-to-Life Timer program.
But what is happening on the slopes of the former Hidden Valley ski area may become one of the
most ground-breaking beginner learning and conversion programs of all. Aimed at kids aged 7 to 17 who
are not familiar with (or able to afford access to) the
world of winter sports, the new low-cost learn-to-ski/
snowboard center incorporates a little bit of everything, including learning programs based on specific terrain characteristics, to get newcomers hooked
on the sport quickly—in six sessions for an all-inclusive fee of $450—and help transform them into dedicated slope sliders.
What, exactly, is the National Winter Activity
Center? It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit facility recently
formed by the National Winter Sports Education
Foundation, whose mission is to improve the lives,
health, and fitness of youths through participation in
winter activities. Schone Malliet, NWSEF founder
and CEO, said the organization accomplishes that
goal by leading the collaboration of nationally recognized partner organizations, including PSIA, USSA,
SIA, NSAA, FIS, and NBS. Powder Corp and HKD
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Snowmakers have been particularly supportive also,
Malliet added.
NWAC began the process of acquiring the
Hidden Valley property after the ski area went bankrupt and failed to sell at auction in 2013, and is
investing millions of dollars to add new lifts, snowmaking, and renovate the lodge. A lot is riding on
the success of the new program, which has set three
impressive benchmarks: introduce some 4,200 children to snowsports over the next three years, get 50
percent of them to stick with it, and get 10 percent to
eventually enter the world of racing. NWSEF set up
the NWAC program and plans to expand the concept to one day reach an even more ambitious goal:
attracting 100,000 youths to snowsports each season.
The Heart of the Matter
NWAC is designed to take individuals from a neverever to a confident winter sports user incorporating
safety skills and outdoor environment skills, but
Kids at the National Winter Activity Center
are taught and mentored by the same
“coach” all season, with one-on-one
instruction available if needed.
PHOTO BY EDWARD CHASE
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CONVENTION ISSUE 2015 | NSAA Journal | 29
demographics to skiing and snowboarding, particularly in light of the
industry’s relatively low overall conversion rate of 17 percent. Rather than
focus on specific groups, however, the
program is about access—regardless
of ethnicity or whether kids are from
urban or rural areas.
“I love the sport and I want to
take my experiences and make a difference in the lives of youth and family,”
he said, noting his own diverse background as a CEO in the technology
industry, a Marine pilot, and an executive in the financial industry.
Malliet recognizes that learning to
ski or ride is not just about the physical challenge of getting down the hill;
it’s about how winter sports can be
a life-changing activity. Eventually,
you do get down the hill. But, as we
all know, that is only the beginning.
EDWARD CHASE
there’s more to the program than the
focus on skiing and snowboarding,
said Malliet. “We will be improving
kids’ lives by exposing them to a new
environment,” he added, alluding to
another important benefit: invaluable,
positive self-development in kids who
may need it most.
“We want to take the sport
beyond where it is and to other populations,” said Malliet, who has long
been involved in the industry in many
different facets, including as race coach
and as an executive vice president of
the National Brotherhood of Skiers
(NBS). “Skiing has not always been
an easy sport to get involved with, and
many people don’t know how to come
to the mountains.”
Malliet sees this as an opportunity and hopes that NWAC will serve
as a conduit for bringing broader
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There are tremendous personal growth
opportunities in becoming a skier or
snowboarder, not the least of which is
learning how to stick with something
and push through challenges.
Angel, mentioned at the beginning of this article, is a good example
of how learning to ski or ride can set
off a positive transformation in a child.
Although he is burdened with ADHD
and has trouble with coordination, he
picked up skiing easily, and that success is helping him become more outgoing, said Stefany Navarro, youth
“One of the most astonishing
aspects of the National Winter
Activity Center is that it
will not be open to the public
sold, operating strictly
as a learn-to center and
competition center.”
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and family director of the YMCA of
Greater New York. Whereas Angel
used to keep to himself a lot, he’s
become much more outgoing, Navarro
said. “He’s not just part of a group; he
has become a leader within the group,
encouraging others,” she added.
