PARK CITY, UT — In response to slowing national growth in snow-sports, Park City Mountain Resort has launched a long-term youth marketing initiative targeted at Utah students. After two and a half seasons, the initiative has introduced more than 22,000 Utah kids to skiing and snowboarding at Park City Mountain Resort.

Park City Mountain Resort first tapped the Utah youth market three years ago with its multiple award-winning Legacy Ski and Ride program. Since its launch, Legacy Ski and Ride has enabled several thousand local children to take free ski or snowboard lessons at the resort, and then to return for more skiing/riding with their parents and siblings for a total family bounce-back cost of only $50.

The program is supported by corporate sponsorships from Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, Kodak, Qwest Communications, KSL and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.

The resort's youth marketing entered its second phase in late August 2001 with a statewide program offering $99 full season passes to Utah K-12 students. Pricing was pegged at $99 since research indicates Utah families with children may not ski or snowboard due to perceived cost.

The research, published in 2001 by Ski Utah, also points to an average skier age in Utah of 33, versus a statewide median age of 27. While Utah has the lowest median age and the highest birth rate in the nation, its skier customer has been steadily aging.

Corroborating research also now shows that, nationally, the ski industry ranks last in growth rate among major travel and recreation activities. Skier visits nationally grew just 3% between 1980 and 1998 compared with 266% for cruise lines and 54% for amusement park attendance.

"While Park City Mountain Resort has long embraced snowboarders and the youth market, we still have not served as many fellow Utahns as we would like," said Bonnie Crail, vice president of marketing for Park City Mountain Resort. "With more than 70 million Americans now between ages 5 and 22, Utah happens to find itself at the very heart of the youth movement in this country. Our goal is to deliver to this market the products and pricing that they want.

"We are relying on sophisticated research, direct communication with children and teens and specific tracking to effectively target this lucrative but sometimes misunderstood market," continued Crail.

Some interesting data from published research shows that:

- Teens control nearly $500 billion in consumer spending each year with the average teenager spending close to $90 per week.
- More than 45% of parents with children below 10 years of age indicate they would ski more if it were easier to include the children.
- Skiers and riders introduced to the sport at age 10 have a lifetime value of $50,575 or more than $1,400 per year, compared with a lifetime value of $13,915 to participants who start at age 25.
- Young participants have a much higher level of passion for the sport, both skiing and riding, which leads to higher frequency, spending and loyalty than among adults between the ages of 25 and 45.
- Park City Mountain Resort's state-of-the-art management information system tracks customer activity and shows that student pass holders spend comparably on food and beverage at the resort, when compared with adult season pass holders.

The resort's youth initiative extends beyond the $99 statewide season pass promotion. Addition of a jib park to the mountain's existing terrain park, as well as construction of a second new superpipe (the resort has the only superpipe facilities in Utah), are among Park City Mountain Resort's youth-oriented products.

Also new for the season is a jib park at nearby Gorgoza Park. Gorgoza Park, a snow tubing and jib park operated by Park City Mountain Resort, is located directly on Interstate 80 a few minutes by all-weather highway from Salt Lake City.

All of these locations allow young skiers and riders to congregate with their peers while honing their skills in snowboarding, freestyle skiing, alpine skiing, snowdeck riding and snow skating.

"We are encouraged by the positive response of Utah kids to our season pass offer," said Crail. "While their enthusiastic attendance led to early-season waits at season pass photo windows, these young skiers and riders now have lifetime digital photo passes that are renewable online. They're skiing and riding with frequency and passion, and they represent much-needed new participation for winter sports in general."

The new infusion of young participants has the resort focused on other market segments as well. Several new initiatives are underway, or planned, to make sure the resort environment remains attractive to users of all ages and genres.

Brian Strait, vice president of mountain operations, said "Beginning the weekend of January 12th, we will designate several trails each day to exclusive use by skiers and snowboarders. Both groups will then have an opportunity to use terrain dedicated to their preferred style of sliding."

Strait also indicated, "These dedicated, exclusive trails will be rotated periodically, because inevitably, when we restrict a trail, it is somebody's favorite place on the mountain. Rotating these dedicated trails will allow for more diverse use of the entire mountain by everybody, which is our ultimate goal."

Rider-friendly "click in zones" are being designated at the top of key lifts to encourage snowboarders to move out of the unloading areas, and large, strategically placed banners encourage riders to move to the side of trails rather than the center to sit. Finally, additional signs and one-on-one efforts are being made to remind all users of safe and mutually courteous practices.

Strait indicated, "Our success in the youth market is not intended to be at the expense of any other group of users. Operationally, we are committed to creating a recreational environment that is user-friendly, safe and responsive to today's rapidly changing market forces."

Park City Mountain Resort's youth initiative is one of several loyalty strategies targeting specialized customer groups. Other recipients of unique resort programs include frequent skiers, frequent diners and over-70 skiers, who may ride all chairlifts free of charge. Adult season pass holders also receive specialized perks, including e-mail offers for early morning lift access, exclusive use of select terrain and priority lift boarding.

Park City Mountain Resort is located in Park City, and is the snowboarding and GS skiing venue for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Only four percent of the resort will be used for the games, leaving 96% of its terrain open and available to skiers and riders throughout the Olympic Winter Games. Located only 40 minutes from Salt Lake International Airport, Park City Mountain Resort is consistently ranked among the top 10 ski resorts in North America.

— Posted by Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Staff