“Kids On Ski – For Free” Initiative Successfully Launched
Be it demographic change, the financial aspect or a lack of idols – there are many reasons why fewer and fewer children are taking up snow sports regularly. The fact is: children are becoming rare on the slopes. The “Kids on Ski” initiative, which aims to give children the snow experience free of charge, aims to counteract this trend. The pilot phase started in December 2023 in six top ski areas in the Alpine region.
Mike Partel, Managing Director of Mountain Management Consulting and the idea behind the initiative, on the successful launch of “KIDS ON SKI”: “I am delighted that, despite the short preparation time, we got the go-ahead in six top ski areas in the Alpine region in December last year for our ambitious project. Several children were able to experience five free half-day ski courses in pilot groups in Italy, Austria and Switzerland, including rental equipment, lift tickets and accommodation." According to Partel, the aim of this campaign is to roll out the "white carpet" for 50,000 skiers per year in the medium term.
The cross-Alpine program supports parents with small children between the ages of three and five in the form of tailor-made offers in December/January and March. To ensure successful implementation, the first six ski resorts - Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis and Leogang in Austria, the Aletsch Arena and Grindelwald in Switzerland as well as Alta Badia and Madonna di Campiglio in Italy - are already pulling together and will be in the 23/24 winter season Offering 200 kids a free snow experience.
After this year's pilot phase in the six ski areas, the ambitious new program is to be expanded to 50 top ski areas in the Alpine region and thus awaken the desire for skiing in around 1,000 children per ski area.
The initiative is supported on the one hand by the tourism associations, the ski schools, the ski rental and the mountain railways and on the other hand by the partners of the mountain railways, such as Leitner, Doppelmayr, Pistenbully, TechnoAlpin, Feratel, Skidata, Sundkid.
