What does declining interest in skiing mean?

[MadMadWorld]

I think we have started to see a shift business philosophies. Nowadays skiers want more access to backcountry/sidecountry and natural terrain. Mountains are expanding terrain but not installing HSQ like they used to. Mountains are realizing that skiers are looking for a different kind of challenge with less frills. Just a few examples off the top of my head: Sugarloaf's Brackett Basin and Cannon's Mittersill. Also mountains are relying more and more on volunteers to create glades for them. It is an interesting paradigm switch that I think could dramatically effect the ski industry

 

[Nick]

Exactly. Using the same chart. To the right of TRENDS, click on shopping ( for ski related ) you'll see a different story.

View attachment 11328

That's cool, didn't know you could do that

 

[BenedictGomez]

Unless I'm mistaken, at 23 posts deep, we're still at the point where nobody really knows what that graph represents, right?

 

[Scruffy]

Unless I'm mistaken, at 23 posts deep, we're still at the point where nobody really knows what that graph represents, right?

I think it means searches for the term skiing. So, perhaps everyone found alpinezone.com and has bookmarked it, nothing left to search on :-D

 

[BenedictGomez]

I think it means searches for the term skiing. So, perhaps everyone found alpinezone.com and has bookmarked it, nothing left to search on :-D

Yes, but like I said, numerically or as a percentage? If it's based on percentage, move along here, nothing to see.

 

[abc]

I think it means searches for the term skiing. So, perhaps everyone found alpinezone.com and has bookmarked it, nothing left to search on :-D

there's only so much to 'search' about skiing! the rest has to do with actually doing it.

in fact, the better these 'aggregater' sites such as alpinezone or snow-forecast, the less google search.

 

[Scruffy]

Yes, but like I said, numerically or as a percentage? If it's based on percentage, move along here, nothing to see.

Looks like percentages

https://support.google.com/trends/answer/4355164?hl=en

 

[spring_mountain_high]

i think one of the best things ski areas can do is make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for parents to get young children out on the slopes...hook them at a young age...family deals, close-in parking for families with kids under 10 years old...see my bear creek trip report from last week--while it was relatively inexpensive, everything but the couple minutes we spent going downhill was a ginourmous hassle, and would certainly make the less committed question whether it is worth repeating the experience

 

[jimk]

My first child is going to be born this spring and it is highly unlikely he will see too many lifts as a kid the cost is simply prohibitive and there are too many free alternatives for outdoor activities.

Big mistake (unless you're taking the kid backcountry skiing instead). Get that kid out early and often. Later he/she will be your golden ticket to tons of ski time because it will be considered quality family time. And it won't be long before the kid will be leading you down the hill giving you more challenge than you can handle. I speak from experience.

 

[timm]

Big mistake (unless you're taking the kid backcountry skiing instead). Get that kid out early and often. Later he/she will be your golden ticket to tons of ski time because it will be considered quality family time. And it won't be long before the kid will be leading you down the hill giving you more challenge than you can handle. I speak from experience.

You'll notice I said he probably won't see too many lifts, not mountains

 

[ScottySkis]

Declining interest means more snow for me.

Somebody had to say it.

I guessing your home hill is under lack of crowds. I know there wasn't many people there the one Sunday I was there. I might buy spring pass this year.

It is very tough for me to afford skiing and I do skip certain bills so I can ski.

 

[JohnQ]

Ski club is the ticket to getting kids skiing. I was introduced to the sport by my grandfather when I was 7 but my Mom was a sunny day skier and my Dad didn't at all. But, load me on the bus on a Saturday morning for 10 straight weeks, and I got hooked, got good and my folks got the day off. Price included the bus trip back and forth, a 2 hour group lesson and a lift ticket. Buses rotated between 3 ski areas that were within 1 hour so it didn't overwhelm any single one.

Do those types of programs still exist? I've seen Friday night programs which are the same idea but it needs to be easy for the parents. The local rink is packed with kids taking skating lessons, whether figure or hockey and that's not cheap either.

 

[VTKilarney]

Another problem is the closure of smaller hills over the years. It was cheap and convenient to learn how to ski at the "mom and pop" ski areas. They were great feeder hills for the larger ski areas.

IMHO the best way to develop future skiers is through school programs or recreational department programs that are reasonably priced. That's what got my family into skiing - and my children's involvement in a program brought me back to the sport.

 

[JohnQ]

Here ya go. Worldwide stats on skier visits per region and country.

http://www.vanat.ch/RM-world-report-2013.pdf

interesting stuff.

