new Skiers.

[Sparky]

I’ve been told that the ski industry has been “flat” for years. That apparently means that the number of people entering skiing is the same or even less then the number leaving. This of course has the industry concerned. They have done surveys and studies to find out who and why skiers are giving it up. Some mountains even have special programs or deals to entice first time skiers to try the sport. Whether this has stemmed the tide or not I don’t know, but the deals are still being offered. Apparently Baby Boomers are aging out and not that many new skiers are there to replace them. Even though boomers are active longer then the previous generation, the risk of injury, the expense, the cold, whatever the reason they are dropping out. This makes a certain amount of since, however I’m having trouble accepting the idea that fewer people are coming into skiing. The mountain I work for has a very successful children’s program, It carters to kids from 3 to 12 and I’ve been told that it makes more money then the rest of the ski school. That combined with the fact that 75% to 80% of the lessons give by us frontline instructors seems to be people under 4 feet tall. Anyone under 4 feet would seem to qualify as “new”.

I have not been able to find any new studies, surveys, etc. on this subject and I was wondering if anybody else had any information. I know the east had a 4% increse in skier visits last year, but I think that might be more of a responce to the weather or the economy.

 

[RISkier]

I don't have any ski specific data though I think a few general social changes would not bode well for ski industry growth. First, the population is simply getting older. A larger and larger proportion of the population is getting older and older. This is stressing health care, social security, and will almost certainly impact things like the ski industry. Second, an increasingly larger proportion of the population is comprised of ethnic minorities. Historically, skiing has not been an activity in which many (not all, I'm not trying generalize) ethnic minority groups have participated extensively. Third, an increasingly larger proportion of the population is living in areas not geographically proximate to skiing; if you grow up in Texas or Florida or Arizona and your family never skied and your friends don't ski or ride, and you're not anywhere close to mountains, why would you start? Additionally, I think there's a generally lower level of physical activity. I'd like to be more optimistic about ski industry growth but I think a net reduction in overall skier visits is more probable. That doesn't mean some resorts and areas won't thrive. But overall I'd be surprised if the industry sees much real growth in skier visits.

 

[faceplant]

bet the olympics stokes some interest.....

 

[LaneMeyer]

I see a lot of teens and kids skiing and adults 40 and over. What I don't see is large groups of 20-30 years olds.
I can't convince ANY of my coworkers to go skiing when they would have to lay out $40 for rentals, $50-70 for a lift ticket and $20 for a crappy lunch.
They say "$100 for 1 day??????" and that's where it usually ends.

 

[snowmonster]

Every year, I bring my class of grad students to ski. We load up a bus with about 50 people. More than half of them are on a learn to ski package of some sort. I arrange for the school to subsidize part of the cost to ease the pain on the wallet. After a day on the hill, some of them return a week later on their own or organize their own ski trips to nearby hills. My hope is that they stay in the sport. This is basically how I got into skiing and organizing the annual ski trip is my way of paying it forward to the sport.

 

[deadheadskier]

Every year, I bring my class of grad students to ski. We load up a bus with about 50 people. More than half of them are on a learn to ski package of some sort. I arrange for the school to subsidize part of the cost to ease the pain on the wallet. After a day on the hill, some of them return a week later on their own or organize their own ski trips to nearby hills. My hope is that they stay in the sport. This is basically how I got into skiing and organizing the annual ski trip is my way of paying it forward to the sport.

great stuff Martin

getting any of my friends or work colleagues to ski is like pulling teeth.

 

[billski]

I see a lot of teens and kids skiing and adults 40 and over. What I don't see is large groups of 20-30 years olds.
I can't convince ANY of my coworkers to go skiing when they would have to lay out $40 for rentals, $50-70 for a lift ticket and $20 for a crappy lunch.
They say "$100 for 1 day??????" and that's where it usually ends.

That is common , it's not just your friends. Major procreation years (late 20s to 40s)
are busy and expensive. When they come back they are called. "rebounds"
most of the rebounds are men; very few women return after they leave
fór you, the worst is yet to come ..

