WCAX: NSAA and Vermont Ski Areas Association Report Declining Number of Snowboarders

[thetrailboss]

http://www.wcax.com/story/20796195/is-snowboarding-losing-its-edge

And a new study backs that up. The National Ski Areas Association Journal, or NSAA, found snowboarding is losing some of its edge. The group surveyed 135,000 people at ski resorts in Vermont and across the country. In 1991, boarders made almost 8 percent of visits to resorts, that number soared to almost 33 percent by 2010, but it's now dropped to 30 percent.

And more interestingly:

But another blow to boarding-- the study found over 14 years the average number of days riders hit the slopes in a season dropped by 1.5 to 6 days, while ski visits remained stable at 5.5 days a season.

I think twin tips are making an impact...assuming that there is such a decline...

 

[BenedictGomez]

I think twin tips are making an impact...assuming that there is such a decline.

There is a decline. Sales data from the last 3 or 4 years also confirms a decrease in snowboards, and twin tips definitely play a part.

Ironically, a leading hypothesis SKI put forth last year to explain this is that all the cool tricks that were a big part of the snowboarding boom are actually cooler on skis, with much greater room for aerial diversity from having two free legs etc... I think watching the X-games confirms this. There are only so many variations of tricks all the snowboards essentially repeat (cool tricks though they are), whereas the stuff you see the kids on skis create is far more diverse.

And I think just anecdotally you see that migration on the mountain. For about a decade it seemed that every friggin' little kid was learning on a snowboard, but now it seems the pendulum has swung back.


EDIT: But why is WCAX commenting on this? Must be nobody got lost at Killington in a few days.

 

[AdironRider]

The tricks are the same, a triple flip is a triple flip, regardless of what is on your feet.

I think it has more to do with economic demographics than anything else. Id argue as a whole, snowboarders have a lower per capita income, and therefor when the economy tanked, it weaned out a decent amount of the "snowboarders" who would get boards for Christmas and use them once or what have you.

 

[thetrailboss]

There is a decline. Sales data from the last 3 or 4 years also confirms a decrease in snowboards, and twin tips definitely play a part.

I only said that because of their last sentence in the article:

According to other industry experts snowboarding is growing, with the sale of boards up 15 percent since 2004.

But I've noticed a decline myself.

EDIT: But why is WCAX commenting on this? Must be nobody got lost at Killington in a few days.

Snowboarding is still big business for Vermont, especially with Burton in Vermont (or I should say at one time in Vermont since most of the jobs are now gone).

 

[thetrailboss]

The tricks are the same, a triple flip is a triple flip, regardless of what is on your feet.

I think it has more to do with economic demographics than anything else. Id argue as a whole, snowboarders have a lower per capita income, and therefor when the economy tanked, it weaned out a decent amount of the "snowboarders" who would get boards for Christmas and use them once or what have you.

I think that this is probably a factor.