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Alberta launches Grade 2 free ski program

Canadian Ski Council miffed at independent action by partnership The decision by a group of Alberta-based companies and organizations to start a free ski program for Grade 2 students in that province has stunned some industry insiders.

Canadian Ski Council miffed at independent action by partnership

The decision by a group of Alberta-based companies and organizations to start a free ski program for Grade 2 students in that province has stunned some industry insiders.

The program, which is being guided by former Olympian Ken Read, has received widespread acclaim since its inception nine days ago but some officials are baffled as to why the Alberta partners chose not to consult with other organizations before implementing the program.

President of the Canadian Ski Council Colin Chedore said he wants Alberta’s free ski pass program to be a success, but he is disappointed that the people involved did not inform the ski council or other organizations, such as the Canada West Ski Areas Association, particularly when Alberta’s program appears to be based closely on the ski council’s Grade 5 program that has been operating for seven years.

Alberta’s program, which will offer free ski passes to more than 40,000 Grade 2 students, was developed by the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies Inc, The Calgary Olympic Development Association and Canada Olympic Park, Alpine Canada and Husky Energy Inc.

Husky, which is one of Canada’s biggest petroleum companies, has the naming rights. Read is president of Alpine Canada.

The Alberta-based partners pitched their Grade 2 program to the public last week as a great way of fighting youth obesity, which has been a potent political topic in recent months.

Chedore’s biggest concern is with the advertising material the partnership is using because he believes it’s "almost exactly the same" as the material the ski council spent a lot of time and money developing for its Grade 5 program.

"I’m sure Ken’s (Read) behind it because we know from meetings with him that he thought Grade 5 was too old and he sits on our board," Chedore said.

"We knew nothing about this until we read it in the Globe and Mail.

"I mean, we could have helped them.

"But it hasn’t cost them anything (to print brochures) because they’ve copied it, 99 per cent, almost word-for-word from our material.

"We’re not happy because no-one asked us for permission… it took us a lot of research and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get that material right.

"I’m sure if anyone did this to Husky there would be a major issue."

Despite the initial shock, Chedore confirmed that the ski council would not be seeking legal action.

The Alberta syndicate has placed many industry representatives in a difficult position because regardless of how or why they did it, the Grade 2 ski pass will create business for the ski industry.

It will also serve as a great test case for those organizations, like the ski council, who are planning to implement the same kind of system across all the provinces.

The other advantage the Alberta syndicate has is that it has been arranged with funding from private sector companies – they are not reliant on any government funding.

Chedore said the ski council has had a Grade 2 program and a program aimed at 15-year-olds in the pipeline for some years.

"We have models for growth for all the age demographics and we’re always working to get a handle on it so we can put programs together," he said.

"I think age 15 is a key area because that’s when a lot of kids don’t make it into the elite hockey teams and many just drop out and stop everything.

"I think we could eventually capture that market too with free ski passes… but really, I’d like to see free ski passes for all school children.

"It’s just that when you’re dealing with 156 different ski areas, as opposed to one operator in Alberta, and with marketing and resource material in two languages, it’s a major operation."

Chedore said it was important when implementing big skiing and snowboarding programs to also consider the operators.

"Some of these programs are fine for the big resorts like Whistler-Blackcomb but they could be a disaster for some of the mum and dad operations out there.

"You must keep in mind that these people are business people and they’re not there to just give away their product."

Senior vice president of operations for Whistler-Blackcomb Doug Forseth was happy with the ski council’s approach.

"I think most of this (free ski passes) comes under the ski council umbrella and I think anything other than a co-ordinated effort in this area is potentially troublesome," Forseth said.

"The model for growth has been a hot topic now for the past five or six years.

"There is merit in getting to the kids early in Grade 2 but I think we just need a solid program and a few more questions from the industry answered first.

"Alberta’s done what it’s done and now I guess we’ll see how successful they are – and I think everybody wants it to be a success."

While the Grade 2 program is being marketed as fighting obesity in children, Read and Alpine Canada have also reiterated how important it is for Canada’s Olympic aspirations to get children involved in skiing and snowboarding early.

Matt Mosteller from the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies Inc. – the firm which owns and operates the major ski areas in Alberta, as well as some in B.C. and Quebec – said he hoped the program would lay a foundation for more private sector involvement in the future.

He added that the partnership had no immediate plans to expand their program nationally.

"We’ve been working on this for five or six months and we know we’re going to win if the student brings along a friend or a member of their family," Mosteller said.

"We’re not waiting for any study, we’re out there doing it now and we’ll see down the track if there’s more opportunities."

Alpine Canada public relations manager Lisa Dornan confirmed that Read was the driving force behind the partnership but stressed that it was not the goal of the partners to rival other programs set up by other organizations.

"The plan is to offer more than 40,000 Alberta kids an opportunity to ski or board for free," Dornan said.

"There is already a Grade 5 program set up by the Canadian Ski Council and we wouldn’t want to rival that in any way.

"My understanding is that this certainly isn’t a new concept, it’s been going around in many different forms, but as with everything someone has to get it going and with this one all of the stars aligned and this group of people pulled it together.

"Developing skiing is the premise behind it," she said. "This doesn’t mean they can’t ski anywhere else, which is why we don’t see this being harmful for other resorts.

"If we can get even 10 per cent of all children eligible to be introduced to snow sports it should benefit the industry on a large scale."