Thursday, December 20, 2007

Full Cert Free Ride Proposed!


Tom and I have been talking since I started skiing about one big difference in the skiing industry versus the climbing industry that we come from. In the climbing industry, if you have a business card, or a pay stub, showing you are full time, a manager, or a high end trainer, you climb for free in any gym in the country.

We were talking with Troy Nedved again on Big Sky’s opening weekend about what a hassle free tickets are for the staff in ski schools, that people are constantly begging for free tickets, and resorts that open early, like Big Sky, or stay open late, like SnowBird, get inundated with requests for tickets.

I mentioned to Troy what our policy had been in climbing, and how it made life so much easier for everyone. A few weeks later, the policy between Bridger Bowl and Big Sky changed. I don’t know if this had been in the works for a while or was a coincidence, or what, but whatever it was, its great!

Full time or fully certified (level 3) instructors can now ski free at each school, so we have an open exchange policy with a well defined easy to cary out rule set.

I proposed to Rob Sogard this weekend that we expand this most excellent idea and make a Level 3 “free ride” pass, which would be good nation wide.

This would do several things, first and foremost, it is a truly outstanding carrot, because who WOULDN”T want to train to their level 3 with a perk like that at the end?

Next, it will help with nationalization of standards and exchange of ideas, as full cert employees will be able to travel all over the country and work out together.

Rob seemed excited about the idea, and it was discussed as perhaps starting as an early season pass, through Christmas, and seeing how it goes.

I’ll keep you posted as we work out the details!!

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