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Club trips are vital to health of ski resorts

Groups mean big visitor numbers, often at 'off' times

By Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 26, 2007 at 12:05 a.m.

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Nat Powers, 55, of Los Angeles, center, riding a Sno-Cat at Winter Park, is a member of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, which has 84 clubs in the U.S.

Photo by Evan Semon / The Rocky

Nat Powers, 55, of Los Angeles, center, riding a Sno-Cat at Winter Park, is a member of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, which has 84 clubs in the U.S.

Bob Silverman, who joined the National Brotherhood of Skiers for a stay at Winter Park, gets ready for a run. His cavalry hat honors the Buffalo Soldiers who helped settle the West.

Bob Silverman, who joined the National Brotherhood of Skiers for a stay at Winter Park, gets ready for a run. His cavalry hat honors the Buffalo Soldiers who helped settle the West.

Michael Harris, 30, of Boston, finishes his day on the slopes and prepares to join other members of the National Brotherhood of Skiers for dinner at Winter Park.

Photo by Photos By Evan Semon / The Rocky

Michael Harris, 30, of Boston, finishes his day on the slopes and prepares to join other members of the National Brotherhood of Skiers for dinner at Winter Park.

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John Collette flies all over the world on ski vacations, taking about three big trips to get to the slopes each year.

But don't mistake the retired Atlantic City firefighter for a skier. He gave that up years ago.

"I skied for 30 years and I don't ski anymore," declared Collette, after settling into a Sno-Cat for a ride up the slopes at Winter Park Resort earlier this month. "I'm a snowboarder."

It's all the same to Colorado's big ski resorts, which court the likes of Collette and the fellow members of his huge African- American ski club council known as the National Brotherhood of Skiers.

Ski clubs continue to bring a significant chunk of revenue to the industry, with groups from Ohio to Texas to California choosing Colorado for their trips more often than they go anyplace else in the world.

This season and the two before it, roughly 40 percent of U.S. ski club trips were bound for Colorado, according to a survey published by the National Ski Club Newsletter.

"They're important to us for two reasons: We can bring a lot of people in at once, and they're willing to come at 'off' times because they don't want to come when it's busy," said Winter Park Resort President Gary DeFrange.

They also can negotiate better rates during slow times of the season, such as mid-January, when the National Brotherhood will bring about 2,000 people to Breckenridge.

Early December also has become a more popular time, now that improved snowmaking technology allows many resorts to open earlier.

The 450 people who came to Winter Park for the National Brotherhood's early-season trip each paid roughly $1,000 for a week of skiing, lodging, air and ground transportation.

Winter Park threw in free lessons, lift tickets and rentals for the members of the group who had never been skiing before.

Dwayne and Tanzania Williams and their two kids, Dwayne II and Breanna, were among the first- timers taking a noontime break for a club barbecue at a restaurant part way up the mountain at Winter Park.

"We've typically gone to Disney World or the beach," said Dwayne Williams Sr., who brought his family to Winter Park from McKinney, Texas, after his sister-in-law lobbied them for five years to come on a ski club trip.

"We've overcome the hurdle. I'm sold," he said.

The National Brotherhood continues to draw new members to its approximately 84 local clubs throughout the country.

"Those people have a handle on keeping young people in their club," said Bob Wilbanks, who tracks trends as editor of the National Ski Club Newsletter.

For the most part, ski club members represent an aging population.

"What motivated people to be part of a club was not only the discounts but also the social benefits," said Andy Wirth, head of marketing for Steamboat Ski Resort and its parent company Intrawest.

"Now those people are married with kids and coming with their families."

Still, Steamboat again ranked as the most popular destination for ski council trips this season.

Vail Mountain doubled its share of the market this season with 8 percent of all ski club trips, the same as the entire state of Utah, according to the ski club newsletter survey.

The segment remains a key focus because it brings so many skiers from out of town who stay for several days, naturally spending far more each day than those skiers who drive to a ski area for part of a day and go home.

But any type of group commands the attention of ski areas, which perennially look to draw large numbers of skiers any way they can.

Even though most skiers still get their introduction to the sport from family or friends, local school groups and Front Range ski clubs have long been a boost for even the smallest areas,

"School programs are as important today as they ever have been because they allow us to connect with the community," said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association. "In this business, we take no element for granted."

The well-established Satellite Ski Club attracts attention from several of the state's ski areas because the avid group of about 150 skiers takes a number of group trips every season, in addition to buying more than one season pass to take day trips to some of the closer areas.

"All we ask our members is to have a good time - but not too good a time, because we do represent Lockheed Martin," said Barb Smith, a Lockheed systems engineer who has served as the Satellite club's president for the past three years.

At Monarch Mountain near Salida, the ski area just started a program with the local middle school to offer free days of skiing and rentals as part of the physical education curriculum.

In surveying parents this year, Monarch discovered that 60 percent of families at the nearby Salida school had never been to the ski area.

For the relatively isolated mountain, the school program is as much about nurturing potential employees as it is recreational skiers, according to Monarch spokesman Greg Ralph.

kelleyj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5068

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