Zalayah Bryant, a 17-year-old senior at Chicago’s Lindblom Math and Science Academy, will be heading to the ski slopes of Wilmot for her second year this season, thanks to a program through Chicago nonprofit Girls Inc.
“It was frustrating in the beginning, and I got a few bruises from falling down,” she said. “But it was fun, which is why I want to do it more. We all fell because that’s part of learning, but we ended up laughing about it.”
Luther Lee, 66, understands the appeal; his first time on the slopes was also at Wilmot, nearly four decades ago. He hasn’t looked back.
“I loved sliding over the snow the very first time I put on skis,” said Lee, president of Chicago’s Sno-Gophers Ski Club (snogophers.org), which was founded in 1965 to serve Black skiers and is the third-oldest ski club in the United States.
One of its earliest members, Art Clay, would go on to cofound the National Brotherhood of Skiers in 1973, along with Ben Finley, then-president of the 4 Seasons West Ski Club of Los Angeles. Over time, the national organization (nbs.org) has grown to 5,000 members strong, devoted to getting more Black and brown skiers and snowboarders to the slopes.
“I’ve felt welcome everywhere I’ve skied,” said Lee, a senior project manager in construction. “It’s enriched my life, and I’d like to share that with others in my community.”
Skiing has become increasingly popular in the United States since Lee’s early years on the slopes, with growth heavily driven by the Rocky Mountains region, which saw 60% more skiers during the 2021-22 season than it did in 1978-79, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
But of the estimated 10.6 million visitors to ski resorts and mountains in the U.S. last season, just 1.5% of domestic skiers and snowboarders were Black, according to association surveys of resort guests. Almost nine in 10 were white, while Asian and Latino participants made up 5.7% and 5.5% of visits, respectively. And those numbers haven’t changed much over the past decade, the association notes.
A 2022 study from the SnowSports Industries America estimates 9.5% of ski and snowboard participants are Black, based on a national sports marketing survey of 18,000 U.S. residents.
Critics say the high cost of equipment, travel, lift tickets and resort passes restrict access to snow sports financially, which is further complicated by many major ski areas being located in rural regions with mostly white populations, meaning there are fewer locals of color who don’t need to travel to take part or work in the industry.
Further complicating the narrative, U.S. Ski and Snowboard — the national governing body for Olympic snow sports — has been in a state of upheaval over the past year, amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against former head coach Peter Foley, prompting investigations and resignations of top officials. The probe that grew to include five women’s accusations began in February, when Indigenous Alaskan athlete Callan Chythlook-Sifsof made a series of Instagram posts where she also said she’d been subjected to racist slurs and taunts from another athlete, then cut from the Olympic snowboarding team after complaining.
Organizations such as the National Brotherhood of Skiers, local ski clubs, including Chicago’s Sno-Gophers and nonprofits such as Girls Inc. of Chicago (girlsincofchicago.org) seek to summit these challenges and expand access to snow sports for people of color — especially kids and teens like Bryant.
Last year, the National Brotherhood of Skiers launched a four-year partnership with U.S. Ski and Snowboard geared toward increasing participation in competitive skiing and snowboarding among people of color. U.S. Ski and Snowboard said it would provide training opportunities to top National Brotherhood of Skiers athletes, plus resources for athletes of color who experience economic barriers to participating in winter sports.
From Chicago, Bryant and her fellow Girls Inc. participants visited Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin, about 65 miles northwest of the city, with funding from Vail Resorts, which owns Wilmot, and the Katz Amsterdam Foundation.
None of them had participated in snow sports before, said Yani Mason, CEO of Girls Inc. of Chicago.
“One of the things that this program emphasizes to the girls is taking healthy risks and challenging yourself,” she said. “We believe that will help them in school, in their careers and beyond.
“Most importantly, the girls learned about resilience and determination, because you fall down a lot when you are learning to ski or ride. Then you have to get up and keep going, even if there is a bump or bruise along the way.”
Mason said she thought she was just going to be a chaperone for the trips. But on the last day of the five sessions last season, she was cajoled into taking a ski lesson.
“First I was on the bunny slope, and then I went up to the big slope with the girls, who had already been doing this for weeks,” she recalled. “I was scared, but I’m supposed to be a role model for the girls, so I had to put my money where my mouth was. And yes, I fell and got up and made it down the mountain.”
Lee said he first skied at Wilmot with some friends not long after he graduated from college. Over the next five years, he made trips to Powderhorn in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley and Colorado’s Vail, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Winter Park and Steamboat resorts.
“I got fairly good too,” he said, modestly. “I could take on double black slopes. I’m 66 now, however, so I don’t do extreme runs anymore. But I’m still enjoying the heck out of the sport.”
Lee said he has been a member of the Sno-Gophers for more than 25 years. The club’s membership numbers 200.
“Fortunately, my experiences skiing have all been good,” Lee said. “There have been some double takes, and once at a resort, a little Caucasian boy said, ‘Look mommy, a Black guy!’ right before his mother shushed him.”
Joyce Godwin, a board member of the Sno-Gophers, has been skiing even longer than Lee. She started in 1974 and made her first turns on the snow in Michigan before trips to Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
“I have good stories to tell from every place,” she said. “I went most everywhere that Art Clay planned for us.”
Godwin, who has an accounting and tax practice in Matteson about 20 miles south of Chicago, said she plans to ski at least 12 days this winter, including a week at Vail, where the National Brotherhood of Skiers’ 50th Anniversary Summit will take place in February.
“I’d ski more, but I have a business to run,” she said. “And my staff is already looking askance at all the days I plan to take off.”
She said she’s looking forward to the group’s yearly Blessing of the Skiers, which will be held this month at Alpine Valley. In addition to skiing, it includes a prayer, a meal, a few drinks for those who imbibe and plenty of merrymaking, she said. The Sno-Gophers will also have a pre-Christmas trip for new members and, later, a winter carnival at the Treetops Resort in Michigan.
A native of Tennessee, Godwin said she never imagined herself skiing when she was growing up. Now, she competes in club races.
“It’s been an adventure and I’ve loved it,” Godwin said.
Godwin acknowledged the number of fellow Black skiers and snowboarders is low.
“But when we go somewhere, we arrive with a presence,” she said. “I’ve never felt any discrimination. In fact, we’ve been welcomed. So I continue to try to recruit people, because it’s so much fun.”
Junior Sno-Gophers visit resorts as far as Galena and as close to Chicago as west suburban Lisle, and a new outreach program looks to introduce kids from Chicago to skiing and snowboarding, providing equipment, transportation and meals for trips to Wilmot, Godwin said.
Travis Tafoya, who heads Vail Resorts’ Youth Access and Adaptive Programs, said the program is part of the company’s inclusive efforts across its resorts in the Midwest and eastern United States. In addition to providing free lift tickets, lessons, equipment rentals and other services to local nonprofits, he said Vail will combine them with youth mentorship programs.
Tafoya, who began skiing through a Colorado SOS Outreach program (formerly the Snowboard Outreach Society), before heading its Chicago arm, said there also need to be more people of color in professional snow sports.
“We know that representation is a big piece of why people feel welcome and comfortable, no matter who they are,” he said.
Brian Clark is a freelance writer.
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