Welcome back to The Parent Project. When my daughter was born, I promised to share my “insider’s” perspective on what it’s like to be both a skier and a parent and the challenges our industry faces with this group. Here are #1, #2, and #3 as well.

Once upon a time I was sitting in a restaurant with the Ryan Solutions crew enjoying a birthday lunch as we often do when such an occasion arises.

Among the banter and casual conersation, a game of ski-days-oneupsmanship began.

“I’ve got 15 so far”…”I think I’m at about 21″…”Let me check, yeah, 25 as of Sunday.”

Until, finally, I spoke up.

“I think I have 6…”

When asked why, my response was simple.

This.

And, of course, this.

When I woke up on Saturday mornings last winter, as crazy as it sounds, I didn’t want to go skiing.

Just as Good…
To the bachelors and bachelorettes at the table, it did sound crazy. They cringed, afraid that the implications of future parenthood would get in the way of more fun, exciting things.

But here’s the rub. I still thought skiing was just as fun and exciting as they did.

The only difference was something I feel like as marketers, and maybe even as skiers and a society as well, we’re afraid to say.

We’re afraid to admit that we love our families infinitely more than our hobbies.

What I’d
So being, I wonder if there is an opportunity here to be super clear about this idea and super bold at the same time. Plant our flag, as it were, and give people who feel the same way a place to rally.

This, in whatever form it took, would speak to me:

Create a branded package, be honest about skiing’s place in our hearts, and make something specific for these young families. Then maybe, just maybe, the authenticity would break through the clutter and make something happen.

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.