I’d been looking forward the day I took my daughter skiing for quite some time. She’s four, but I suppose the anticipation started once the idea of one day having kids began to rise over the horizon.

The moment didn’t disappoint, but it was only feasible because of one bit of technology: magic carpets.

The Challenge
One of the hardest parts about sports is that first day, right? It’s that gap between what enticed you to try and what you actually experience on your first day.

Luckily, basketball has adjustable-height hoops and nerf balls, golf has putt-putt courses, and skiing has bunny hills with magic carpets that take the speed of steep slopes and height of a chairlift ride out of the equation for those first days on snow.

What about mountain biking? How do you get the next generation to start? With this:

Our new Junior Pump Track is now open • A perfect place for the little one • Stop by the Adventure Academy and ask for a FREE Strider rental pic.twitter.com/vpmdNV2481

— Big Bear Mtn Resort (@BigBearMtResort) June 9, 2017

This is brilliant.

Strider bikes are such an awesome way to get kids on two wheels, and since their advent more and more parents are taking their kids on dirt tracks to share the thrill with the next generation.

A Reason
But the best part is that this creates a reason for a family to visit.

Just like a good playground can draw a family to a resort, so can a kid-friendly pump track. As much as we talk about zip lines and bike parks, those leave the same gap that skiing does between a 20-something with no kids and a 40-something with kids old enough to do what mom and dad can.

This bridges that gap and does so in a beautifully simple way. And lets face it, a cute kid on a Strider bike is marketing gold.

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.