Winter Outreach Program

The goal of the NBS Winter Outreach program is to increase participation in winter sports within underrepresented communities by offering organized ski and snowboard trips to people of color who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in them.

To quote a recent article in Powder magazine, “Skiing is a rich white person's sport, and that needs to change.” The barriers to snow sports for minorities include geographic, economic, and cultural factors. One simple way to overcome these barriers is through exposure. One way to address these barriers is to conduct ski and snowboard outings in conjunction with local NBS clubs. Such outings serve to connect people of color to the joys, benefits and beauty of winter sports and can continue to support participation in winter sports throughout a lifetime.

NBS has sponsored ski and snowboard trips at the regional and local club level for more than 45 years. Through our network of 53 affiliated clubs across the country, we have sponsored hundreds of trips during that time period. Some of those trips have been “pay-as-you-go” on the part of the participants. In those cases where NBS has been able to subsidize ski and snowboard outings for economically disadvantaged youth and adults, the response has been incredible. The joy of exposing someone to a sport that they otherwise would never have the opportunity to experience is one of the greatest outcomes of the NBS mission.