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Help Needed: What Kinds of Women's Programs Would You Like To See?

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hi Everyone, I would love some feedback on what sorts of women's ski and/or snowboard programs you have enjoyed and what you would like to see if you could design your ideal program.

The context is that I'm about to step into a role managing the ski school at a small resort here in Vermont, and I'm also involved in developing new programming. We're in a really fun period right now of thinking about what we could offer, and I thought it would only make sense to reach out to the Ski Diva community for feedback and ideas.

Thanks for anything you can offer about what you've enjoyed and what you'd like to see.

THANKS!
 

kiki

Angel Diva
The North Face 2 day ladies camp at Whistler is fabulous. It's a Saturday/ Sunday combo. All lady instructors and students. All levels 1-6. They meet on first morning and you drink coffee and nibble on power bars while they chat you each up and create the grouos. Then you do a ski off and they resort. The effort in to building the right teams is what i think makes it work so well. On Saturday night everyone meets for a glass of wine and appetizers in a private lounge (included in price of the program).

I really enjoyed it.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
For one of the Massanutten demo weekends a while back, I organized a special one-shot women's group lesson. Ended up with 4-5 Divas. The instructor was Julie, who is an experienced L3 who runs the children's program and sometimes teaches the regular 2-hour Ladies clinic on Thursday mornings. But it was early January and she could be available. We had a little bit of a range of abilities from high intermediate to low advanced. Probably planned for 2 hours. Learned a lot and had a good time.

In general, the advantage of a 2-3 hour one-shot group lesson is that it's easier to fit into a busy schedule than a multi-week program. Especially for people who aren't locals. Massanutten has a reasonable number of people who have season passes and do day trips on weekends, driving 1-2 hours.

The Elk 1-day women's clinic is done monthly. Very nicely put together. Includes a buffet lunch in the restaurant, not just a voucher for food from the cafeteria.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I like the idea of a series of lessons that meets one morning a week. I'm not aware of any ski area in VT that does this. Sunapee in NH does, but that's not exactly nearby. It'd give the area something different to market, which I think is a good thing.
 
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diymom

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
But at a reasonable time for people to get there from a distance if there is only one time slot. I think Sunapee might have a morning and an afternoon clinic. Wachusett has a weekly women’s clinic that I would like to do but it starts at 9:30. Not so bad if you are local but I’m guessing they would get more interest from the Boston crowd if it didn’t involve leaving in rush hour and before the kids are off to school.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
I've done the "camp"that Kiki refers too. It was great. Two days of hard skiing though. I used to teach ladies night. If was group lessons for women, taught by women. It ran over a series of weeks. Great for working people. Tremblant runs "Elle ski". A Saturday morning group class for women only, taught by women. It runs for 8 weeks. The gals seem to like it. So this is the same as Ski Diva's though, except weekend day for those that work.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I much prefer having a half-day lesson in the morning than a full-day clinic. Then it's easy to relax and/or practice in the afternoon. Having done a multi-week program with a full morning lesson on Sunday mornings and a Taos Ski Week with 6 consecutive morning lessons, my sense of what works for me is even better defined.

I've had afternoon semi-private lessons. When I'm in good shape, that works okay. But when I wasn't, a morning lesson was more effective. But I'm a morning person. I can imagine it's just the opposite for someone who isn't fully awaked until mid-morning.
 

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I like the idea of a series of lessons that meets one morning a week. I'm not aware of any ski area in VT does this. Sunapee in NH does, but that's not exactly nearby. It'd give the area something different to market, which I think is a good thing.

Gore Mt NY Has this:
Ladies Escape

Wednesday girl-fun! The camaraderie of this program is contagious. Our accomplished women instructors will show you how to manage Gore's terrain for more fun and excitement, and you'll meet new friends to ski with! Welcoming lady skiers of any level, beginner to advanced.

Here's the whole Gore Info on midweek programs
Midweek Adult Programs for Ages 18+

Updated for 2018-2019

These programs include 6 days of lift tickets, one meal (your choice of breakfast or lunch), video analysis, lots of coaching and feedback from our staff, and plenty of laughs and good times! These programs are offered Wednesday/Thursday, dates TBA. Enjoy flexibility with your schedule, and choose your 6 of the 8 days offered! Or, take the first six days, then add on 1 or 2 remaining days.

Participants can check in on program mornings starting at 8:30am in the Base Lodge near the Tannery Pub entrance.
Ladies Escape

Wednesday girl-fun! The camaraderie of this program is contagious. Our accomplished women instructors will show you how to manage Gore's terrain for more fun and excitement, and you'll meet new friends to ski with! Welcoming lady skiers of any level, beginner to advanced.
Secret Society of Skiers

Gather on Thursdays with other great skiers who know all too well the secret of midweek fun! Let our highly trained instructors coach you through your on-snow challenges. Welcoming intermediate to expert skiers.

