Mont Ripley begins After School, other ski teaching programs for season

RIPLEY, Mich. (WLUC) - Youth and adults who want to learn how to ski and snowboard can now do so at Mont Ripley.

The ski hill’s After-School ski and snowboard program kicked off Monday evening and goes on for six weeks.

Monday through Friday, varying age groups from 8-year-olds to teenagers get the chance to learn how to ski and snowboard.

“A lot of these kids have never been on snow before,” said Mont Ripley Ticket Office/Guest Services Supervisor Melissa Williamson. “So, it’s very basic, starts out with how to put on gear and how snow works, all the way through advanced racing and skiing. We teach all levels.”

New this year, adults can also learn to ski and snowboard on Mondays.

Many kids are able to participate due to a grants program called Every Kid Sports, which provides $150 towards the $190 payment for the after-school program.

The grant money is also put towards the $225 payment for the Ripley Kids weekend program, which is for children 5 to 8 years old.

“That grant money is given to these kids for winter sports,” continued Williamson. “Could be hockey or other things, as long as it’s a learning program that’s more than four weeks long.”

According to Williamson, the grants made it possible for 16 children to be able to participate in the programs this year.

“We have about 175 kids enrolled this year in all of the ski and snowboard programs,” added Williamson. “And a lot of those kids came to the hill for the first time through a grant program that was brought to us by the Michigan Snow Sports Association.”

Registration for these programs is now closed as of the deadline on Dec. 23. However, private and daily lessons are still available.