Want to Teach a Friend to Ski? Let a Pro Do it Instead at 66 Midwest Areas

Ever tried to teach a friend how to ski or snowboard? Like anything else, teaching someone — especially a significant other — what you love usually ends up badly . . . as in the dreaded words many of us have heard: “Get me off this hill. I’m never doing this AGAIN!”

That’s when you realize, too late, that it’s ALWAYS better to have someone who’s used to teaching take on the job instead.

And, that’s why 66 Midwest ski areas have joined the Bring A Friend Challenge, running now through March 17. Resorts, for example, like Missouri's Hidden Valley. This national program, which is sponsored in part by the Midwest Ski Areas Association, is the perfect way for those who enjoy skiing and snowboarding now to share the fun with a non-skiing/snowboarding friend. Or, if you’re a newbie yourself and you and a friend want to learn, that’s cool, too.

Here’s how it works: simply invite a newcomer to participate in a beginner lesson or lesson package from a professional instructor at one of the participating ski areas. If you’re a newcomer too, you can join in the fun with a friend as well. Fill out the form you find here. You may fill out forms as many times as you like throughout the period. Keep a copy of the receipt, voucher or lift ticket, and then upload a copy. It can be a photo of the receipt or other form of proof.

Doing so will get you entered in a drawing for weekly prizes that include trips to Sun Valley, ID, three Utah ski destinations and Vermont’s Smuggler’s Notch next season.