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“SKI SCHOOL” UPDATE

Courtesy of China Peak Mountain Resort

AMERICA’S COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES MENTOR TOMORROW’S SKI AREA STAFF

With 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 daily, the ski industry, Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. (2015); and
like many, is currently losing many upper management the University of Maine at Farmington (2015).
employees to retirement. One source for replenishing manage- The newest program begins in fall 2019 at Lees-McRae
ment staff is academia. Among America’s roughly 2,600 four- College in Banner Elk, NC, five miles from Beech Mountain
year colleges and universities and 1,000 community colleges, Resort. The college will offer an undergraduate minor in
at least 10 offer a ski resort-focused curriculum. “Ski Industry Business & Instruction,” including PSIA-AASI
From Vermont to California, ski resort-focused associate’s, Alpine, Snowboard, and Adaptive Level 1 certifications.
bachelor’s and post-graduate degrees and certificates are “Forty-four percent of students in our Outdoor Recreation
earned via a combination of traditional classroom instruc- Manage ment program currently have a ski or snowboard
tion and on-mountain experience. Among the students are certification,” said Program Coordinator, Katie C. Wall,
aspiring ski resort general managers, risk managers, lift mech- WEMT, Ed.D. “We saw an interest and a need for our students
anics, instructors, groomers, market- to have a formalized academic pro-
ing and technology directors, among NEARLY HALF A CENTURY AGO, gram in the ski industry.”
other positions. Also new next fall, Northern
The four-year bachelor’s degree THE HALLOWED HALLS OF HIGHER Michigan University will offer to any-
programs tend to wrap ski area man- EDUCATION BEGAN SKI RESORT one with an associate’s degree in ski
agement and operations into a busi- MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTION. area operations/business management
ness degree, preparing students for TODAY, AT LEAST 10 COLLEGES the option to complete the bachelor’s
management positions. The two-year AND UNIVERSITIES ARE DOING SO. degree almost entirely online.
associate’s degree programs are more “The capstone course would
ski industry-operations focused, but also position students to require one week of residency here in Marquette, most likely
opt for a four-year degree. Certificate programs generally serve during the off-season for northern hemisphere ski area pro-
the ski industry’s continuing education needs and are offered fessionals,” explained program director Brian Zinser, who
at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. created the online applied science in management degree
Next fall marks the 49th anniversary of both Colorado completion program.
Mountain College in Leadville, Colo., and Gogebic Community Graduate students, along with those already working at
College in Ironwood, Mich., debuting college degrees in ski ski areas and those considering a return to ski area employment,
area management and operations. Those programs both are served by the online-only Ski Area Management Program
began in the fall of 1970, followed by Northern Vermont at Colorado State University, which awards certificates to
University Lyndon (1972) and Northern Michigan University those who complete the program’s six courses.
in Marquette, Mich. (late 1970s). In 1981, Colorado Mountain “The program was largely designed to cater to the ski
College, with the help of Olympic medalist Billy Kidd, added industry’s continuing education needs,” notes program
a ski business marketing program at its Steamboat Springs, director Natalie Ooi, PhD. “There was a recognition among
Colo., campus. ski area managers that there was a need for a graduate-level
Today, the ski industry leaders of tomorrow are also enrolled program that could provide existing ski area employees with
in programs at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, Nev. the skill sets they need to move forward in their careers,
(1995); Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. (2010); without having to leave their jobs in the industry.”

70 | NSAA JOURNAL | SUMMER 2019