http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/travel/how-to-make-skiing-fun-for-beginners.html 2014-12-09 22:52:08 How to Make Skiing Fun for Beginners “Skis and snowboards are not like an iPad, not intuitive at all,” says Joe Hession of Snow Operating. Here’s his advice to help first-time skiers rise to the challenge. === For first-time skiers, expectations and reality can often diverge on the slopes. They imagine gracefully swishing down an Alpine mountain, but then spend their first day falling. After that, most give up. Indeed, according to the National Ski Areas Association, 83 percent of first-time skiers and snowboarders never return to the slopes for a second visit. To combat this high attrition rate, Joe Hession, president and chief executive of Snow Operating, has worked with dozens of resorts, from Jiminy Peak in Massachusetts to Snowbasin in Utah, to redesign their ski areas and programs for beginners, making the learning process smoother and much less frustrating. In lieu of bunny slopes, what you find at these resorts are hills with turns and banks shaped to let beginners really ski, even if they haven’t mastered turning or stopping. With the terrain guiding you, Mr. Hession explained, “you can make turns without a lot of skill, so it’s fun.” Fun is the objective here, he added. “The perfect first day is someone has fun and learns something. The second best is they have fun and learn nothing.” Recently Mr. Hession offered tips to first-time skiers. Following are edited excerpts. Q. What should a beginner keep in mind? A. Other simple stuff can make a difference: eating breakfast, checking the weather, making sure you’re dressed appropriately — snow pants, not jeans. If you’re flying in from New York to Colorado, going from sea level to 8,200 feet above, you need to drink water two or three days ahead of time. Socks: you should be wearing one pair of synthetic sports socks that pull moisture away from your feet. A lot of times people wear five cotton socks, which actually make their feet cold. And don’t learn on your friends’ skis from the 1980s. Go to a rental shop with updated equipment. Learning is a lot easier on the right equipment. I guess people skimp on gear because it seems like a big investment upfront. ­It is, but I’ll say this: The rental, lift and lesson package is usually the cheapest option at most resorts. Any other good deals for beginners? ­There’s an industrywide initiative called Which resorts are doing a good job at teaching beginners? ­Aside from the ones I work with, I say