If you’re resolved to make 2011 the year that you finally learn to ski or ride, you’re in luck. January just happens to be Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month, as so declared by some 300 ski resorts, and more than a dozen governors across the country.

Ten ski areas here in the Beaver State, including Timberline, Cooper Spur, Mt Hood Skibowl, Bachelor, and Mt Hood Meadows are rolling out the red carpet to make it easier, at least financially, for newbies to get their ski legs under them: at each you’ll find discounted lessons designed to induct beginners into the fold alongside the rest of us winter junkies.

And if discounts don’t work, there’s Glen Plake, the program’s official ambassador and mohawked legend of extreme skiing, and Blizzard of Ahhhs fame, to help hold your mittens while you’re on the hill.

{% display:image for:post image:1 align: left width:370 %}

OK, so Plake probably won’t be schussing down the slopes around here to show you the ropes. But at Meadows, for example, right now, you can snap up a three-time beginner lesson package, which includes equipment rentals, two-hour lesson and lift access, for any three days this season for $99 bucks. A one-day lesson, with rentals and lift tickets will set you back just $60. And to sweeten the deal, Meadows will even toss in a pair of Oakley eFrame goggles for your grill.

Sadly, though, due to heightened liability and issues with extension cords, all resorts have scuttled the idea of shearing first-timers with a standard issue mohawk before you hit the lift. Which is cool, because you were gonna remember to wear your helmet anyway, right?