New riders
reinvent skiing
Interest energizes stagnating sport
"Skiing, or snow sliding of any kind,
does not really need rules, regulations, accepted technique or appropriate
attire. Once that attitude became a reality, not a marketing slogan, a new
generation signed on."
— "AN AMERICAN SKI INDUSTRY—ALIVE, WELL
AND EVEN GROWING"
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
The multibillion dollar U.S. ski industry
is getting some help from young skiers and snowboarders, who have simultaneously
reinvented the sport and pulled it out of a decade-long doldrums.
Following more than 10 years of stagnating
skier visits, ski areas are finally showing vitality despite long-held fears
that the sport’s aging core market and lack of new participants would eventually
be its Achilles heel.
Because of burgeoning interest among young
skiers and snowboarders, some long-needed snow and lift ticket and lodging
discounts, ski resort visits throughout most of ski country during the 2002-2003
season broke records. Sun Valley, however, did not match the trend and posted
its poorest season in six years.
According to the National Ski Areas
Association, the U.S. ski industry recorded nearly 57.6 million visits last
winter, up from 54.4 million the previous season. Sun Valley posted 367,631
skier days last year, about 9.5 percent fewer skiers than the previous year’s
405,700 skiers.
Sun Valley Co. officials credited marginal
weather and the war in Iraq for the local downturn. But the fact remains that
most U.S. ski areas did very well last year.
"In years past, skier visits hovered
around 46 million in a poor season to 54 million in a good one," said National
Ski Areas Association President Michael Berry. "Last season's numbers, which
follow two other very strong seasons, re-emphasize that the industry is becoming
more resilient and successfully attracting beginners, families and important
youth markets with creative new programs."
While the number of skiers has flattened
out, the number of snowboarders has grown. Last winter, snowboarders accounted
for nearly 30 percent of all lift ticket sales nationwide and almost 50 percent
in the Pacific Northwest.
At the same time, there has been an influx
of young skiers who have been drawn to the sport because of the popularity of
free riding—skiing the entire mountain without the structure of gates or the
knee-friendly corduroy of groomed runs. Free riders are also drawn to riding in
terrain parks that are modeled after skateboard parks.
Terrain parks—used by skiers and
snowboarders—include features where the snow is shaped over humps and jumps that
enable riders to become airborne and perform various gravity-defying stunts.
Rails—used by skiers and snowboarders to slide while tetering—are also
incorporated as features in terrain parks.
According to Ford Frick, managing director
of BBC Research and Consulting in Denver and who authored a recent study called
"The American Ski Industry—Alive, Well and Even Growing," kids who were bored
with their parents’ sport took it upon themselves to reenergize skiing.
"The greatest concern for resorts was that
skiing was traditionally a sport for baby boomers, and there was uncertainty as
to whether or not their children would attach themselves to it," Frick told a
New York City reporter. "What happened is that kids found their own way to
interpret skiing. They reinvented it for themselves."
The impact of the new skiing style has
been realized at large and small ski areas, alike.
According to the ski areas association,
many small ski areas saw significant market share increases last year because of
recently completed terrain parks. Ski areas do not need to be situated on large
mountains to build a competitive terrain park, Frick pointed out.
Most every ski area in North America has
taken steps to lure the youth market, and Sun Valley, a long-time holdout, is
among them.
This winter, Sun Valley will unveil its
new Superpipe, a world-class halfpipe that was built near the Warm Springs base
of Bald Mountain over the summer.
Though local youth are clearly excited
about the new half pipe, they continue to lament the absence of a local terrain
park. On Saturday, Nov. 8, a group of local teens built terrain park-like
features near the Warm Springs base of Bald Mountain.
After nailing a rail slide on a homemade
rail, skier Cassidy O’Connor of Bellevue said that is the kind of riding local
kids don’t get to do much unless they travel to other resorts.
"We really need a park," he said.
According to Frick’s study, the ski
industry’s improving numbers, particularly during an economic recession, might
not be as vexing as some believe.
"This story may be a simple one of an
industry that stopped doing business as usual, listened to the market and
responded in kind—a management change of heart accompanied by fortuitous
improvements in ski technology," he wrote. "In essence, this is a case study in
business back-to-basics, and a lesson in the value of listening well and simply
giving the market what it wants."
Frick said the early-1990s were a time
when snowboarding helped to change the image and, more importantly, attitude of
snow sports. Though the snowboard infusion was first resisted by traditional
skiers, it has grown to dominate the fashions, styles and attitudes of many snow
sports participants.
Frick continued:
"The introduction of snowboarding, and the
rapid rise in telemark skiing, free skiing and a number of other equipment
variations, have been a breakthrough for the ski industry—not just because they
drew a new generation of participants, but because they reminded an increasingly
stodgy industry that ‘skiing’ was fundamentally about unstructured, outdoor
recreation and the individual freedom and adventure that if offers.
"…Skiing, or snow sliding of any kind,
does not really need rules, regulations, accepted technique or appropriate
attire. Once that attitude became a reality, not a marketing slogan, a new
generation signed on."