• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

Is Skiing a dying sport?

JCF

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Mar 12, 2022
Posts
733
Location
ME
I
Just wait for the $5 cup of coffee next season. That should thin out the riff raff.

In this beach town I'm in I bought 3 (medium) regular drip coffees (not cappuccino, not soy lattes, not vente espresso with gold leaf garnish) for the guys back at work yesterday at a seasonal place that just re-opened.

$15 !!!!! (with 10% tip)

The future is here - and soon this place will be jammed beyond capacity with riff raff.

No where is safe :eek::ogcool::geek::roflmao:
 

DanoT

RVer-Skier
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
4,788
Location
Sun Peaks B.C. in winter, Victoria B.C. in summer
I


In this beach town I'm in I bought 3 (medium) regular drip coffees (not cappuccino, not soy lattes, not vente espresso with gold leaf garnish) for the guys back at work yesterday at a seasonal place that just re-opened.

$15 !!!!! (with 10% tip)

The future is here - and soon this place will be jammed beyond capacity with riff raff.

No where is safe :eek::ogcool::geek::roflmao:
$5 coffee? Long lift lines?
Pretty much anywhere in western Canada not named Whistler is still safe and 10 minute lift lines are considered a long wait.


Keep in mind, the above prices are in Canadian dollars, so deduct 25-30% if paying in US dollars. So that Kootenay coffee listed above is really only about $2.50USD.
 
Last edited:

Atomicman

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
May 6, 2017
Posts
843
The pessimist- Ski resorts may not be dying but the ski experience is

Unless Vail and Alterra stop trying to maximize profits by selling passes priced like 5 cent cheeseburgers (unlikely) there are going to be more and more way too crowded days on the slopes
Apparently you haven't seen next seasons IKON Pass prices?
 

fatbob

Not responding
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,288
There are multiple paradoxes operating here - Can an industry be both growing yet dying? Can skiing be both too cheap and too expensive? Are statistics in a rebound season indicative of anything long term?

I'd say it depends to all of them.

I guess I'm most interested in whether we've seen a long term bifurcation in Ikon and Epic pass pricing or the gap will be closed depending on uptake and perceived experiences. Because if Ikon establishes itself as the "uncrowded" option where's the competitive tension to anchor the cost of that product? $2k might still be a bargain for the 100 day skier but destroy the "few weekend trips" market or more casual local.
 

Tin Pants

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Posts
64
Location
BC
china is building ski resorts at a fast clip they see it s a way of bringing money to poorer areas and providing winter recreation for the masses also lots of indoor snodomes they are coming
At some point in the future, some of the 1 billion Indians and 1 billion Chinese will become rich and pick up the hobby as an upper class pursuit. I mean the Chinese already do, but was just interrupted by the pandemic. But the winter Olympic should have given their population the push to become skiers and snowboarders.

The law of big numbers suggests this is just getting started. Pretty soon those Indians and Chinese will compete for a spot in Japanese and European and Aspen lodges against the usual fare of Aussie and American skiers and snowboarders.
 

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
Admin
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 1, 2015
Posts
42,624
Location
Reno, eNVy
This video is a joke. They mispronounced the 4th word - Nevele - (NEV-uh-lee). I did not watch much past this. The Nevele was never a ski resort, it was a Catskill Borscht Belt Resort that had 150 ft vertical ski slope. The failure of the Nevele had zero to do with skiing or the ski business.

I didn't notice this until now. We used to hang around the Nevele (11 backwards) a lot in the late 90's when my then (late) father in law used to Hanglide. They had a house, just down abotu a half mile on 209 in Ellenville. At that point the Nevele was still open and I would play some golf there but that was definitely near the end of the resorts run. I do remember mountain biking through the ski area on my way back from the hang gliding launch which was up on the top of the peak behind the resort.

Borscht belt resorts, not unlike the Pocono resorts had ski facilities, in most cases the vertical was jsut a few hundred feet and were there to keep the guests occupied with skiing as an activity but not really as a sport. Most all did have instructors and a full rental department.

Here is another look back at the Nevele ski area.
 

