The impact of soaring season pass sales on ski and snowboard participation rates.

[mntlion]

intersting read

https://www.skiinghistory.org/news/i...cipation-rates


By John Fry

For 35 years, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has reliably measured the volume of winter visits at U.S. areas. The statistic—one skier or snowboarder on the slopes for one day with a lift pass—is not perfectly accurate, but it is the most consistent available to track the trend in participation over the years. Visits reached record highs of over 60 million-plus days in 2008 and 2011. Last season, however, at 53.3 million days, they were down 11 percent from the record highs. Ski area visits are back to the level of 30 years ago in 1987.

Something else may have changed, too. According to the latest NSAA research, frequent skiers and snowboarders—people on lift-served slopes for six or more days a winter—now account for 70 percent of all visits.

Put another way, only 28 percent of 9.2 million skiers and snowboarders account for 70 percent of all ski area visits. Anyone planning to be on the slopes more than six days a winter can be tempted to buy one of the many varied season passes, such as Epic, Ikon, or Mountain Collective, plus a myriad of passes offered by individual ski areas to reward frequent skiers.

Roughly speaking, anyone willing to lay down between five hundred and a thousand dollars before the end of November is enjoying the lowest lift prices, adjusted for inflation, in the sport’s history. For everyone else, there’s a mixed bag of discounted passes throughout the season, too varied and numerous to describe here. Infrequent or casual skiers and snowboarders unfamiliar with how to purchase discounted tickets in advance can be experiencing the highest-ever ticket prices.

Last winter, the average U.S. weekend window lift ticket price was $122.30. That’s 30 times greater than it was a little over half-a-century ago when the 1965 weekend lift ticket sold on average for $4.18. Over the same period of time, U.S. disposable family income multiplied 2.75 times, rising from $14,174 to $39,155. In other words, the window lift ticket price grew 10 times faster than people’s income available to spend in a discretionary manner.

During that time, obviously, the on-slope experience has been substantially improved by resort investments in grooming, snowmaking, faster lifts, new and upgraded day lodges. But an economist who found that the cost of an industry’s product or service over a half-century had increased 10 times more than did disposable family income, would be unlikely to form an optimistic picture of the industry’s future.

Almost all of U.S. family income growth since 2008 has gone to just ten percent of Americans. That may be okay insofar as skiing correlates with higher incomes. But a prime component historically of the skier population, young college graduates, has been negatively impacted by this trend. NSAA notes a decline in visits of young men and women aged 13 to 24, coinciding with a downturn in snowboarding.

College loan indebtedness has doubled in the last ten years. Paying interest on their loans has left men and women in their twenties with less money to spend on recreation.

Of course, cost isn’t the only factor impacting ski area visits. People’s leisure time is being eaten up by social media and computer games. It has affected all outdoor sports. Compared to the decline in tennis and golf, ski participation has done well, merely by declining less.

[mntlion]

A CLOUDED FUTURE

The late Jim Spring, who did consumer research in skiing over many years, found a high number of people who call themselves skiers not participating for a season. The most promising way to increase participation numbers, he concluded in 1995, was to convince people to ski every year.

In similar thinking, the McKinsey consulting firm in 1989 concluded that the best prospect for increasing skier numbers lies with light skiers who’ve already made a commitment to the sport. McKinsey reasoned that heavy skiers held little additional potential to expand the market, though they are the easiest for ski areas to reach.

McKinsey didn’t highlight cost, rather the need to improve the experience. And there’s the problem. Skiing is a sport involving bodily injury risk, discomfort, possible fear of heights. While many ski areas offer attractive learn-to-ski/ride deals, the newcomer must have suitable clothing, stand in lines to buy a ticket and rent equipment, and pay a ski school to learn how to slide down a hill without risking a fall or collision. According to research conducted by NSAA, more than four out of five newcomers exposed to this experience eventually decide not to take up the sport.

If the experience remains unaltered, and ski areas offer their best pricing to people already committed heavily to the sport, it’s difficult to see, with snowboarding participation in decline, and global warming, how measurable downhill skiing activity will grow in the years ahead, or avoid declining.

Smart minds are at work, and the business model adopted by the mega-resort companies like Vail and KSL Partners may attract the interest of investors. Pre-season sales of season passes are bringing them millions of dollars of cash flow before the snow has even fallen. But it remains to be seen if their financial interest will ultimately serve the best interest of the sport.

The ski industry is not synonymous with the sport, as if we needed reminding. The cross-country ski and freestyle crazes of the 1970s, and later snowboarding, which attracted hundreds of thousands of new participants, were not ski industry marketing programs designed to increase participation. They arose out of the sport’s heart, and in some cases the “industry” didn’t initially respond well to them.

