Open only on the weekends, the Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program  is an 8-week learn-to-ski/ride program that starts in January each year.  The objective of the program is to provide a safe and fun environment that fosters family participation and a lifelong love of recreational winter sports, at an extremely reasonable price. Children receive a 2 hour lessons from our PSIA/AASI trained snowsports school every weekend in the morning and have the rest of the day to free ski or ride. 

There are ONLY two ways for a child to join the Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program, with a participating adult member or as a bus student.  All children under the age of 9, must join with a participating adult member.  Children 9 years and older may join with a paticipating adult member or as a bus student.  Parents are not allowed to sign up the child with the assumption of driving them up and dropping them off. The joining adult need not be the parent. There are adults that bring up the entire neighborhood. The adult just has to be a member.

Parents are the Staff

Since Sky Tavern is an all-member run organization, parental involvement is a necessity and the key to our success. Participating member parents join the program and pay the registration fee, parents of bus students do not. By becoming members, adults have the opportunity to take lessons from our snowsports school each afternoon if they like, or simply free-ski with their family. Since Sky Tavern has no staff, parents are asked to work a two hour shift each weekend in the job of their choice, helping with the kitchen, parking, checking lifts, etc. Sky Tavern has been described as a co-op. All of time and energy the parents put into the program, the children receive the benefits of.  It is something the parents can do for all the kids of the Truckee Meadows. (Hint: Sign up early for the best jobs on the mountain if you are not an instructor!)

Instructors Rock!

The most important job a participating member parent can do for all the kids is become an instructor. Sky Tavern is first and foremost a teaching facility and without instructors there is no program. We need parents that are willing to teach skiing and snowboarding at all levels. Our PSIA/AASI certified Trainers teach you to teach the kids.  We can teach any parent to instruct! We even have a special clinic to teach willing parents that have never been on a board to teach snowboarding. It is fun and you might surprise yourself and your kids. Give it a try, please!

Instructor clinics are held during the preseason at Sky Tavern and at other resorts to get parents up to speed as instructors.

Our Teaching Philosophy

We believe it is important for every child to reach their full potential. What this means is that we pay close attention to the skill level of your child and ensure we place them in a class that suits them best. For more information on the different levels, please refer to a description of the different Skiing and Snowboarding ability levels.

If your child is already a rockstar on the slopes, we would love for them to join us as a Junior Ski or Snowboard Instructor or be a part of the Sky Tavern Race Team or Freeride Team!  Being a Junior Instructor can lead to huge jumps in self confidence and be the first step towards a career in the mountains.  Team training includes instruction on proper skiing techniques, training on race courses or parks, and video taping and analysis. For more information on either Team or Junior Instructing, please refer to Programs.