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Jack Turner: An imagination for the times

Colourful, cuddly monsters enticing young kids to come outside and play in the snow. Freeriding pre-teens competing in front of judges for international fame and fortune.
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Jack Turner Photo by Matt Walker.

Colourful, cuddly monsters enticing young kids to come outside and play in the snow. Freeriding pre-teens competing in front of judges for international fame and fortune. Big-time action photographers showing their “stuff” in front of thousands of cheering spectators. If you’re in the snowsports business and looking for somebody to help you with creative event thinking, then look no further. Jack Turner is your man…

Entertainer, storyteller, adventurer — and irrepressible mountain jester — Colorado’s Jack Turner is the quintessential outside-the-box thinker. Indeed, an argument could be made that the man is congenitally incapable of staying inside-the-box in the first place.

Recently I had the pleasure of spending some time with the famed American iconoclast. On a long-weekend “business” visit to Whistler, Turner joined fellow industry outlaw, Doug Perry and I for a day of playing on the mountain. “It’s been 15 years since I last donned a pair of skis, but my son, John, is hooked,” the snowboard aficionado told us over breakfast. “Who would have thought that an ol’ boardhead would take up skiing to get in touch with his 15-year-old son...”

And Perry and I both made sure his first experience back on two planks was an energetic one. From non-stop runs down Whistler Mountain’s Redline to long hikes into Harmony Bowl, we didn’t let up on Turner all day. But he didn’t flinch once. Indeed — his 15-year hiatus from skiing barely showed. And his enthusiasm, as always, was infectious.

Whether engaging a stranger in discussion on a chairlift ride, or stopping a mom and her kids struggling with their gear for a candid camera shot (and then helping them carry their stuff to the racks), Turner managed to carry on some seriously sophisticated consumer research — while still enjoying his skiing experience to the maximum.

“What an amazing day this is,” he kept saying, a trademark grin splashed across his face. “What an amazing sport we have.” And then, more soberly: “Sometimes I worry that we are getting weak at celebrating what really makes skiing and riding so special — it’s not real estate, or lifts, or even a place as epic as Whistler. A kid riding a mom-and-pop area in Wisconsin is every bit as much a skier as an X-Games athlete.”

Turner comes from one of my favourite mountain places in the whole world — Durango Colorado. Smack up against the fabled Four-Corners — that magical piece of high-country real estate where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico converge — the former ranching town is a self-propelled funhog’s paradise. Climbing, mountain biking, skiing, touring — it’s all at one’s fingertips. And it’s functioned as Turner’s spiritual touchstone since he was knee-high to tumbleweed. For unlike so many newcomers to the area, he’s no Johnny-come-lately. His family settled there five generations ago.

The co-founder and current commissioner of the photography and film events for the World Ski & Snowboard Festival, Jack has an amazingly creative mind. But more than that, Jack loves mountain life — and mountain sports — like few people I know. It’s a deep and abiding love, one that makes him such a pleasure to be around when adventuring in high places. And he’s not afraid to put his money where his heart lies….

A lifelong member of the snowsports industry as an athlete, coach, resort executive, writer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur, Turner electrified the ski world a few years back with the creation of Snow Monsters™, a kid-focused ski and snowboard program.

“No one in our industry should ever say we need to model ourselves on Disneyland,” he says. “That’s a crock. Why? Because Disney is our mortal enemy — they want to capture the hearts and minds of kids for their fantasy. Every moment and every dollar spent on our mountains is one that doesn’t go to Disney’s theme parks, videos, and souvenirs.”

He sighs, “Think about it. Disney is all about ‘faked’ adventure. I mean, you don’t need any skills to ride the roller coaster. A dog can ride a roller coaster. You just sit there and it does all the work. So where’s the excitement in that? Where’s the sense of adventure and discovery and accomplishment? And most important, where is the risk?”

A burst of laughter. “We, on the other hand, offer the real thing. With snowsports, you must get involved in your own destiny. Yes, it can be hard to learn (relatively). And yes, you will encounter bumps and bruises along the way. But that’s our charm. That’s our magic. We’re REAL! We must never apologize for that.

