Ski Local.
To grow up skiing and snowboarding is a part of what it means to grow up in McCall. On the surface, skiing is just a winter activity, but in the After School Program it is a vehicle for growth. From stepping into a pair of bindings for the first time, to becoming a seasoned instructor, the role Little Ski Hill plays in developing our youth is a unique attribute for our community.
From tears to laughter, and from fear to accomplishment, the ski hill belongs to the kids. We encourage you to visit between 3:30pm and 5:30pm during the week so you can experience the magic that is the After School Program.
ASP program is open to youth from 1st grade to 6th grade. Ages above 14 years old can apply to be an instructor.
Schedules:
Mondays & Wednesdays
January 12, 2026 - February 25, 2026
3:30PM – 5:30PM
First-Time Skiers
Beginner Skiers
Intermediate Skiers
$400 per child
Cost includes a PLSC Season Pass, bus transportation from school, a locker and twice weekly group lessons. Full and partial scholarships available.
Tuesdays & Thursdays
January 13, 2026 - February 26, 2026
3:30PM – 5:30PM
Intermediate Skiers
Advanced 1 & 2 Skiers
All Snowboarders
$400 per child
Cost includes a PLSC Season Pass, bus transportation from school, a locker and twice weekly group lessons. Full and partial scholarships available.
Saturday Program
January 10, 2026 - February 21, 2026
12:30PM - 2:30PM
Open to Skiers and Snowboarders
$200 per child
Program Description....
What Scholarships Cover:
- TRANSPORTATION
- 7 WEEKS OF SKI OR SNOWBOARD LESSONS
- SEASON PASS
- EQUIPMENT
Quick Links:
Access our Scholarship Application, After School Program Waitlist or our Instructor Application.
You Will Need:
Mandatory:
Skis/Snowboard
Boots
Helmet
Ski Pants
Weatherproof Coat
Gloves or Mittens
Recommended: *
- Ski Poles
- Goggles
- A lock for your locker
*THESE ITEMS ARE NOT REQUIRED
More Details:
Attendance is taken at the beginning of each lesson. If you know your child will miss a lesson, please email or text the program director, Desi Hines. Instructors will return groups to the locker room in the lodge at 5:30pm.
Ski Buses: LSH Ski Buses will begin daily operation on Monday, January 12th, 2026 – Thursday, March 19th, 2026 and will be available for children that are signed up for the After School Program.
Weather Days: In the event of weather days due to restricted and unsafe travel conditions, the Program Coordinator will contact local schools, instructors and parents before 12pm.
Make-up lesson days: If the program as a whole is cancelled for a day, we will make every effort to add a day on to the end of the program to ensure the full 7 weeks
- If your child misses a day, there is no make-up for them. This is in an effort to keep other days groups as consistent as possible and to keep safe instructor to student ratios
- If your child misses a day of the program and you’d like to do a make-up, we can look into scheduling a private lesson for them.
ASP Program Director:
Desi Hines
Email: desi@littleskihill.org
Phone: (208) 580- 4381
Key Dates
- Scholarships Open • Wednesday, October 1st, 2025
- Scholarships Close • Friday, October 25th, 2025
- Registration Opens • Saturday, November 1st, 2025 at 7:00pm
- After School Program Open House • Friday, January 9th, 2026 from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
- After School Program Starts • Monday, January 12th, 2026
- After School Program Last Week Starts • Monday, February 23, 2026
- Last Day of Busses • Thursday, March 19, 2026
*All scholarship applicants must register via Scholarship link on this page.
Instructor Dates:
- MDHS Recruitment • Wednesday, November 5, 2025
- PLMS Recruitment • Thursday, November 6, 2025.
- First-Aid & CPR • November 18 & 19, 2025 OR December 15 & 16, 2025
- ASP Instructor Training • Monday, January 5th, 2026 through Thursday, January 8th, 2026 from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
After School Program Information:
Everything you need to know about the After School Program at the Little Ski Hill.
Please read this page in its entirety, as it will answer most questions!
Important Dates for the After School Program:
Registration Opens: November 1, 2025 @ 7:00 pm.
Scholarship Application Due: October 25, 2025.
Other important dates to know:
Week of February 5 : Report cards will go out to participants for program progress
Week of February 5 and 12 – Group photos taken
Week of February 24 – last week. End of season report cards and group photos go home.
February 29 last day of all After School Programs.
We will not run buses on days that schools have off, however, the program will still run. Please double check your school calendar.
In the event of short staffing and an inability to run the program, notifications will be sent out by noon via email day of. If this occurs, dates will be added to the end of the program to ensure a 7-week program.
ABILITY LEVELS:
First Timer
- Never skied/snowboarded before
- Has skied or snowboarded a few times
- Learning to use a wedge or ‘pizza’ to stop
- Learning to control speed
- Learning to stop
- Hasn’t been up the T-Bar at the Little Ski Hill before
Beginner
- Knows how to put on own gear or can do most of it
- Can walk uphill (duck walk) or sidestep uphill
- Can stop using wedge
- Can walk, shuffle, skate and hike with one foot out (on flat terrain)
- Learning to traverse terrain on toe and heel edge.
- Can control speed
- May or may not have been up the T-bar at Little Ski Hill before
Intermediate
- Can adjust speed and turn shape according to terrain
- Know how to get up after a fall on their own
- Making turns comfortably, wedge or parallel/heel or toe edge
- Can safely load, ride, and unload t-bar with instructor/friend
Advanced
- Can control speed and direction using mostly parallel turns
- Comfortable on steep terrain
- Knows how to make small, medium, and large radius turns
- Can skate and ride with one foot out on cat track
- Can control speed on and off-piste
- Can ride advanced runs alone
- Can ride t-bar alone
Advanced 2
- ONLY for skiers/snowboarders who have completed the advanced level 1 program.
