When Nayeli Membreño moved to Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley from El Salvador six years ago at age 13, she couldn’t speak English and knew nothing about skiing. Now she is fluent — and has become an avid skier who takes on expert slopes.

Currently 19 and studying cosmetology in Denver after graduating from Basalt High School in 2023, Membreño intends to be a skier for life. She describes the exhilaration of gliding down a freshly groomed slope as feeling “like a dream.”

Enabling stories like hers is the mission of Aspen Skiing Company’s School Ski Days program, which entitles students from underserved local communities to an annual free ski day, including lessons and rental equipment. About 3,500 took advantage of the program last season.

“There’s a big wealth disparity in our valley,” said Hannah Berman, sustainability and philanthropy manager for the Aspen Skiing Company, which owns the four Aspen Snowmass resorts. “People think of glitz and glamor when they think of Aspen, and that is all true. They forget that Pitkin County has one of the highest (wealth) inequities of any county in the country. We’re trying to create inroads so any kid can ski.”

Aspen has the most expensive lift ticket prices in the U.S., according to a recent analysis by Powder.com. Single-day lift tickets for children there this weekend were priced at $164, with adult tickets going for $244.

Membreño spent her middle and high school years 20 miles down-valley in El Jebel, a small community halfway to Glenwood Springs. One day she went on a date with a boy who took her to the top of Aspen Mountain via the Silver Queen Gondola.

“That’s when I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, skiing looks like so much fun, I want to do it,’” Membreño said. She got to try it during her junior year when one of her teachers, Wendy Kennedy, organized a class ski trip with Aspen’s support.

“The first time, we went to Buttermilk, the good old bunny hill, and they taught us the basics — how to stay on your feet, how to turn, how to stop, what your stance should be to have more control,” Membreño said. “The second time I was actually able to take a lift. Having an instructor to help me with the basics, being able to have rentals and access to the mountain with people that knew what they were doing, made it so easy to learn. That made it a very pleasant experience that made me want to keep going.”

Kennedy could see Membreño was highly motivated from the start.

“Just through sheer determination, she was turning and stopping by the end of that first day, which is super unusual,” Kennedy said. “And also, going way too fast.”

Most of the School Ski Days lessons take place at Buttermilk, which is ideally suited for beginners.

“One of the cool things about Buttermilk is, you have these never-ever skiers taking the same lifts as athletes who are there for X Games and World Cup,” Berman said. “I was there once with Glenwood Springs third graders, most of whom had not skied before, and Eileen Gu was riding the lift.”

Gu is an American-born freestyle skier who won three medals at the last Winter Olympics for China. “It’s so important that kids get to see these athletes,” Berman said, “and see what is possible.”

Like the outdoor business as a whole, the ski industry in recent years has sought ways to expand inclusivity. Arapahoe Basin, for example, has partnered with Colorado Blackpackers. Loveland, Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Copper Mountain work with SOS Outreach. Kids from Huerfano and Las Animas counties ski free at the reborn Cuchara ski area in southern Colorado, drawing from some of the poorest areas of the state.

Winter Park has provided free lessons and lift tickets to economically disadvantaged Colorado kids since the 1990s. Vail Resorts served nearly 11,300 youth in the 2023 fiscal year, according to spokesman John Plack, with free season passes, lift tickets, lessons, rental gear, transportation and meals to the tune of nearly $9.8 million.

Not all of the students who take advantage of Aspen’s School Ski Days program become passionate skiers like Membreño, of course.

“Some just weren’t very athletic, so it was harder for them to learn,” Membreño said. “Some of them saw it as an opportunity to skip school. But I do know a few of them kept doing it, and got jobs at restaurants at the mountain so they could ski.”

That’s what Membreño did. She went to work full-time as a hostess and server at the Snowmass Club, which came with skiing privileges, and she bought second-hand ski gear. One day she went skiing with Kennedy, who coaxed her into testing herself on terrain rated double-black expert in an area at Snowmass known as The Wall.

“It was a beautiful powder day,” Membreño said. “She told me, ‘It’s not that bad, you’re going to love it.’ It wasn’t bad at all. It was pretty fun — a little challenging on the legs, but nothing too hard.”

Kennedy sees Membreño as an example of what’s possible for kids from underserved communities if given opportunity.

“She is not afraid of stepping into another culture and becoming a part of it,” said Kennedy, who retired last year after 24 years as a teacher. “Skiing and just being outside can be such a healing experience for any person, but especially young people — to experience themselves somewhere beautiful, doing something that is empowering. It’s a really cool opportunity, and Nayeli was so ready for it.’

Describing herself now as an “unemployed student” while in Denver for cosmetology training, Membreño hasn’t gotten to ski much this season. When she finishes in the fall, though, she intends to return to Snowmass, get a job at a salon and resume her passion for skiing.

“I might ski in the mornings and then start my shift at 12,” Membreño said, “or vice versa.”

Berman sees her as the embodiment of the School Ski Days vision.

“It doesn’t matter if your parents can teach you or not,” Berman said. “It doesn’t matter if you need your lessons in Spanish, or if you need adaptive equipment. You should be skiing with us at least once a year, because this is your home. We’re trying to celebrate and normalize what the ski industry should look like. It should look like girls like Nayeli.”