Stories like these are what motivate Malliet most. When he discusses
his goal of introducing kids to winter sports and getting them to become
regular participants, it is clear he is
a man with a mission, and he recognizes that one of the best ways to
reach kids—and meet that goal of 50
percent retention—is to get into the
psyche of youth.
This entails not only making the
sport more affordable and less intimidating, but also providing mentors and
helping new skiers and riders tap into
the sense of community and belonging that the sport can provide. Kids
at NWAC have the same instructor
(which the center likes to call “coach”)
all season to offer mentoring and
encouragement in addition to learning
to ski or ride. And, if a child is struggling, expert “coaches” work one-onone to improve the outcome.
2015 Pilot Program
After installing two Magic Carpets,
making lots of snow, and partnering
with nearby Mountain Creek for operational guidance and instructor assistance, NWAC held its 2015 pilot
program over four weekends from
mid-February to mid-March.
All told, about 180 children participated each weekend, many from
local clubs such as the YMCA of
Greater New York, Boys and Girls
Clubs of Hudson County, and a Girl
Scout troop.
The six-week learn-to sessions at
EPR PROPERTIES IS A SPECIALTY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT)
THAT INVESTS IN SKI PROPERTIES ACROSS THE US AND CANADA.
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the subsidized price of $450 covered
equipment, instruction, healthy meals,
and transportation—for a total of 60
hours of winter activity. If the kids
needed clothing and accessories, they
were able to use donated items at the
center, said Judie Aspinall, client business manager for the NWAC. “Our
goal will be to continue to receive
donations so the athletes are always
dressed properly,” she said.
When the kids started to improve,
resort personnel built features like
banks for them to turn on. “The kids
hiked up and skied downhill on the
bank turns we built,” said Aspinall,
adding that their adventure and individual accomplishments helped build
their confidence considerably.
The YMCA of Greater New York
sent 50 kids to the program, and they
had an incredible experience, said
Emil Ramnarinel, senior director of
ANDREW LIMBOCKER
(816) 472-1700 | [email protected]
CONVENTION ISSUE 2015 | NSAA Journal | 31
youth health and fitness for the organization. “Watching how the students have gravitated towards skiing
has been eye opening for the parents
and the YMCA staff as well,” she said.
“Mentally, the confidence levels in
many of the children spiked. By lesson
three, kids were skiing backwards, navigating turns on the slope and stopping
on a dime.”
Since the kids were new to skiing,
they supported and encouraged each
other, Ramnarinel added. “Regardless
of the child’s physical abilities, skiing seems to even the playing field for
them. We don’t hear the same teasing
or bullying that you may hear when
children start to play a sport like basketball or soccer,” he said.
A New Learn-to Model?
One of the most astonishing aspects of
the National Winter Activity Center
is that it will not be open to the public and there will be no lift tickets sold.
It will operate strictly as a learn-to center and competition center. There isn’t
any typical ski area food at the base
lodge either, just a cafeteria that serves
healthy meals.
“This is a whole different business
model,” said Malliet. For the industry it represents something that doesn’t
currently exist either, because it doesn’t
have the right price point or space to
do it, he added. The goal is to run it
like a business and be financially viable. Malliet believes they will breakeven operationally when they reach
National Winter Sports
Education Foundation
The National Winter Sports Education Foundation (NWSEF) was founded
in 2011 with a mission of assisting organizations in playing an effective role
in improving the lives, health, and fitness of children through participation
in winter sports.
Its ultimate goal is to help more than 100,000 youth gain access to
winter activities including skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing,
snowshoeing, and more, each and every winter. Donations support the
group and its partners, who include PSIA, USSA, SIA, NSAA, FIS, NBS,
Powdr Corp, and other many other industry and non-industry groups.