Advanced/Freestyle (Wednesday Nights)
- Open to all advanced skiers and snowboarders.
- This program focuses on increasing comfort on terrain park features and off piste terrain.
- This is a non competitive group.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is The Make-Up Lesson Policy?
- If the program as a whole is cancelled for a day, we will make every effort to add a day on to the end of the program to ensure the full 7 weeks.
- If we are unable to achieve this, refunds will be issued pro-rated for each missed day.
- If your child misses a day, there is no make-up for them. This is in an effort to keep other days groups as consistent as possible and to keep safe instructor to student ratios.
- If your child misses a day of the program and you’d like to do a make-up, we can look into scheduling a private lesson for them.
- If your child is not making it to lessons, please email the Director so we know not to look for them at roll call.
- This also goes if your child has decided to discontinue participation in the program. Again, this keeps us from trying to look for them at roll call.
- If your child is going to be late, or needs to leave early, please notify the Director so that we can help organize group meet ups, or drop offs at the lodge.
What Does a Day Look Like in the ASP?
- 3:30-3:50 pm, school buses arrive to LSH and kids coming by private vehicle arrive.
- 3:40-4:00 pm, kids get dressed/ready and head out to the snow to find their groups via character signsIf your child needs help getting dressed in the locker room, there are volunteers that are happy to do so!
- 3:50-4:10 pm, groups are ‘checked out’ via roll sheets and go on their way for their lesson
- 4:00-5:30 pm, lesson time!
- 5:30 pm, pickup time! There is a Little Ski Hill staff member that will stay till around 6:00 pm to make sure that all kiddos are picked up. If you are going to be late, please let the Director know so we can plan accordingly.
What's The Deal with Ski Lockers?
- If you choose to use a locker for the season by checking the appropriate box on registration, you will be assigned a locker and will most likely be sharing it with another person
- It is recommended that you put a lock on the locker as Little Ski Hill cannot guarantee the safety of your equipment in the locker room
- If you’d like to coordinate a lock with your locker buddy, please reach out to the Director and they will assist in coordination.
- On the registration, there is a spot where you can put down who (if anyone) you’d like to share a locker with. If you fill this out, every effort will be made to accommodate that request.
Does LSH have Loaner Equipment?
- If you need loaner equipment, Little Ski Hill does have equipment available
- There is a form available online on the registration page. Please fill out appropriately, as it helps staff pull the right sized gear out for your child.
- This gear is your child’s to use for the whole season, it does not need to stay at Little Ski Hill if you also ski elsewhere. We do ask that you return it by closing day of Little Ski Hill (Usually around March 25), so that we can help another student the next year get equipment
- If you need soft goods, i.e. jackets, helmets, gloves, etc. please let staff know when you come to pickup equipment or when you fill out the form and we can pull the appropriate size.
- ***The equipment that Little Ski Hill loans out cannot be guaranteed safe as we do not have the certifications to properly test. Once you have the gear we HIGHLY recommend taking it to one of the shops in town and getting it tested and tuned. (Torque test and basic wax). If you do not have the funds to achieve this, please let us know, as we do have funding to help with that. If you take your skis to a shop and the equipment is deemed unsafe, we have more equipment you can use and trade out.
What about Personal Equipment and Fitting?
- If you are skiing or snowboarding on your own equipment, please ensure it is snow ready on day one. This means:If you have gotten different skis or boots since last season, make sure it is properly fitted to the new equipment. Shops in town that can help with this:McCall Sports ExchangeHometown SportsGravity SportsBrundageTamarackWax is highly recommended to at least start the season, this helps the equipment slide on snow and overall makes for a better experience for your children.Unfortunately, if your child arrived at Little Ski Hill for lessons and their equipment doesn’t fit properly, we are unable to adjust it.
What if there are updates throughtout the season?
- If there are any updates throughout the season that you need to be made aware of, you will be sent an email
- We will also post on our social media pages.
Other Questions?
Any questions or concerns regarding the program, please don’t hesitate to reach out to: desi@littleskihill.org
THANK YOU TO OUR 2025 SCHOLARSHIP DONORS
- Lisa and Mike Zeiter
- Pauline and Robert Frank
- Stacy and Fred Smelser
- Amanda and Gary Thompson
- Kitty and Robert Looper
- Jodie and Jeff Jensen
- MonkeyLove
- Karen Duff-Jacobsen & Harlan Jacobsen
- Lisa and Dan Ostermiller
- Richard Prittie and Sara Lau
- Caitlin Gustafson and Tor Andersen
- Hayley and Josh Johnson
- Melissa and Fred Coriell
- Jane and John Francis
- Ryan Schneider
- Emily and Matt Yost
- Val and Patrick Berg
- Carolyn and Casey Dickinson
- Sadie Noah and Chris Stewart
- Diane Hardin
- Ben Gau
- Amy and Richard Holm
- Jeff Robinson
- Stephanie and Brian Charles
- Treone Cooley
- Stephanie and Tyler Bork
- Fallon and Scott Fereday
- Jess and Jon Currey
- Mandi and Karl Johnson
In Memory of Jürgen Hawkins
In Memory of Mack Miller
In Memory of Kyle Droulard
In Memory of Dave Watkins
THANK YOU TO OUR 2025 PARTNERS
- Share Winter Foundation
- Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation
- City of McCall LOT Funds
- McCall Dirt Works
- May Hardware
- Brundage Mountain
- Tamarack Resort
- Mountain Community School
- McCall Nordic and Biathlon Club
- Meadows Valley Benefit Tournament
- Rotary Club of McCall
- City of Donnelly LOT Funds
- Mysto Screenprinting