When in doubt, butter it out. An unknown skier works the room in Big Snow’s four-acre indoor snowscape. According to Big Snow Chief Marketing Officer Hugh Reynolds, there are now plans for more urban ski centers North America, though exactly where hasn’t been made public. In a sport with 85 percent white participation in 2021, indoor parks could shift skiing’s demographic on an astronomi-cal level, creating more skiers across more spaces than at any time in recent memory. With over 55 percent of New York City identifying as a racial or ethnic minority (compared to just 22 percent in rural com-munities like mountain towns) according to the 2020 U.S. Census, the opportunity for more diverse participation in snowsports is a not-so-distant possibility. And true, maybe skiing in a mall isn’t the ultimate dream, but McCausland sees it as a lily pad stop on what could turn into a person’s lifelong ski journey. After all, learning in conditions that don’t change in a largely controlled scenario offers an easy avenue to improvement, and eventually to bringing those skis to a resort in New England or farther West. For McCausland, the center is more than just a recreational outlet, however, it’s also a fitting locale for a population well-versed in weird. “If you live near New York or L.A., nobody can be surprised or shocked by anything anymore,” she says. “People see [Big Snow] as an opportunity to learn to ski. We’ve resigned to the most bizarro things happening these days, so now we embrace that we can go skiing in a New Jersey mall. Might as well. It’s there.” New Jersey 071
The Ski Journal Volume 16, Issue 3: Page 71