In the long run, the ski industry exists because of the sport, and not the other way around.

John Fry is the author of the award-winning The Story of Modern Skiing: The revolution in equipment, technique, competition, resort design, and media after World War II. The book is available in paperback and on Kindle. Fry is the chairman of the International Skiing History Association.

[Rideski]

No easy answers.
https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...wing+the+sport

[Toadman]

Cheaper season lift passes, (wonder how long that formula lasts) but more expensive food and lodging for the vacation skiers. So why is it so damned crowded on a powder day?

[charles martel]

This is a really important thread. Thanks to the lion man for starting it.

A non-holiday pass to Whiteface Mountain cost under $500. You can't use it Christmas week, Martin Luther King Day or Presidents Week, but you can use it the rest of the time, even weekends. The management of this world-class resort gets it. It is one of the best bargains in the world of skiing.

On the other hand, a season pass to Bristol Mountain near Rochester New York, with its bragged about 1,200 feet of vertical, is over $800. I was at Whiteface the past couple of seasons, but have to spend my season nearer home this winter because of an elder-care issue.

In a long-winded way, I'm saying that it's the price.

Anyone who has followed the sport over the past few decades, realizes that lift tickets are really expensive and that equipment is really expensive. So, if you're trying to get your kids involved, it costs a lot of money. Couple that with the stagnation of wages and an increase in the cost of living, and, of course, casual ski visits are going to have to go to the bottom of the list for family priorities.

Somebody of some note in the making of snowboards told me but he regretted targeting the high-end market with his company. He sees now that that was a strategic mistake and had wished that his company would have really marketed much more to the mainstream. It cost a shitload to go alpine boarding or get a decent BX deck.

Also, a biz consultant friend told me back in the early 90s when all the big destination resorts were starting to build condominiums left and right that those would be unsustainable in the long run. There wasn't enough really big money for people to afford those things in the long-term. That proved true.

Skiing and boarding have an economic problem.

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[reckless toboggan]

This is a really important thread. Thanks to the lion man for starting it.

Truth.

[charles martel]

Truth.

/\/\/\

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[dan_pdx]

Why is it that lift tickets outside the US are so much cheaper? A day ticket at Niseko for all 4 resorts on the mountain is $65; a day ticket to a single one of the resorts there, Annupuri, is about $48. I've only skied in Europe once, but remember thinking the ticket prices were a bargain compared to the US. What gives? Is it litigation / insurance driving the costs here?

[SumJongGuy]

This is a really important thread. Thanks to the lion man for starting it.

A non-holiday pass to Whiteface Mountain cost under $500. You can't use it Christmas week, Martin Luther King Day or Presidents Week, but you can use it the rest of the time, even weekends. The management of this world-class resort gets it. It is one of the best bargains in the world of skiing.

High blackout passes are just meh unless you live within 30 miles of the resort. Otherwise, the only times you can go is when your kids are out of school. And, if I lived within 30 miles of a ski hill I'd just get a job there to save money on skiing. West coasters have it so much better for pass deals and multi resort options. Northeast has multy resort options but prices are higher right?

Down here in NC and VA is the worst of both worlds. High blackout passes without any real multi resort participation. Last time I looked, even the most expensive pass at Wintergreen had everything blacked out all weekends from Thanksgiving through Feb, all of Christmas week, MLK and President's Day, etc..

[nickel]

I can't help but feel that without abundant families getting young children skiing, the sport is headed for bad times.

Ours is not an activity which is kind to adult learners. Not for nothing 4 out of 5 adult newcomers don't pick it up.

[Goniff]

"Of course, cost isn’t the only factor impacting ski area visits. People’s leisure time is being eaten up by social media and computer games. It has affected all outdoor sports. Compared to the decline in tennis and golf, ski participation has done well, merely by declining less."

This is what I have experienced. My teens would rather snap-chat and play video games indoors than be outside in the cold skiing. Their friends are the same way.

[savemeasammy]

"
This is what I have experienced. My teens would rather snap-chat and play video games indoors than be outside in the cold skiing. Their friends are the same way.

This could be it’s own thread... My 11 year old is a die-hard skier, but I could see him wasting an entire ski day playing roblox instead... :/

Most of us that are into skiing/riding are going to get our kids into as well, because we know it’s worth it. But for non-skiers, the high cost of day tickets is definitely a barrier to entry. It’s a problem for sure.

[SumJongGuy]

Most of us that are into skiing/riding are going to get our kids into as well, because we know it’s worth it. But for non-skiers, the high cost of day tickets is definitely a barrier to entry. It’s a problem for sure.

