Skiing/Snowboarding Trends

Big Game said:

Playing in a marching band is great experience, but is nothing like getting together with a few of your friends and creating something entirely new.

I've shared the stage with a lot of different guys. Never did I play with anyone who was in a high school band for 4 years. Probably a year at most, if at all. Now does this mean band will ruin your creativity and make you a follower? Probably a mixed bag of correlation. A mad man drummer will probably want to play more like John Bonham than John Souza.

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Can't argue with your assertion that high school band is nothing like creating a song with a group of friends (especially speaking as someone who never participated in high school band but still plays music with friends as frequently as I did in college). I guess I always viewed it as a self selecting crowd, but I've known kids that play in HS band AND play on their own. Best drummer I've ever played with was firmly entrenched in marching band as well. Those that enjoyed playing music in that structured environment were drawn to HS band and those that wanted more freedom did their own thing.

Of course I have no way of showing this beyond my feelings and anecdotes so you very well could be right.

Our youngest son plays the Tenor Sax. He has gone from playing Viola to Clarinet to Alto Sax and now Tenor Sax with a little Baratone Sax from time to time. For the past two years he played in the Jazz Band and developed a liking for older Glen Miller style of play. That being said, he is also an avid video game player and recently while playing Fall Out 4 he developed a new taste for music - 50's Rhythm & Blues. He is 14. At the school he is at now as a freshman, the HS band encourages them to write music which they perform to. So I cannot agree with some of the statements mentioned above, he has developed a very eclectic taste for music and often tries to copy the sound with his Sax. He wants to stick with it through HS but more than likely will not go further due to other interests.

That being said, he plays in Band, plays Spring and Fall Sport and is part of Civil Air Patrol. It is a full plate, but since he plays no winter sport skiing still fits in. However, his Lacrosse coach is wanting his to play winter box lacrosse but we will have to see how that fits in. I do think that all the extracurricular activities are pulling from skiing especially if the parents are not involved in the sport as well. I think the odds of pulling from families where skiing is not a thought is very slim. The growth needs to come from the families that are in the sports now or from new families where ski programs are available to introduce the sport - unfortunately there are not many large population centers next to a ski area. Look at Manchester NH (pop. 110,000), McIntyre is right in town, Concord NH (pop. 42,000) schools have programs at Pats Peak which our kids participated in.

How many on this forum actually had kids that left school during the day to ski or snowboard?