Skier visit numbers should be up, especially at areas that are an easy drive from metropolitan markets. “Getting there” expeditiously and without major hassles is still the number-one reason one area is chosen by skiers and riders over another, according to preliminary results (through the end of February 2001) of the Eleventh Annual National Skier/Boarder Opinion Survey.
Comparing the 2001 figures to the full season of 2000, the percent of singles, as in not married, increased eight percent. Most were day and weekend skiers (88 percent) and the biggest increases came from the Northeast and South Central regions, where areas had plentiful snow.
Thirty-four percent of downhillers were married with children living at home. Arguably, this is the industry’s most important segment, and it slipped 2.6 percent as a percentage of the skier/rider population. An average skiing family represents a total of 3.8 people and 1.8 (average number of children accompanying mom and dad) represent the pipeline of future skiers/riders.
The Kids are Aging
The mean age of kids under 16 is 9.8, up from 9.5. There has been a 15.5 percent shrinkage in kids under five years of age, a six percent reduction in kids between the ages of five and ten and a five percent increase in 11- to 15-year-olds. We are beginning to see some aging of the huge Millennium Generation and the data acknowledges that the benefits to be reaped from this segment are coming soon when they are teenagers.
First-time skiers declined from 2.9 percent of the population in 2000 to 2.2 percent. First-time boarders fell from 12.2 percent to 10.3 percent.
The average number of days skied/rode has more to do with age and free time than with income. Mean days skied in 2000 were 12.6 for skiers, 12.7 for boarders and 14.3 for people who both skied and rode. Downhillers between the ages of 55 and 64 skied an average of 15 times and 65 plus (mostly men) averaged 17.5 days.
What the under 16-year-old kids are doing on the slopes may provide the best glimpse into the future of the sport. The table below illustrates by region the downhill conveyance the young people are using.
| Total | Northeast | S. Central | N. Central | West | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ski only | 61% | 67% | 64% | 57% | 50% |
| Board only | 18 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 28 |
| Both | 14 | 11 | 13 | 23 | 15 |
| Neither | 7 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 7 |
The trend, especially in the Western United States, is clearly toward snowboarding. Presumably, the kids who do “neither” are too young to ski or ride or prefer tubing or other winter pastimes.
A big surprise is the decline of 16- to 19-year olds from 9.6 percent of the population to 7.7 percent. Comparing the 16 to 24 age segments, there was a decline of 5.8 percent comparing the two years. The pick-up (plus 11 percent) is in 25- to 34-year-olds.
Median income keeps going up. In 2000 median income was $88,000 per household and in 01 $91,400. This season 26.8 percent of downhillers had household incomes of between $100,000 and $200,000 and 17.5 percent over $200,000. Slightly under five percent had incomes greater than $500,000, almost the same as the percentage of students with no income.
Here is what the well-to-do believe they are spending on a ski trip: $90 a day, $480 for one to two nights and $1,608 (one person) on average for a three-or-more night ski trip.
In the West, season pass-holders increased from eight percent of the population to 19.4 percent—a result of the increasing popularity of “buddy passes,” perhaps.
As with incomes, Internet usage keeps increasing. Ninety-five percent of downhillers have access to the Internet compared to 92 percent last season. Seventy percent accessed the resort’s site where they ended up staying, up from 64 percent. Nineteen percent, compared to 15 percent in 2000, booked a ski trip on the Internet.
Fifty percent of all skiers and boarders visited one of the information Internet sites to gather information on a resort, equipment or to answer another need.
And here’s the hardest figure to digest. Skiers/riders were asked about the people with whom they were visiting the resort. The answer was that one-third of them neither skied nor boarded. That may be a lot of $5 hotdogs, but hotdogs are no substitute for a $45 lift ticket.
About the NSOS Survey
This year’s NSOS was conducted at 27 ski areas in the U.S. and results above reflect the 1,865 interviews completed through the end of February. The results are for this particular universe and should not be projected to the whole skier/boarder universe.
