Page 52 - Winter 2018 Journal

Growing the Sport

year, for the first time, we’re working with the YMCA and
Solitude Mountain Resort to “graduate” our learn-to youth
into more advanced programs, such as Solitude’s Fly Like An
Eagle Program.
“Solitude was honored to support the NWSEF and
YMCA programs here in Utah,” said Tim Wolfgram, the
resort’s director of snowsports services. “We enjoy teaching
local youth how to ski and snowboard on our mountains this
season and hopefully helped foster their lifelong appreciation
for winter recreation.”
You may wonder how we come so far. The answer is
openly and honestly addressing any and all barriers to par-
ticipation that arose throughout the program. For example,
transportation from Ogden to Salt Lake’s area mountains
was far too cumbersome for many, so the program expanded
to Nordic Valley and Snowbasin to accommodate Ogden Courtesy NWSEF
area youth. In another example, when the process of issu-
ing rentals on a busy Saturday at Solitude made program
days a bit chaotic, Wolfgram devised a way to issue older In April 2017, Olympic and Elite Athletes joined NWSEF and YMCA
rental gear to the YMCA youth to check out and take home Youth at Solitude to celebrate the Y|Ski program.
between sessions. This innovative fix freed up the rental pro-
cess, allowed kids to get accustomed to their gear, and meant Now, we’re devising ways to keep kids progressing on
they could arrive ready for their lessons as soon as they got the mountain, and offering opportunities to stick with ski-
off the bus. ing and riding after they graduate from the Y’s program.
NWSEF provides numerous resources, the YMCA contin-
ues to work within the community and offer transportation
and chaperones, and Solitude is committed to finding ways
to get the kids into more advanced on mountain programs.
Each partner is equally committed to supporting youth par-
ticipation in a sustainable way, and together we’re able to
Heated Ski Lockers reduce traditional barriers to access. Together, we want to

not only teach kids to ski and ride, we want them to keep
skiing and riding.
“Our Y is committed to maintaining access for as long
• Lock-in your customers as each child wants. To accomplish this we feel it is critical
to engage the resorts and the ski industry to engage with our
vision,” said West. “Solitude has been an amazing partner to
• Payback in one season help break barriers along with Snowbasin and Nordic Valley.
And, none of this would be possible without NWSEF lead-
ing the way.”
• Differentiate your resort The NWSEF is excited to expand our YMCA program
in Utah and to launch new collaborative on-mountain proj-
ects, such as our pilots with Killington/Pico and the Pico
• Worldwide market leader Schools Program in Vermont, the Shred Foundation’s pro-
gram with Windham Mountain in New York, and with Sky
Tavern in Reno, Nev.
• ,QFUHDVH UHVRUW SURÀWDELOLW\ If you’re interested in expanding your community out-
reach/youth programs with NWSEF’s help, visit us at
NWSEF.org, or reach out to Constance Beverley, at con-

stance.beverley@nwsef.com.

50 | NSAA JOURNAL | WINTER 2018