James

Out There
Instructor
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Posts
24,443
Wow that was cool. Nice structure to the skating rink/lodge.
The first “tower” to the chair looked like a tree?
I think that groomer would actually have a market for snowmobile trails. At least in VT/NH. Might be a bit wide.
 

Pokitren

Booting up
Skier
Joined
Jun 8, 2022
Posts
6
Location
Sydney
There are multiple paradoxes operating here - Can an industry be both growing yet dying? Can skiing be both too cheap and too expensive? Are statistics in a rebound season indicative of anything long term?

I'd say it depends to all of them.

I guess I'm most interested in whether we've seen a long term bifurcation in Ikon and Epic pass pricing or the gap will be closed depending on uptake and perceived experiences. Because if Ikon establishes itself as the "uncrowded" option where's the competitive tension to anchor the cost of that product? $2k might still be a bargain for the 100 day skier but destroy the "few weekend trips" market or more casual local.
And I think it's based on the market principle of 'Demand begets supply'. And managers are guided by it. That is, they choose their target audience and create the conditions for it. Everyone who does not fall into this target audience will not be as important to them.
For the best comfort on the slopes, you need to find a place where the skier and the managers' goals coincide :)
 

Daniel

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Posts
529
Location
Cottonwood Heights, Utah
Utah sets records annually and up over 25 percent in the last ten years. The West is growing and the Northeast is shrinking.

View attachment 169115
Another all-time, record-setting year for Utah resorts in terms of skier days was set this past season. A 10-percent increase was realized over last season's (then) all-time, record-setting season. Skier days increased by over 500,000, despite the state experiencing a below-average snow year (by Utah standards). Utah was the fastest growing state (by percentage) during the recently ended decade, the third fastest (by percentage) during the preceding decade, and the fourth fastest (by percentage) during the decade prior to that one. It's still growing at breakneck speed, as Census Bureau estimates for the first year of the current decade place the state slightly behind Idaho as the nation's second-fastest growing state.

 
Last edited:

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
May 2, 2017
Posts
4,328
So what is Utah’s annualized growth rate, about 1.6%? Anything over 1% is pretty high. They better stop upgrading ski lifts or something. I get it though, and traffic is one of the most obvious ramifications of growth. It’s inevitable and difficult to see what we had change quite rapidly sometimes. The best we can do is get involved and make ourselves heard while still accepting that it will happen.
 

Daniel

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Jun 27, 2017
Posts
529
Location
Cottonwood Heights, Utah
From the U.S. Census Bureau: the percentage change in Utah's population between 1990 and 2000 was 29.6; the percentage change in Utah''s population between 2000 and 2010 was 23.8; the percentage change in Utah's population between 2010 and 2020 was 18.4. Some simple math calculations gets you to the answer to your question. When I moved to Utah from N.H. in 1984, it was the 36th most populous state. It is currently the 30th most populous state and on the cusp of rocketing past Connecticut. The Demographics Research Group at the University of Virginia projects that by the end of the current decade, Utah's population will exceed that of CT by approximately 200,000.
 

cantunamunch

Meh
Skier
Joined
Nov 17, 2015
Posts
21,896
Location
Behavioral sink
There are multiple paradoxes operating here - Can an industry be both growing yet dying? Can skiing be both too cheap and too expensive? Are statistics in a rebound season indicative of anything long term?

This entire thread reminds me of aquariums. The fish in a relatively large, crowded tank can't tell that all the other tanks have been drained and the fish transferred to this one.

 
Last edited:

pchewn

Skiing the powder
Skier
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Posts
2,607
Location
Beaverton OR USA
Another all-time, record-setting year for Utah resorts in terms of skier days was set this past season. A 10-percent increase was realized over last season's (then) all-time, record-setting season. Skier days increased by over 500,000, despite the state experiencing a below-average snow year (by Utah standards). Utah was the fastest growing state (by percentage) during the recently ended decade, the third fastest (by percentage) during the preceding decade, and the fourth fastest (by percentage) during the decade prior to that one. It's still growing at breakneck speed, as Census Bureau estimates for the first year of the current decade place the state slightly behind Idaho as the nation's second-fastest growing state.


Utah is overcrowding due to "chairlift tourism". :)
 

Sponsor

Staff online

Top