Since its inception four years ago, NWSEF has funded almost 10,000 kids
for introductory cross-country programs through organizations such as
the Girl Scouts, events like YouthFest in New Hampshire via funding to YES
(Youth Enrichment Services), and Nordic Rocks, a cross-country program
in the Midwest. There’s still a long way to go toward NWSEF’s 100,000
goal, but Schone Malliet, the organization’s CEO and founder, said he’s
optimistic they’ll get there eventually.
One of the bigger programs NWSEF sponsors is the YMCA’s Ted
Ligety Learn To Ski program, also sponsored by Ligety and the U.S. Ski
and Snowboard Association. Geared to kids who live in Utah and have
never skied before, “the program is a great opportunity for kids to find a
new, healthy passion to keep them active in the winter,” according to the
Utah YMCA website.
These sessions helped to inspire the creation of the NWAC program,
which is also branded as a Ted Ligety Learn to Ski program, Malliet said.
The Y sessions have been held at Utah’s Deer Valley and Snow Basin for
five-week periods to teach 7- to 14- year-old kids skiing and riding skills,
with rentals, transportation, and lift tickets included. The purpose of the
program is to give all children the chance to learn to ski by offering tiered
pricing for families that otherwise could not afford the opportunity.—ID
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4,200 participants (noting that the
nonprofit YMCA of Greater New York
does well in this respect, with its 24
branches serving 250,000 kids).
Malliet hopes the NWAC will
become a model of best practices for
the industry in terms of getting more
urban youth and all kids involved in
winter sports. “Another advantage of
the program is that more activity in the
winter can also have a positive health
impact of lowering incidences of obesity and diabetes,” he added.
Alpinall agreed: “It’s geared to
kids in general who may not have
someone in the family to take them to
a ski resort.”
The Plan for 2016
When NWAC opens again next
January, it will host clubs on weekends and on Tuesday and Thursday
nights, with a total of 1,400 participants expected. The plan is to have a
ratio of six-to-one for instruction. The
reason it opens after the New Year is
to give the center time to organize its
mountain operations beginning in
late November. Then, there’s the matter of snow…since the weather in New
Jersey can be iffy, Malliet said. By year
three, the goal is to introduce 4,200
children, which will be NWAC’s total
capacity for any given season.
Of course, after participants learn
to ski or ride they will need a place to
go to practice and develop their skills
further on more challenging slopes.
Mountain Creek is a few miles away
and has partnered with the National
Winter Activity Center on the pilot
program, with plans to be involved for
the future.
“We’d prefer to see them get out
on the slopes and continue to ski and
get invested in a lifetime sport,” said
Bill Benneyan, president of Mountain
Creek, who added that they would
have a program in place for next
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Nearby Mountain
Creek partnered
with the National
Winter Activity
Center to provide
experienced
instructors who
engaged the
children in fun
learn-to-ski
activities.
EDWARD CHASE
winter that would move graduates of
the NWAC to Mountain Creek with
some sort of value package or introductory conversion program like the
school passport deals.
Now that the pilot program has
proven to be a success, managers will
organize the next steps to get the center ready for the three-month operation next winter. “We have a good idea
of what we need going forward,” said
Malliet, describing plans to re-grade
a majority of the terrain for optimal
learning, install new lifts, widen slopes,
and add more snowmaking, thanks to
help from HKD Snowmakers. With a
successful pilot program under its belt,
the team will meet during spring and
summer to outline the future plans.
“It’s new and unbroken territory,
but NWAC has a passionate team
working hard on the future prospects,”
said Benneyan. “It’s going to deliver
more skiers and we’re all for it.”
When the new skiers and riders
get to the bigger resorts, they will come
prepared with slope etiquette and
accomplished basic skills. “Our participants will come to the sport with a
greater sense of how to participate and
have fun, while doing it in a safe and
efficient environment,” Malliet said.
Some day NWAC protégés will
no doubt be among the U.S. ski and
snowboard industry’s most competitive
Olympians. For now, Malliet says he’ll
focus on the task at hand: introducing kids to winter sports, keeping them
engaged, and giving them an opportunity to be part of something meaningful and positive for the rest of their
lives. For all of those reasons, here’s
wishing him every success. ■
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