$395 until 11/26/18, or $295 for passholders
$435 after, or $320 for passholders
Add-on Days: $66, or $49 for passholders

To purchase adult midweek programs by phone, please call (518) 251-2411.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
It would be nice for a first-timer signing up for a multiple session lesson program is there were alternatives if they had to miss a session. For instance, suppose a multi-week program covered 4 consecutive weeks. But one of the days turns out to be super cold and the trails were sheets of ice, so a student opts to stay home. Could there be a credit towards a group lesson at another time? Or could the instructor spend 15-20 min with the student after the next lesson?

When I did the Massanutten Gold Clinic the second time, I knew I would miss a few sessions out of the 8 Sunday mornings. But the price was still a bargain because I'd worked with the instructor for a few years. After a group lesson on a rainy day, he made the effort to meet up with me in the afternoon to show me a drill. It was still raining (warm in VA) but I really appreciated the tip so I was more than willing to get wet again.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
A perk at the Taos Ladies Ski Week was free demos. That was what made it more appealing then a regular Ski Week. Especially since they were the same price, although I probably would've paid an extra $20-30 for 5 days of demo skis.

There was a talk one morning before the lifts opened about gear. Examples of skis and different styles of boots were explained and passed around. I think a coupon for a free boot evaluation from a local ski shop was a perk. There was also a coupon for half-price on a full tune.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
IMHE -
Weekend Clinics - currently Mammoth only offers "weekday" womens clinics???? yes wtf.
oh and weekday bike clinics also. Loosing all that weekend revenue. shame.
Oh and the one weekend they do w/ a "Olympic" skier has been watered down to 3 hours of skiing, 2 hours of crapy demos, yoga, lunch and wine tasting.
No thanks, not my cup of tea, I'll be looking for the red bull crew.

I liked the 10 week series I did last year -- every Sunday, same group/instructor. It was co-ed which I'm fine with. Its a bargain compared to regular lessons.

Mammoth is missing out is the parents of the kids on the ski teams. Why would you not offer some type of program for them? They are there every weekend the kids are.
Why not do SOMETHING for the parents who are shelling out the $$ and the time to be on the hill?

Oh and you will need a baby back country class -- since its the fastest growing segment of skiing and you have that availability would be nice to do some intro to back country clinics.
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Oh and the one weekend they do w/ a "Olympic" skier has been watered down to 3 hours of skiing, 2 hours of crapy demos, yoga, lunch and wine tasting.
No thanks, not my cup of tea, I'll be looking for the red bull crew.

LOL, my (female) manager and I were rolling our eyes about this same phenomenon today. We swore our women's programs would NOT involve wine or yoga. Or a "She Shed" :rolleyes:

Has anyone done a clinic or lesson that involved video analysis? Curious about how appealing that would be. I know I would find it extremely helpful, but also would want to be careful about how the analysis was delivered; I imagine that not everyone would want to have their form dissected in front of a group.
 

diymom

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
At Chicopee in Ontario they used to have a women’s day and a separate men’s day. A discounted lift ticket ( I think only $20) would include free rentals, lesson, and lunch. It seemed a good way to introduce people to the hill and/ or the instructors. That’s how I got DH on the hill to try skiing. (And I have to admit the only time. But he did get off the magic carpet and on the chair.) I let my youngest skip school to do women’s day with me once or twice. (It was the only way to get her to take a lesson at that point. But hey- skip school and a free lunch. Ok)

They did do it on a weekday though, limiting the audience. And I never understood why it was always late in the season. I would think earlier in the season you might entice more newbies to sign up for lessons or a pass.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Has anyone done a clinic or lesson that involved video analysis? Curious about how appealing that would be. I know I would find it extremely helpful, but also would want to be careful about how the analysis was delivered; I imagine that not everyone would want to have their form dissected in front of a group.
Had video several times. My least favorite part of a multi-day lesson package during one week that were women-only clinics at large mountains. Also part of a the multi-week program at Massanutten. Review of video was done as a group. Less stressful when I knew the other students better.

I get more out of seeing short clips during a semi-private lesson with my instructor at Alta.

At Elk, there was supposed to be video analysis. Spent time filming my group of four individually. But it turned out that the camera was not working. Definitely a waste of time that day.
 

SallyCat

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm also wondering how appealing a women-only "introduction to the park" would be. (Learning to do small jumps properly, small box slides, etc.) I think a lot of skiers ignore park features, but it seems to me that some of the skills would translate well to skiing in trees and bumps and are just a fun extension of what you can do with good form and technique.
 

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