At first glance, it would seem that Snowmass, Colo., should just crush the industry-average 17 percent conversion rate for beginners.

Day one for an adult first-time skier at Snowmass starts with a ride up the gondola from Base Village to Elk Camp Meadows, home of the area’s Beginner Magic program.

When guests step off the gondola, they are only a few feet from the Elk Camp Restaurant and the Beginner Magic Ski & Snowboard Shop, which is staffed and equipped to outfit beginner skiers. There, once fitted into boots and a pair of short learning skis, the students meets their pro, a certified instructor, often with years of experience. They are given a preview of the day, spend time walking around in the boots, and receive their first tips to get moving on snow.

Never-evers then ride a Magic Carpet to the top of Elk Camp Meadows. The terrain is pitch perfect for the beginner. “Gravity is not turned up very high there,” says Tom Hazard, manager of the adult programming at Snowmass. “That way our clients can appreciate and become comfortable riding and gliding and not have to work on stopping.”

That first morning, the pros focus on teaching basic body movements and the fundamentals of changing direction. “Beginners think it takes big movements to make a ski turn and change direction,” says Hazard. “We teach them that that’s not really the case.”

Adult classes are typically limited to four students, though during peak weeks class sizes range between eight and 12.

“We are so committed to the beginner. We’ve addressed terrain, we’ve addressed equipment, and we are constantly exploring ways to help people enjoy the skiing experience from the very start at both Snowmass and Buttermilk,” Hazard says.

Still, Beginner Magic faces the same challenges as the beginner programs at Squaw Valley or Stowe, Snoqualmie Pass, or Peek ’n Peak. Like the fact that Millennials only spend about five days on the slopes each season, compared the seven to eight that Boomers ski or snowboard annually. Or that, as a percentage of overall visitation, newcomers to snow sports are at a long-time low.

Similarly, beginner conversion is a challenge. Although Beginner Magic reports slightly better numbers than the national conversion rate of 17 percent, approximately 80 percent of beginners at Aspen/Snowmass hang up their skis or snowboard after their first try.

“We get about 20 percent conversion at Snowmass on first-time skiers. That is obviously a number—nationally and at Snowmass—we’d like to see improve,” Hazard says.


Moving the Needle
Bettering that number has gotten Katie Ertl, Aspen Skiing Co. managing director of ski schools, to look at a number of alternatives to improve the beginner experience.

“It’s so easy to feel out of place when you’re starting,” says Ertl. “We try to focus on helping people feel comfortable, and like they belong on the slopes.”

One novel and affordable addition to the toolbox—and a sign of the attention to detail that Aspen/Snowmass can provide—came last season in the form of footbed inserts designed by Eric Ward, a longtime pro at Snowmass and boot fitter at Christy Sports.

His company, the Foot Foundation (FootFoundation.com) has developed Sports Balance System inserts, a set of 12 wedged, plastic footbeds ranging from .5 degree to 6 degrees, in .5-degree increments. They can be used to both measure a person’s pronation, one of the chief culprits undermining balance and alignment, and to correct for bowlegged, knock-kneed, or other stance misalignments, and eliminate their effects on the guest’s skiing.

First-time skiers at Snowmass who are clearly struggling with alignment and balance, whether in the shop or on the slopes, are tested using the SBS system. If they measure misalignments of 3 degrees or more, a wedged footbed is cut and fit in their boots, bringing their alignment and balance in line. The whole process takes about 20 minutes. It’s a quick and affordable solution.

To keep things simple for its pilot program, Beginner Magic uses 3-degree wedges only. If a person exhibits stance misalignment at that level or greater, they are fit with a 3-degree wedge, which offers significant improvement for a large number of misaligned skiers.

“Whether you are bowlegged or knock-kneed, the solution is the same: We get your foot flat inside the ski boot and then get the ski to sit flat underneath your foot on top of the snow,” Ward says.

And that works wonders. “Our pros and guests have reported improvements using Eric’s system,” Hazard says.

One nice thing about the inserts, from a ski school manager’s point of view, is that they can travel with the skier as they try on different boots, or stay with the rental shop and be used to help the next beginner who comes in with significant balance problems.

Aspen/Snowmass bought 90 pair last season. It’s considering a larger purchase this year to expand use to the Beginner Magic program at Buttermilk.

Fifty-year veteran pro Rod Carnie supports that idea. He helped develop the Beginner Magic program in the mid-1990s, and sees the SBS system as a useful tool. Carnie had students use the SBS wedges four or five times last season, with good results for clients with the most extreme balance challenges.

“If you fit someone who has been struggling all morning with the wedges during lunch, and he has a great afternoon, it is going to be a thrill for him the same way it is for an expert skier dropping into their favorite terrain for first time each season,” he says.

“What we like about Eric’s system is that he’s figured out a way to help maximize comfort and alignment on a day-to-day basis,” adds Ertl.

It also gives rental shop staff and pros a chance to talk with beginners about the importance of boots, boot liners and footbeds. “We can educate the guest while they are skiing and learning, and they can better understand the importance of footbeds if they stay with the sport and buy a pair of boots,” Ertl says.

As with any pilot program, a big part of future success relies on training the instructors and staff in rental shops about the system, and then getting buy-in. “This season we’ll focus on fine tuning the delivery system,” says Hazard.

Meanwhile, Aspen/Snowmass will continue to use other tricks that aren’t as readily available to busier and more affordable resorts. One is to pull struggling beginners out of group lessons and pair them one-on-one with a pro for a few hours. Another is to insist that beginners leave their equipment at the mid-mountain learning center, put on their street shoes, and ride the gondola at day’s end.

“After one day they have the skill to go down, but the fatigue factor can get them,” says Hazard. “That can be the thing that destroys the experience.” Eliminating those things, even things like stance misalignment, all help boost the conversion rate. And every bump in conversion is important.


Want to learn more about rental bootfitting? Attend the annual SAM/SIA Rental Seminar in Rental World at the SIA Snow Show in Denver, Colo., Jan. 30, 2016.