“It’s the wet gloves, long drives, storms and other ‘inconveniences’ that will really bond a parent and kid. The so-called down times are just as important as the ultimate powder run or picnic lunch. Both are key to making memories that will last forever,” Turner insists.

That said, Turner isn’t above stealing concepts from the competition — and tweaking them to fit his own agenda. “I wanted kids — young kids — to be turned on by our sport,” he explains. “And I knew we had to do it in a way that kids could connect with on a very fundamental level. So I decided to create a whole new slate of imaginary characters for kids that specifically celebrated the snowsport world.”

Have any of you ever seen the Snow Monsters in action? Has anybody ever noticed how children respond to Jack’s imaginary characters? Or how kids are mesmerized by the Snow Monsters movies? It’s amazing — the guy really understands what little-kid magic is all about (check out www.SnowMonsters.com).

Another laugh. “Look, it’s pretty simple. We’re all little kids at heart — particularly those of us who’ve skied and ridden all our lives. All I had to do was plug into that energy. That’s all anybody has to do.”

Which begs the question, why aren’t more industry insiders doing more stuff to connect with young consumers? “I really don’t know the answer to that. So much of the focus is on what happens today or during the current fiscal quarter, but we have to look down the road a few years. The future of our sport — the survival of our culture — depends on turning on the next generation of kids. Without them, we’re done for!”

Convinced of the urgency of his mission, Jack decided to stick his neck WAY out with his next venture and convinced Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports to back his new initiative: The Kids Next Snow Search. And that turned out to be a huge success — at least for the young riders and skiers who participated. “I kind of lost my shirt on that,” he says almost-glumly. “We will have to regroup to make another run at mainstream media. It’s not easy to play in the big leagues. The financial stakes are seriously intimidating…”

Still, it’s not like he’s going to give up anytime soon. Whether flush with cash or cruising on the edge of disaster, Turner is a walking/talking ideas guy. And while some of his suggestions are admittedly way out there, many make a great deal of sense.

“Here’s an idea you should write about,” he says to me for, probably, the 100 th time in the day. But this one sticks. For, like so many of his most recent ideas, this is another one meant to make it easier for families to play on the mountain. In fact, it’s kind of surprising that nobody has thought about this before. But let’s hear Jack out:

“The industry keeps patting itself on the back for offering free kids’ passes,” he says. “And that’s great as far as it goes. But they’re missing the bigger picture. Like — what about a free parents’ pass? I mean, who can afford to spend $100 to go stand on the baby hill and teach their kids to ski? It’s counter-intuitive. Not to mention expensive.”

His solution is simple. “All you have to do,” he says, “is to create a special parent-and-child pass for a designated lift on the mountain. In other words: buy a pass for the kid, and you, the parent, get to ski free — as long as you remain on that lift and with your kid. Once junior is ready to move on, you will have to buy a full-price ticket to join her.”

Turner says that ski school is crucial for families with no resort experience, but it’s not the only way to get kids on snow. “There are millions of skiing parents that have the ability to get their own kids started. Many of us learned from a parent or an uncle or a grandparent. Having dad or mom for an instructor may not be as good as a trained professional, but lots of folks simply can’t afford lessons in addition to gear and tickets.”

But it’s not just about the finances, explains Turner. It’s also about celebrating what makes skiing and snowboarding such unique activities. “A family can actually do this together and learn from each other. It’s what you will talk about 20 years from now.”

The sun is now low on the horizon. Our day together is nearly over. Still, Jack wants to make sure Alta State readers truly understand his message. “When you see me ski or snowboard, you can tell that I’m really not very good at it from a technical point of view. My mom and dad weren’t trained instructors, but I will never forget how much fun we had when I was a kid. And now that my kids are teenagers, what I miss most is when they were little and followed me around the mountain all day. At this point my best hope is to get a few runs with them before they take off with their friends…”