Good read, thanks for posting. Of note is the claim at the end of the US section that "...the number of skiers continues to grow, with an average increase of 1.2% over the last ten years." I assume that's a total of 1.2% over the past ten years rather than annual so, to my mind, that is simply stable. Plus, given population increase, that's a decrease as a percentage of the population but I'd want to measure against the population in northern climes of the US rather than total US population. Tough to get most Texas youths hooked on skiing at their non-existent local ski hill.

 

[legalskier]

i think one of the best things ski areas can do is make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for parents to get young children out on the slopes...hook them at a young age...

Lots of areas have specials. This afternoon I heard a radio commercial advertising free lift tix for kids 6 & under at Belle. I wish they had that when my kids were little.
http://www.belleayre.com/company/Press release/07.24.12.htm

Also, fourth and fifth graders ski for free in your area:
http://www.iskiny.com/ski-deals/free-kids-program
http://skipa.com/learn-to-skiride/4th5th-grade-programs
http://www.mountaincreek.com/tickets/tickets-deals/5th-graders-ski-ride-free/

 

[snowmonster]

I'll stand up for my tribe here. Considering that most Asians and Asian-Americans are climbing the socio-economic ladder, it might make sense to start courting this market aggresively. In fact, I would also suggest marketing to folks of non-European descent (I don't like using the term minority). If, demographically, folks of non-European descent will constitute a majority of the population in the next generation then it would make sense to introduce skiing and snow sports to them in the hopes of growing the number of snow sports participants. Speaking as someone from a different background, skiing is perceived to be a sport for people of European descent. The industry may have to work in order to counteract this perception.

Whenever I ski, I'm usually the only person from the Far East on the hill. I'd love to see others. I know that certain resorts and areas out west are starting to court the Asian market seriously with guides, translators and food options. It might be a good idea to bring that concept to the east. I thought it was great that Sunday River opened a Japanese-Korean restaurant at the base lodge. At last, I could visit SR and eat rice! (Which is a pretty big deal for my tribe, by the way.) Because of that, whenever Asian friends would ask me for a recommendation to ski, SR was on top of the list. There are lots of people of Asian descent working in the Boston area (Chinese and Indian being the biggest groups) and they have good disposable incomes for the most part. Perhaps it's time to cater to them and their families.

 

[VTKilarney]

Some random thoughts:
1) High "sticker" prices for lift tickets with discounting for those in the know does not help bring in new people. Outsiders have an artificially high understanding of what it costs to go skiing.
2) Ski areas make it too easy to jump from area to area. They don't make effective use of loyalty programs. They should take a page from the airlines and make me feel like I am hurting myself if I don't return.
3) Extreme sports as featured in the X-Games and now the Olympics don't make parents relish the idea of their children taking up skiing. As a parent, I tolerate when my kids want to jump off rails - but there is always a part of you that cringes when they do. On the other hand, I understand that these sports draw kids into the sport. But there is definitely a ying and yang here.

 

[bigbog]

I have to disagree about the declining interest in skiing. Polls like this are taken by industry people who listen to the no-skill skiers in their fashionable garb ONLY...that don't disceminate(sp?) skier ability levels AT ALL in their polls.
It's not that the skiers have left the industry, it's that the industry has become somewhat elitest and has left the working class skier...

 

[MadMadWorld]

I'll stand up for my tribe here. Considering that most Asians and Asian-Americans are climbing the socio-economic ladder, it might make sense to start courting this market aggresively. In fact, I would also suggest marketing to folks of non-European descent (I don't like using the term minority). If, demographically, folks of non-European descent will constitute a majority of the population in the next generation then it would make sense to introduce skiing and snow sports to them in the hopes of growing the number of snow sports participants. Speaking as someone from a different background, skiing is perceived to be a sport for people of European descent. The industry may have to work in order to counteract this perception.

Whenever I ski, I'm usually the only person from the Far East on the hill. I'd love to see others. I know that certain resorts and areas out west are starting to court the Asian market seriously with guides, translators and food options. It might be a good idea to bring that concept to the east. I thought it was great that Sunday River opened a Japanese-Korean restaurant at the base lodge. At last, I could visit SR and eat rice! (Which is a pretty big deal for my tribe, by the way.) Because of that, whenever Asian friends would ask me for a recommendation to ski, SR was on top of the list. There are lots of people of Asian descent working in the Boston area (Chinese and Indian being the biggest groups) and they have good disposable incomes for the most part. Perhaps it's time to cater to them and their families.

Every time I go to Jay I see a ton of Asian-Americans. I always wonder if there is a lot of immigrants nearby or if Jays marketing is just that good.

 

[ScottySkis]

Every time I go to Jay I see a ton of Asian-Americans. I always wonder if there is a lot of immigrants nearby or if Jays marketing is just that good.

When I used take bus from NYC to ski and snowboarding hills most if the people on the bus were from that part of the world.