Over and over again I find myself in a really interesting train of thought.

It goes something like this:

“ME: How important are pro skiers to this industry?

MYSELF: Very, they’re what everyone dreams of doing one day. Their big lines and tricks and pow turns inspire us to go skiing.

ME: Totally, I love seeing all the young guns a movie premiers getting excited for the season.

MYSELF: Exactly.

ME: What about that mom with little kids, though?

MYSELF: Um, maybe not her. Her dreams are probably a bit simpler. You know, sunny days, family on the slopes together, etc.

ME: So who inspires her to ski?

MYSELF: I dunno, other moms?

ME: So why don’t ski brands sponsor moms and families?

MYSELF: I mean, some do…sorta. You’ve got SnowMamas and All Mountain Mamas and such.

ME: Isn’t it kinda weird that it’s hard to think of people who inspire moms/dads to ski but easy and to think of people who inspire millennials so ski?

MYSELF: What do you mean?

ME: Well, think of how much a family spends on skiing vs a millennial…

MYSELF: Good poing, yeah, I guess so. What are you getting at, sponsoring families from DC and NYC and LA?

ME: I dunno. Maybe so…”

This is where I hit a dead end.

On the one hand, pros have inspired me to ski and progress for years. But somewhere along the way two things happened.

1. I stopped wanting to drop cliffs and just wanted to be with my family in the mountains.
2. I stopped making $10/hr and started earning a salary.

And then I see stuff like this from Tamarack…

And I find myself…well..being inspired again.

And then that question comes back: “What are you getting at, sponsoring families from DC and NYC and LA?”

I don’t know if “sponsor” is the right word, but it can’t help but think it’s close.

The simple thread that connects these two videos is this:

Somewhere these families stopped being just another face in the crowd, something more than a post from a one-off influencer, and started to be treated in a way that starts to look like a pro skier in terms of attention and focus and being part of the story and brand.

I don’t know if that’s the answer, but I like the direction. A lot.

And I sincerely hope I see more.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.