January is Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month, and it’s a time for first-timers to get onto local ski slopes and learn how to ski or snowboard from a professional instructor for a minimal cost. It’s all meant to encourage more people to take up the sport. Well, organizers of the January Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month will be offering even more incentives for newcomers to learn how to ski or snowboard this winter, and it starts in December. It’s called the national “Bring a Friend Challenge,” and it goes from December 1, 2012 and ends on March 17, 2013.
Taking the Challenge simply means that you introduce and help enroll newcomers to a lesson or lessons provided by a professional instructor at a local ski resort. Sponsors are offering prizes for anyone who motivates newcomers whether they are current skiers and snowboarders or newcomers themselves. The Challenge is online at bringafriend.org. Basically, all you have to do is this:
- Current skiers or snowboarders are encouraged to “Take the Challenge” by introducing newcomers to a lesson or lessons from professional instructors.
- Newcomers who invite friends or family members to a venue for a beginner lesson or lessons package now can “Take the Challenge” as well.
According to the organizers, lessons can be taken at any venue in the U.S. as long as a professional instructor provides them. The entire “Bring a Friend Challenge” program is hosted on the Bring a Friend website and is not connected directly to a specific ski or snowboard area.
So what can you earn by participating? Product prizes include skis from HEAD, Rossignol and Salomon (from skis.com); snowboards from Rossignol, RAMP and Firefly (from snowboards.org); outfits from Boulder Gear, gloves and mittens from SWANY, snowboard boots from Celsius, and subscriptions from SKI and TransWorld magazines. Grand prizes include trips to Idaho (Sun Valley), Utah (Deer Valley, Park City and The Canyons) and Vermont (Smugglers’ Notch).
Newcomers to skiing and snowboarding are encouraged to view www.skiandsnowboardmonth.org for basic information on how to prepare for their snow experience. Otherwise, Bring a Friend Challenge participants should register at www.bringafriend.org.
So what are you waiting for? Grab that buddy who complains all the time that they hate winter, get them into the mountains, put them in a lesson, and show them the joys of sliding on snow. You may just make a lifelong skier or snowboarder out of them, and they’ll be eternally grateful. Plus you’ll gain a new ski partner, which is far more valuable than any swag.