 

[Glenn]

I think another thing to note is trends in population. It seems that over the past few years, many states in the northeast have seen a decrease in population. I suppose this could be made up, numbers wise, if skiing states out West had an influx of population. Still, if people keep leaving the northeast, that's not good for the resorts in the northeast.

 

[drjeff]

getting any of my friends or work colleagues to ski is like pulling teeth.

Nah, pulling teeth is much easier! :lol:

 

[BackLoafRiver]

Every year, I bring my class of grad students to ski. We load up a bus with about 50 people. More than half of them are on a learn to ski package of some sort. I arrange for the school to subsidize part of the cost to ease the pain on the wallet. After a day on the hill, some of them return a week later on their own or organize their own ski trips to nearby hills. My hope is that they stay in the sport. This is basically how I got into skiing and organizing the annual ski trip is my way of paying it forward to the sport.

That's awesome. Our Outing Club here at school sponsored a 5 trip package to Sugarloaf every year until last year. The deal was sweet....$190 got you 5 sundays of lift tickets, rentals, a group clinic, and transportation. The Club advisor worked with one of the marketing and promotions people at the Loaf to make it work monetarily so it wouldn't be such a burden to families.

Then, last year, they froze the budget and said the students would have to pay another $100 each for transportation. That ended what was a killer program. There would be an average of 20 - 30 kids on each trip and several of them were beginners. A huge bummer to be sure. Most of those kids that were involved are still skiing today. I meet up with them from time to time to take a few runs.

 

[snowmonster]

Thanks for the kind words, guys. It's the least I can do for the sport. The class is off to Sunapee this Saturday. We'll be on the bunny hill making pizzas and, hopefully, french fries.

One of the best rippers I ever skied with was an African-American student from Southern California. He said that, when he was growing up, some community members would organize trips for African-American city kids to experience the mountains. A lot of them stuck to the program and eventually went on to racing. He is a lifelong skier now and would be skiing every weekend if not for work.

I agree that cost is a huge disincentive. If there is a way to reduce (or eliminate) costs to initiate new skiers, that would be great. From my own life, when cash was a little tighter for me, skiing was not an option. Winter games were limited to skates around the Frog Pond for $3.

 

[Glenn]

My lottery fantasy it to buy Maple Valley, open it up and run the business so it just covers the operating costs...or runs at a slight loss. I think it would be great to have a place like that to offer affordable skiing to local kids/families. It would probably keep people in the sport, and introduce new people to it.

 

[billski]

How to save:
- Follow the "skiing on the cheap thread" and work at it. My average ticket price is probably running about 50% of the window price using a combination of discounts, all referenced on the thread.
- Beginners - there are a lot of learn to ski incentives. Troll the resort websites.

 

[WakeboardMom]

It ain't easy. What other posters have said in previous notes above has certainly been the way I've seen things happen in my own life.

It ain't easy to "ski on the cheap" with four kids, but we made skiing a priority. I have no idea how we did it. Besides clothing and gear, there was always daycare and lots of times there were lessons and "programs." I had one who raced and there were times we put the big boys into "mountain exploration" programs. And like I said, it seemed that there was always some form of daycare necessary. Okay, so we did always bring our lunch and most of the time the clothes came from Marshalls, but it still makes me shake my head in wonder that we did it. Cha-ching. I understand why the 20- and 30-somethings give it up, but we never did.

And now that the kids are grown, our friends who gave it up are not coming back. My husband and I ski together; rarely do our friends join us.

Here's something we see quite a bit: the women give it up before the men. Why is that, do you think?

My kids are all still very much into skiing; I hope they can keep that going. I did my part to facilitate the growth of the sport. : - )

 

[billski]

I’ I know the east had a 4% increse in skier visits last year, but I think that might be more of a responce to the weather or the economy.

It was the "ski but stay close to home" approach to saving money. The east has a greater number of skiers than west. Destination resorts saw significant downturns.

