Newcomers at Blue Mountain are encouraged to buy into the resort’s Snow How Self-Learn program, a package deal that includes a beginner lift ticket, gear rental and instruction via five 6-foot-high signboards.Roth Media/Supplied
By farming out ski and snowboard instruction to signboards, you could say Blue Mountain Resort in Ontario is breaking the mould. Or you could call the decision “revolutionary for the industry,” which is how Becki Relihan, the resort’s director of programming and recreation, describes it.
She’s not wrong. But can a sign be as effective as a qualified instructor?
Over 20,500 people learned how to ski and snowboard at Ontario’s largest ski resort last year. This season they are expecting closer to 23,000. And that’s more newbies than most Canadian ski resorts handle.
But instead of working with an instructor to learn the basics of skiing or snowboarding like they would anywhere else, newcomers at Blue Mountain are encouraged to buy into the resort’s Snow How Self-Learn program, a package deal that includes a beginner lift ticket, gear rental and instruction via five 6-foot-high signboards. These are placed throughout the learning area with photos and details (in English only) about how to step into skis, how to get up when you fall, how to stop, how to turn and so on. The snow here is moulded and shaped to help people “feel” their way through new skills, such as how to make turn – when there is enough snow anyway. (This season, the weather has made it tricky to create this “smart terrain.”) Relihan says ski instructors will check in with newbies they see struggling by a signboard, and briefly offer tips. But Snow How beginners are expected to work at their own pace on that first day and on their next visit, the program offers significant discounts for human-run private lessons. (Alternatively, new skiers are still able opt for in-person lessons from the get-go.)
If you think ski instructors might be outraged at being outsourced, you’d be wrong.
Perry Schmunk, the managing director of the Canadian Ski Instructor Association, says the organization is aggressively trying to offset the 41 per cent drop in ski instructors who left during the pandemic. He notes the self-guided approach is better than no help at all.
“In that first-timer’s experience the number one objective is to get them hooked,” he says. “If it’s the first experience on the mountain, the first experience sliding, then it could be a lifelong pursuit. Anything that helps get people into the sport – we all win from that.”
The signboards are placed throughout the learning area with photos and details (in English only) about how to step into skis, how to get up when you fall, how to stop, how to turn and so on.Roth Media/Supplied
Blue’s signboard-style teaching was created during the pandemic when mixed group lessons were not allowed and yet more people than ever were looking to learn a new outdoor pursuit. As the largest ski resort closest to the Greater Toronto Area’s 6.4 million population, Blue Mountain has long been a go-to spot for first-timers. Its slopes – a mere 426 metres in elevation – are enjoyed regularly by what is likely the most ethnically diverse group of skiers and snowboarders in Canada.
The Snow How program offers newbies discounted entry (depending on your age and date, packages run between $100 to $144 a day). But Relihan doesn’t just want newcomers to check the experience off their bucket list, she wants to create skiers and snowboarders. That’s why she believes the convenience of signboards – starting and stopping when you feel ready, not when an instructor decides it’s time – is a huge benefit. “Giving people the option on how they want to learn is really empowering. … People can feel a little bit more in control of their experience,” Relihan said.
There are plans to beef up the signboard instruction with translations in Punjabi, French, Mandarin and Cantonese next season. For this year, Relihan says, QR codes will offer extra video help and should be printed on the signboards in March.
Paul Pinchbeck, president and CEO of the Canadian Ski Council, calls the new program “friendly and approachable.”
“It seems counterintuitive. Don’t we need to have a ski instructor? But it’s about instilling confidence in the new skier or snowboarder. It’s also about putting the instructors in the best place to influence the final outcome, which is really the next lessons,” he said.
Bohan Xing follows the directions as he steps into his skis at Blue Mountain's new signboard learning program.Catherine Dawson March/The Globe and Mail/The Globe and Mail
Even the CSIA’s Schmunk notes that when it comes to signboard learning versus ski pro, “one is not at the expense of another.” Although, there’s only so much a sign can offer: “If you went to the gym every day, sure you are going to see improvement in your health, but when you work with a personal trainer you might be able to expedite that. It’s the same with the use of a ski pro.”
One day in late January, 30-year-old Bohan Xing shuffled between the signboards at Blue Mountain’s learning area. This was his first time back at the resort after the pandemic, his second time ever on skis. He was trying to make the best of things on his own but admitted, “It’s really better to learn in a group.”
Even the local skiers are adjusting to the new system. Collingwood skier and long-time season’s pass holder Peter Davison generally makes a point of avoiding runs where newbies tend to play, but he does have a grudging respect for the four-step Snow How system.
“People learn things different ways. Some people learn by doing, some people can look at picture or text and say, ‘Oh I get it!’” he said. “I don’t think it’s a replacement for doing lessons, but it’s going to help.”
Relihan confirms that the new self-guided signboard program is the way forward for Blue Mountain: “With any kind of revolution or significant change … you are going to have some cheerleaders and some people that are maybe aren’t quite on board yet. We’ve learned to continue to tweak.”
Becki Relihan, the resort’s director of programming and recreation, says ski instructors will check in with newbies they see struggling by a signboard, and briefly offer tips.Roth Media/Supplied
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