Snow lovers spread news about their wonderful life

Do you ever think, "What would I do without skiing and snowboarding?" Well, a lot of us would be really depressed. What would we have to look forward to all summer? What would the average 14-year-old do with his parents? What would parents do with their 14- year-old kids this weekend?

Just think how out of shape you would be all winter. What would you look at when you go to Loulou's in Spokane? What would you be doing now? You wouldn't be reading this column.

Scott Kaden, president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association, informed me that without snow sports the state of Washington would lose thousands of jobs and millions of tax dollars that go toward government services. He's not just talking ski-area jobs. He's talking about K2 on Vashon Island and The Ski Shack in Coeur d'Alene.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that skiing is threatened or going away. I just like to appreciate these things. Similar to the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," what if you had the chance to see what life would be like without snow sports? I would be as ecstatic as Jimmy Stewart when I came back to real life, I can tell you that much.

Ski Washington is a new organization whose aim it is to keep you skiing, to get more people out skiing and to remind you all what great skiing we have here in Washington. The organization is comprised of 12 major ski areas and back-country ski operations. It is the marketing arm of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association, which focuses more on legislative, safety and land use issues.

Ski Washington is not a new concept. The Inland Northwest has its marketing association, Inland Northwest Ski Areas Association (INSA), formed in 1997, and Idaho has its group, appropriately named the Idaho Ski Areas Association (ISAA).

The concept is simple. What do the ski areas have in common so that they can save money by talking about the same issues in a stronger, common voice? That's easy: Getting more people to ski; getting them to come to that group's specific geographic area; and working with all the stakeholders in the industry - the retailers, the manufacturers and the media - and maintaining communication.

Ski Washington, for example, has launched new Web sites - www.skiwashington.com and www.ridewashington.com - to provide up- to-the-minute snow reports. INSA began "EZ Ski 1-2-3," a three-day beginners' lesson package including lift tickets, lessons and rentals at a discounted rate. Ski Washington will make this regional effort a statewide initiative.

It's not about competition. "It doesn't matter who gets that first- time skier in Washington," said John Gifford, general manager of Stevens Pass. "We just need to grow the sport and keep the skiers here."

According to the National Ski Areas Association (yes, there's a national group, too), skier visits have remained flat at 55 million for the past 20 years, until about four years ago, when freeriding hit the scene and we saw a boost to about 58 million visitors annually.

"Rather than reshuffle the pieces of pie between the resorts, the ski areas recognize that we need to make a bigger pie," said Tom Stebbins of Vision Marketing, the contract marketing firm for both Ski Washington and INSA.

Idahowinter.org is the Idaho counterpart of skiwashington.com. The ISAA focuses more on legislative issues than marketing, but there are exceptions.

"We did initiate the SKI IDAHO license plate in the state," said Mike Shirley, general manager of Bogus Basin and president of the ISAA. "Those funds go toward advertising in Seattle and newspaper inserts throughout the Northwest,"

Whether you live in Washington or Idaho, support your family dynamics and your local ski area. Go skiing and snowboarding.

I want to hear from you. Thanks for the e-mails. Please keep them coming with your personal snow reports and ski stories.

SIDEBAR: THIS WEEK -- Today: Jackass Ski Day at Silver Mountain -- Saturday: Loulou's Demo Days at Schweitzer; USSA Interdivisional Freestyle Contest at Silver; Wintersport Demo Day at 49 Degrees North -- Sunday: Loulou's Demo Days at 49 Degrees North -- Saturday and Sunday: Selkirk Classic at Schweitzer -- Jan 12-15: Molson Canadian Freeskiing Championship at Red Mountain, British Columbia

Lisa Gerber's column appears every Friday during the ski season. If you have an event or story idea, contact her at skiinglisa@bigleapcreative.com.

Copyright c 2005 The Spokesman-Review
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.