 

[billski]

Apparently Baby Boomers are aging out and not that many new skiers are there to replace them.

That's why so many resorts are attempting to branch out in to golf and other areas. In their 60s, folks bodies give out, regardless of their spirit.

I’m having trouble accepting the idea that fewer people are coming into skiing.

New boarder influx has leveled off and is no longer a growing segment. We can debate why, but that's what the numbers show. Seeing customer growth year over year is misleading - it fluctuates year to year, but the ten year trend remains flat.

The mountain I work for has a very successful children’s program,

Any hill near a major metro area having a strong lessons program is a virtual money machine. I call Nashoba, just outside of Boston a "Lesson Factory" - they just churn thousands through lessons, production line style. Their strategic advantage is convenience and proximity.

WakeBoard asked why women bail out and don't come back. There are a ton of reasons, and can only be generalized by saying their priorities have changed. It's certainly not that their bodies have given out.

 

[legalskier]

One of the best rippers I ever skied with was an African-American student from Southern California. He said that, when he was growing up, some community members would organize trips for African-American city kids to experience the mountains. A lot of them stuck to the program and eventually went on to racing. He is a lifelong skier now....

Here's a blog about a coalition aiming to get a million new participants by 2020. It appears that they have an outreach program to the inner cities:

Sending out an SOS . . . A million more kids on the slopes by 2020
By Martin Griff
January 31, 2010, 11:51AM
Yesterday I updated my facebook status with:
“Hello Denver. Flight arrived a half hour early and nobody sitting in the middle seat. Can't beat that. Next stop, SIA convention.” I got this comment from Fran Mullin, executive director of Maine based WinterKids, an organization that helps children develop healthy lifelong habits through fun, outdoor winter activity: Say hi to my pal Arn at SOS Outreach, and have him tell you about our new national coalition - Recreation Outdoor Initiative (ROI) - to get a million more kids on the slopes by 2020. That's our vision and WinterKids is in. By the time I found the SOS Outreach booth among the 3,100, the show was closing for the day and SOS Outreach was gone for the day, so Fran’s facebook words will have to do for now.
http://blog.nj.com/skiing/2010/01/sending_out_an_sos_a_million_m.html

If you would like to make a donation to SOS Outreach or become a fundraiser (or just see pics of the cute kids), click here;
http://www.sosoutreach.org/

 

[WakeboardMom]

Any hill near a major metro area having a strong lessons program is a virtual money machine. I call Nashoba, just outside of Boston a "Lesson Factory" - they just churn thousands through lessons, production line style. Their strategic advantage is convenience and proximity.

WakeBoard asked why women bail out and don't come back. There are a ton of reasons, and can only be generalized by saying their priorities have changed. It's certainly not that their bodies have given out.

My kids were good skiers before they went to school. Their school was one of the many that had an after-school program at Nashoba and lessons were required. There was always a group of kids in the so-called "expert" category that simply spent the time hanging out with the instructor until it was time for "free ski."

Your answer that "priorities have changed," may be true, but it's sad. I'm talking about women who stay home on a Saturday or Sunday simply because they've gotten out of the habit of hustling to the hill to have some fun. I agree that their bodies haven't given out, but somebody needs to tell THEM that. I feel like lethargy has set in with several of them. (Speaking only from personal experience. LOL...not a scientific sampling.)

 

[legalskier]

I'm talking about women who stay home on a Saturday or Sunday simply because they've gotten out of the habit of hustling to the hill to have some fun. I agree that their bodies haven't given out, but somebody needs to tell THEM that. I feel like lethargy has set in with several of them.

If you have a camera phone, take a pic of a nice view of the mountain while you're there and text it to them. That might inspire them. I've done it myself and it's worked. :wink:

 

[WakeboardMom]

If you have a camera phone, take a pic of a nice view of the mountain while you're there and text it to them. That might inspire them. I've done it myself and it's worked. :wink:

THAT'S a great idea!! : - ) I'm sure their husbands would say "Thank you!!" : - )