We can plant the seed while they're young. However, once they get old enough to choose to stay home instead of going to the mountain we've gotta yield to their decision of how to spend their free time. The fact that in our home mom doesn't ski and never will really makes the non skiing, stay home option a viable one. Even with a good ski in ski out lodging set up, boy skis a lot, but the girl might ski 2 hours the entire weekend if at all. She will go out and spend time playing in the snow when that opportunity presents. Definitely makes a difference in whether or not to choose a family pass or individual passes for those who are able to get there often enough to make use of passes.

[Ottime]

Cheaper season lift passes, (wonder how long that formula lasts) but more expensive food and lodging for the vacation skiers. So why is it so damned crowded on a powder day?

Cause no one can afford the cost of a hot cocoa break. So they ski.

[Benny Profane]

I think it's pretty obvious that its a Boomer sport, and Boomers are dying. Yeah, a lot of kids are not as well off, or at least much more in debt than we were in our twenties.

But, it may not only be ticket pricing, which, if you ask me, is pretty cheap these days. An Epic local gets me a holiday restricted Stowe skiing plus a ton out west for about 600. A few years ago, Stowe alone was in the mid teens. Colorado people know what I'm talking about, it's really cheap out there, has been for a while. Maybe it's everything else around skiing, like real estate. Ski country homes are ridiculous expensive, and actually went up after the 08 recession. Food and drink ain't cheap, either.

This weather event in the east that just happened yesterday makes me think again about how is it possible that some families just don't give up on the sport. Imagine all of those families that booked a room and tickets for next week for big bucks and will experience ice for the bother, if trails are open. I know that I'd maybe consider something cheaper next year, and more pleasant for the whiney wife and the device addicted kids, like a beach somewhere. Last year it was like 20 below all Xmas week. How do these gapers do it?

[charles martel]

Money, weather, competing (and cheaper e-activities) and longer works hours.

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[Toadman]

I think it's pretty obvious that its a Boomer sport, and Boomers are dying. Yeah, a lot of kids are not as well off, or at least much more in debt than we were in our twenties. Food and drink ain't cheap, either.

This weather event in the east that just happened yesterday makes me think again about how is it possible that some families just don't give up on the sport. Imagine all of those families that booked a room and tickets for next week for big bucks and will experience ice for the bother, if trails are open. I know that I'd maybe consider something cheaper next year, and more pleasant for the whiney wife and the device addicted kids, like a beach somewhere. Last year it was like 20 below all Xmas week. How do these gapers do it?

The food thing is getting out of hand. So is the drink thing. That's why you see so many folks doing the BYOF&B thing.

As for the gapers, they have a layer of fat to keep them semi-warm while the ski a run here and there, go into the lodge, warm up, go back out ski another run or two. Listen to the kids whine and cry that they are cold, and go back into the lodge for a $10 hot chocolate ($11.50 with marshmellows)

[nest]

Why should I be worried that there are less people skiing? Serious question.

[SumJongGuy]

Why should I be worried that there are less people skiing? Serious question.

Fewer people vested in skiing results in fewer places available for skiing. It won't just be fewer lift served resorts, it will be fewer acres of public terrain preserved for self service skiing as well. We're already seeing this happening as congress pushes to sell off or open more park land towards harvesting the natural resources for private industry use.. i.e logging and mining and thus closed to the general public.

[charles martel]

And, in this region of upstate New York, ski club participation is way down.

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[Benny Profane]

And, in this region of upstate New York, ski club participation is way down.

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Ski clubs are an obvious remnant of the sixties to the ninties. I joined one this year, and everyone is old. Old, not middle aged. And, whenever I see pictures of other clubs, it's the same. Shame, because economy of scale and group buys through the club gets you some good deals.

[charles martel]

Ski clubs are an obvious remnant of the sixties to the ninties. I joined one this year, and everyone is old. Old, not middle aged. And, whenever I see pictures of other clubs, it's the same. Shame, because economy of scale and group buys through the club gets you some good deals.

/\/\/\

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[m2711c]

Our club is doing pretty good as far as membership. We’ve been averaging around 700 members per month with about 150 or so showing up to the meetings. Average age is pretty high though.

[mmmm...pow!]

I'm more concerned with if this will affect precipitation rates.

[SumJongGuy]

I'd think the advent of multi resort, low priced Epic/Icon/Etc.. passes killed the demand for ski clubs. I guess in regions like mine where there isn't a decent mega pass option I'd entertain a ski club deal but not in Colorado or northern Vermont..]