Manchester Vermont Real Estate Blog

For families who are thinking of relocating to our area on a permanent basis, one of the great selling points for kids in the winter time is JISP. JISP stands for Junior Instructional Snowsports Program. The program is run by the wonderful people at the Bromley Outing Club (BOC). It was started back in 1951 to give local school children an inexpensive way to learn to ski and snowboard.

One day each week (the day varies depending on school district) from early January to late March, students are dismissed from school around noon so that they can go up to Bromley for an afternoon of skiing or riding. The students receive 2 hours of group instruction from local volunteer instructors.

JISP is open to students in grades 3 – 12. For the kids who are too young for JISP Bromley offers KAP, which is similar to JISP except that the kids are taught by Bromley’s professional instructors.

In addition to a weekday afternoon, the kids who participate in the program can use their passes at Bromley on most Sunday afternoons and on two designated Sundays at Stratton. The program is very reasonably priced. There are also opportunities for equipment rental or purchase, also very reasonably priced.

This winter for the first time I have had the opportunity to volunteer as a JISP ski instructor. Every Tuesday afternoon I am on the mountain with my daughter and a group of 8 other students. The mountain is mostly empty besides the students and instructors and we get a lot of runs in. It has been a very rewarding experience and I will definitely do it again next year.

Over the years our area has produced some world class skiers and snowboarders. When you are watching the Winter Olympics over the next two weeks imagine that some of these amazing athletes may have gotten their start in JISP.