Operators use marketing to draw minorities to the slopes

In one frame, a bespectacled African American, with yellow alpine skis over his right shoulder and a wide grin, strolls along Stevens Pass. Maybe he's heading toward the lifts. Or maybe he's already satisfied after some powder runs.

In another frame, a young African American smiles, with an Asian-American snowboarder strategically placed behind him.

If you haven't figured where Stevens Pass is going with its "MAKE STEVENS YOUR MOUNTAIN" slideshow — prominently placed on the upper left corner of its Internet home page — here's another hint: Its beginner's-lesson promotional package is also printed in Spanish and Chinese.

"Seattle is a very diverse area, and tapping into the diverse market is not only good for business but also good for snow sports and the Puget Sound area," said Chris Rudolph, marketing manager at Stevens Pass. "The goal would be to have the ridership of Stevens Pass directly reflect the diversity of the Puget Sound region. Diversity is a priority. We even wrote it into our marketing plan."

Later this year, skiers from Asia and Latin American countries can read promos on the Stevens Pass Web page in their native languages.

Trying to reach an underserved market and dispel the notion that winter recreation is an exclusive activity, ski resorts around the Northwest are on a marketing blitz, from advertising in other languages to recruiting Native Americans and Hispanics as young as elementary-school age to hit the slopes.

Mountains beckon minorities

Crystal Mountain, the state's largest ski area, plans an ad campaign aimed at minorities, including advertising in Japanese, Chinese and Spanish language newspapers in Seattle.

Last month, The Summit at Snoqualmie ski area co-sponsored a snowboarding weekend for dozens of teens from the Puyallup Tribe. Along with Snoqualmie, White Pass ski area, located southeast of Mount Rainier National Park, donates hundreds of lift tickets and gear rentals every week to nonprofits that offer free snowboarding lessons for inner-city teens.

Stevens Pass is considering adopting a similar minority program.

"I'm just so happy to see it," said Joe Jones, founder of Four Seasons Northwest Ski Club, an African-American club based in Seattle. "When there are more people of color, then they [other minorities] can relate to them and they are more likely to participate in the sport."

Skiers don't realize how isolated minorities sometimes feel on the chairlifts and slopes, said Jones, 68, who started the ski club in 1973. The club has about 50 members. It used to be, "when I saw another person of color on the mountains, I would seek him out and strike up a conversation and see if we could ski together."

On a Mission

No resort has been more aggressive in marketing to minorities than Mission Ridge ski area in Wenatchee. Despite having one of the state's largest Latino populations, this North Central Washington ski area has little diversity on its slopes.

So the ski area now flies a green, white and red Mexico flag along with the United States and Canadian flags above its sales office to underscore it's not an exclusive recreational facility.

Its promotional flyers now come in English on one side and Spanish on the other. The resort hires Spanish-speaking instructors and helps to sponsor Fiesta Mexicanas and other Hispanic festivals.

Mission Ridge offers a free ski day to fifth graders at schools with a large minority population.

Mission Ridge wants to reach a large young Latino population, but since many of their parents don't know how to ski, "we have to introduce them to it," said Mission Ridge spokeswoman Jerri Barkley. "It's not part of the culture or sport in Mexico."

The marketing push comes at a time when several national studies have concluded that in the last two decades, the number of skiers has remained stagnant or not risen at near the pace of the population boom.

The Baby-Boom population is aging, and the growing minority population remains underserved, so "it makes good business sense," said Bill Jensen, chairman of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), which represents more than 300 ski resorts. NSAA reports Caucasians make up 83 percent of all skiers and snowboarders on the West Coast.

Adding some color

The lack of diversity was apparent to the dozens of minority snowboarders who received free lessons recently on the bunny slope at Snoqualmie Pass, courtesy of the ski area and the Colorado-based nonprofit Snowboard Outreach Society.

"I already get teased about it at my school. 'Why are you doing a white people's sport?' "said Isaiah Johnson, 17, who is African American.

"Yeah, I thought it was more for white people," said 15-year old Nikolas Vasquez, a Cleveland High sophomore who is half African American and half Mexican American. "It's definitely something [minorities] don't do every day."

After six lessons, Vasquez was gliding effortlessly through the intermediate runs, cutting through a fresh dust of snow, turning sharply between some evergreen trees before becoming a blur down the mountain. His instructor yelled for him to slow down and wait for his classmates.

With a mischievous grin, Vasquez said, "This is way funner than I thought."

In Washington, resort administrators say it's too early in their marketing to see a huge spike in Hispanics, Asian Americans and African Americans buying season passes or investing in Nordic or telemark skis.

But resorts are banking their efforts will result in success similar to that of Mountain High in the San Gabriel Mountains, Calif., which has seen the number of visits jump from 188,000 to 500,000 skiers in 10 years, partly by marketing to Hispanics and Asian Americans in nearby Los Angeles and Orange County.

In the ski industry, "if we want to stay alive, we have to go after the other markets," said Mountain High marketing director John McColly.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com

If you go

Outreach groups

Two national organizations, Snowboard Outreach Society (SOS) and Burton Chill, offer free weekly snowboarding lessons (with free gear rentals and lift tickets included) to inner-city teens and minorities at The Summit at Snoqualmie ski area at Snoqualmie Pass.

To learn more about SOS, see www.sosoutreach.org. For details on how to sign up, e-mail Paul Martin at Paul@sosoutreach.org

To learn more about the Burton Chill program, see www.chill.org. For details on how to sign up, e-mail Ryan Simpson at ryans@burton.com.

Parks program

Seattle Parks and Recreation takes inner-city teens, 14 to 19, to snowshoe, cross-country ski and snowboard for free under its O2 (or Outdoor Opportunities) program. For more information, contact Matt Axling at 206-390-1018 or matt.axling@seattle.gov; or Bob Warner at 206-684-7097 or robert.warner@seattle.gov. Or see www.seattle.gov/parks/teens/o2/.

Ski club

The Four Seasons Northwest Ski Club, an African-American group, organizes ski trips and sometimes offers ski lessons. For more information, e-mail Info@fsnw.org or see www.fsnw.org.