Taking the Kids™

Teens Hit the Slopes Big Time

“I’m not going, and you can’t make me!” Melanie said.

Certainly that’s not what any parent wants to hear, especially on vacation. When she was three, I could try to reason with her but if all else failed, I could pick her up and take her where she needed to go, even kicking and screaming, confident she’d be fine once she calmed down. But at 13, that wouldn’t work. Neither would reason, as any parent of a teen knows.

You’d think I was forcing her to spend all morning reading the Odyssey. All I wanted her to do was go back to a much-lauded ski school program at a ski resort designed especially for teens. But after trying it one day, she proclaimed it boring. Even worse, she said, “all of the kids were annoying!”

So there I was faced with the same dilemma as many skiing parents. She didn’t want to ski with me but without her older siblings or a friend along, I didn’t want her cruising a big, unfamiliar mountain on her own.

That’s exactly why ski school directors across the country are working so hard to develop programs that will appeal to this notoriously fickle market. They are implementing everything from teen après-ski hangouts to special teen-only clinics, some just for girls, others to learn tricks, as well as a growing array of terrain parks and special ticket prices.

“Resorts know this is a huge market,” and the future of the industry, said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association and father of a snow-loving 13-year-old. More than 9.4 million skiers and snowboarders are teens or younger.

Be forewarned that snow sports, whether for toddlers or teens, aren’t cheap. Lift-lesson packages can be more than $100 a day. That said, what’s hot this season: “Anything extreme,” says Katie Fry, managing director of the Ski/Snowboard Schools of Aspen.

“Not hanging out with Mom and Dad,” says Sherry McDonald, manager of Vail’s Children’s Ski and Snowboard School.

Here’s just a sampling of the most innovative offerings out there this season:

JUST FOR GIRLS: Extreme skiing champion and former Olympian Wendy Fisher is back with her Fishski clinics just for teen girls at Crested Butte and Aspen in Colorado and Sugar Bowl in California. “I figure this would be a more relaxed and comfortable learning environment,” Fisher explained. (See www.fishski.com) For snowboarders, Roxy hosts camps around the country for girls of all ages and abilities. (See www.roxy.com)
TEEN APRES SKI: At Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont there are two separate teen clubs. In addition, the resort hosts special teen parties every week – with tons of activities from karaoke to big screen movies. (See www.smuggs.com)

Before you decide where to take your teen this season, call and ask what teen-only programs they’ve got. You don’t want them stuck in a class either with younger kids or adults. One tip: if you’ve got several teens in your gang, you may be able to book a private lesson for the group at less per child than ski school would cost at resorts like Snowbird in Utah. (See www.snowbird.com)

Once you arrive, expect your teens to spend much of their time in the terrain parks, whether they’re on skis or boards. These areas have become the unofficial teen hang out at many resorts, Berry says, and resorts are pulling out all the stops to make them better. Vermont’s Mount Snow, for example, has four (See www.mountsnow.com) as does Park City, Utah. (Check for the deal that allows you to convert your boarding pass to a lift ticket for the day you arrive. (See http://www.parkcityinfo.com/skiing/quickstart/)

Invite a friend along. You’ll feel more comfortable letting them explore the mountain then. That’s my plan this season.

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