[News & Views]
Tyrolean village to window shop before you are quite literally corralled into the lift maze and again in the cafeteria. Skiers and snowboarders love the word “free”—freestyle, freeskiing, and freeride—because that’s how skiing and snowboarding make you feel. But Big Glisse frowns on free. Big Glisse does not grow new skiers— it repels them. My brother and I learned to ski at King Ridge, N.H. (RIP), which offered the LLL package: Lifts, Lessons and Lunch for $7.50. But when we were still too young for lessons, my parents put us in the ski area daycare for what my moth- er remembers was $2. Ski area daycare kept my parents skiing, which ultimate- ly meant they raised skiers. At Big Glisse destinations, afford- able daycare is over. Even if it wasn’t, the ski schools are overrun, kiddo class sizes are way too big for learning, and you might find yourself five drainages away from your children. This, plus the cost of rentals, lodging, dining, parking, and the rest, is no way to try to bring new skiers into the sport—except for the children of your wealthiest guests. The interactions are often negative. Every December for 20 years, I head- ed to Vail for Product Intro Week to ski with hardgoods people on next year’s skis. And every year for 20 years, resort employees in yellow jackets screamed at everyone at the event to SLOW DOWN! The ski testers who appeared to be going too fast were making controlled turns. Yet the Yellow Jackets say nothing to folks who are going slower but skiing faster than is safe for their skill level.
LETTER TO THE EDITORS
IN RESPONSE TO “THE CHILD CARE GAP,” MAY 2025, SAM
ple: a welcoming space that supports both powder hounds and parents serv- ing up Cheerios between runs. Their lift upgrades show that it’s possible to invest in performance and people. An informal follow-up to our 2024 Ski Moms Happiness Survey revealed that families would ski up to 30 more days per year—30!—if they had access to reliable child care. We’d love to dig deeper into this research, but funding for our survey dried up, another sign that this conversa- tion still isn’t a priority for many in the industry. So, thank you—for covering this topic and keeping ski moms and dads in focus. It matters. Let’s make sure families stay front and center, not pushed to the back burner.
I’m not trying to single out Vail. But this is an example of how Big Glisse for- gets it’s selling freedom. If you feel like you need to police skiers, then train your mall cops to rec- ognize who is increasing risk and who is not. Just because someone is arcing a turn doesn’t mean they are going too fast. As someone who has witnessed at least a dozen collisions, bad skiers moving at moderate speeds are the greater threat. was impressed by the state’s commit- ment to infrastructure that serves every- one in the community—not just those chasing vertical. Brundage’s gorgeous new child-care center is a perfect exam- I’m so grateful to writer Annie Fast for taking the time to research and spot- light on-mountain child care trends. As someone who’s often felt like a lone voice advocating for families in the ski industry, it’s incredibly heartening to know these concerns are being heard and shared. While I watch resorts race to build faster, flashier lifts (is a 10-pack bubble lift coming next?), I can’t help but sigh at the shortsightedness. All the high- speed lifts in the world won’t save the industry if we’re not also investing in the next generation of skiers and riders. As Annie’s article points out, there’s a lot to learn from looking across state lines. This past winter, I visited Idaho and
Warmly, Nicole Feliciano Founder, Ski Moms
They forgot about the lifers. Big Glisse is now part of the American caste system, which has pushed employ- ees and less-than-wealthy residents out of town and down valley—and some- times out of the valley entirely. The people that make the Big Glisse ski areas go don’t live there anymore. The folks teaching skiing, running groomers, bumping chairs, and heading out with headlamps on avalanche routes can no longer afford to live near their work. Other lifelong skiers and ski bums were forced out, too. This segregation resulted from a de facto privatization by pricing strategy that began with tearing down public base lodges, charging for parking, and jacking day ticket prices. And it’s killing the culture and the experience. I was chatting about this the other day with a colleague in the ski media. I’ll leave you with his question: “What if the NFL took the same position that ‘core is poor,’ and actively worked to exclude its most loyal customers? » continued
sam industry calendar Find more events and details at saminfo.com/industry-calendar
Aug. 10-13
MSAA Summer Meeting & Tradeshow
Grand Geneva, WI
msaaevents.org
Sept. 2-4
SAM Summer Ops Camp
Whistler, BC
saminfo.com
Sept. 8-9
New England Summit
Portland, ME
nesummit.com
Sept. 15-17
SKI NY-SKIPA EXPO
Ellicottville, NY
iskinyexpo.com
Sept. 23-26
Mountain Technology Symposium
Camelback, PA
nsaa.org
Oct. 7-8
Mountain Towns 2030
Breckenridge, CO
mt2030.org
Nov. 14-16
Snowbound Expo
Boston, MA
snowboundexpo.com
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