7% Of US Population skis / snowboards / snowshoes?

[Nick]

Saw this on First Tracks!!



Pretty interesting article. THe number they give is much higher than I would have guessed. Thinking of people I know in my office, there are only 2 or 3 skiers. Plus that includes people from across the country (including the south), where the # of skiers is probably close to 0%.

I wasn't clear on whether this meant in the past year, or had ever participated. Also interesting to note: over 50% of skiers have a household income exceeding $100,000.

High-income earners account for large segments of participants with 50% of alpine skiers and 37% of snowboarders, respectively, having annual incomes of $100,000 or more. Snow sports are becoming more diverse, as minority ethnic groups now make up over twenty-five percent (25%) of all participants.

Also regarding minorities, just anecdotally (not that I'm looking for it) I don't really see all that much diversity on the slopes.

[Riverskier]

The income statistic doesn't surprise me, but the minority one does. In Maine, that figure has to be well below 5%.

[marcski]

Agreed about the income stat. Skiing, has always been and will always be an expensive sport. I also agree about the minority stat. Who are they considering minorities that it would total 1 in 4 skiers??

[Puck it]

Also regarding minorities, just anecdotally (not that I'm looking for it) I don't really see all that much diversity on the slopes.

There is a joe there but I will leave it alone!!!!!!!

[snowmonster]

Who are they considering minorities that it would total 1 in 4 skiers??

When I started skiing a few years ago, I usually skied with this African American guy from Southern California. On some days, it seemed that we were the only non-Caucasians on the hill. No big deal, really. Everybody in the place knew us because we stood out.

I see more Asians participating in the sport, especially out west where Asians live in larger numbers. Whenever I visit Whistler (not in the US, I know), I get floored by the sheer number of Asians on the hill, mostly on snowboards. As income levels of Asian Americans increase, I expect participation in snowsports to go up. A few years ago, I read an article in SKI where they said that ski areas in California were aggresively marketing to Latino and Asian skiers (e.g., ads in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, etc.). Considering the rise in the population of babies born to Latino or Asian parents, I think this is a wise investment for the future. One barrier that Asian kids used to have is the low priority of sports in Asian families. In my experience, it was seen as a leisure activity which received low priority behind studying (e.g., schoolwork or Asian culture) and helping out with the family (e.g., your dad's shop). If there were any lessons to be had on weekends, it would have been devoted to learning a musical instrument. As second and third generation Asian immigrants get absorbed into the mainstream and take on non-traditional values, sports as an acceptable activity for young people will become more acceptable.

[jaja111]

Ahhh, the very common conversation on the slopes that no one speaks of on the record for fear of political incorrectness, "where are the African Americans?" I still don't get it. I've tried my damndest to get black friends to go skiing, especially when they say winter sucks. They actually tell me they're skeeved out by the "white-ness" of the sport. I ask WTF does that mean and they just reply that basically, only white people ski. They say its the same as if I walked into a barber shop in an African American dominated neighborhood here in Rochester. I emphatically tell them its not the same thing at all and they wouldn't get a single cross look from anyone unless it was an inadvertant look caused by someone thinking "finally, something more normal".

Crazy theories of aversions to cold and snow are pure garbage. I have known three black people who ski, only three. All three can ski me under the table any day and they always say the same thing I have here, "I try to get people out, but..........?" Its stupid, absurd, and ridiculous that skiing fails to represent the ethnic diversity of regular society and I have always been stumped by it. The crowd when skiing always feels a bit "off" because of this.

[BenedictGomez]

Its stupid, absurd, and ridiculous that skiing fails to represent the ethnic diversity of regular society and I have always been stumped by it. The crowd when skiing always feels a bit "off" because of this.

It's not skiing that is "failing", it's simply cultural, and if people dont want to do something, they dont want to do something. Maybe that will change, maybe that wont.

Not sure what you mean by "off" though. I've never gone skiing and given a rats ass what color(s) the people in the lift-line beside me are.

[AdironRider]

It's not skiing that is "failing", it's simply cultural, and if people dont want to do something, they dont want to do something. Maybe that will change, maybe that wont.

Not sure what you mean by "off" though. I've never gone skiing and given a rats ass what color(s) the people in the lift-line beside me are.

Seriously, not everything is some trial and tribulaton of societies impositions upon the color of ones skin.

Maybe, they just don't give a damn about skiing. "The elephant in the room". Uhhh what room exactly, cause noone I know gives two shits either way if there is a perfect percentage of black people on the hill.

What's the next step? Affirmative action in season pass sales?

[steamboat1]

They don't play hockey either & that's indoors.

[jaja111]

Off doesn't refer to the concept of a perfect percentage it refers to the percentage of Ethnicities other than Caucasian, at least locally, being less than .1%. Its as lilly white as the snow skied upon in the lift line.

I guess I wouldn't expect 30+% (population percentage locally for Rochester) of the people present while skiing to be black, but the fact that its so close to 0% is statistically odd. Golf courses are at least 15-20% African Americans(?) Who couldn't agree with that being "off"? Don't get me wrong, its not getting me upset and having me lose sleep at night... skiing is an individuals sport more or less.