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÷ THE SKI INDUSTRY ? % × + — ÷

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? Demographic, Economics & Other Ski Industry Trends %
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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. True, but often a poor job appealing to minority communities, especially
numbers in and of themselves tell their own story, and when African Americans. The 1 percent of skier visits from African
visually and graphically presented, they are even more illustra- Americans tells a much more complicated back story, one of
tive—especially in the ski industry. geography, history, and income, but at a minimum it under-
As Mark Twain was famous for saying, there are lies, scores one of the many areas where we have serious work to do.
damned lies, and statistics. While some numbers are fascinat- But even the Journal was surprised to learn of compara-
ing and certainly can be misleading or taken out of context, ble industries to skiing, like the similar-sized fantasy sports
they also serve to illuminate various issues that underlie suc- industry. Did you know that Algeria and Venezuela have ski
cesses and challenges we face in the ski industry. Some are even areas, but Ireland and Greenland don’t? Any fan of Harper
poignant. (Who knew that ski areas employ more than double magazine’s monthly “Harper’s Index” will surely remember
the coal mining industry?) how Harper’s cleverly draws some fascinating parallels by
The Journal has cherry-picked some of these sets of data comparing weird and varied numbers and statistics, often to
to get us to collectively reflect. Ski areas provide an overlooked make interesting and subtle points, snarky political commen-
but critical economic footprint, especially in rural commu- tary, and even some fun but false equivalents.
nities across the country—a key argument that underlies so While we don’t rise to that level, we still think that our
much of what NSAA and state associations remind legislatures industry can always be mindful of some of the more salient
any time a piece of critical legislation impacts the ski indus- figures that define us as a sport and an industry. We hope the
try. But it’s also no secret that as a sport and industry, we do ones here will serve to illuminate, inform, and inspire.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH

60 million 1 million+
Number of annual skier days the Number of beginner lessons given
NSAA Growth Committee has set as an via Learn to Ski or Snowboard
industry goal to reach by 2025–26 lesson programs since 2009

64 million 8 million

Number of annual skier days possible if Number of skiers/riders who have left the sport
every NSAA region had a record season for a season or more in the last 10 years
(RRC Associates) (RRC Associates)
Percentage of snowsports participants
who identify as the following
DEMOGRAPHICS races/ethnicities (2017–18 season)

African-
Asian Hispanic American Percentage of females in senior
27 years 5.9% 5% 1.2% leadership roles in the US ski industry
(NSAA Membership Survey, 2018)
Median age of snowboarders

40 years Percentage of snowsports participants male 86% 14% female
who identify as the following
Median age of skiers races/ethnicities (2017–18 season)
African-
Asian
(NSAA 2018 National Demographic Survey) Hispanic
5.9% 5% American
1.2%
22 | NSAA JOURNAL | CONVENTION 2019