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BY DAVE BELIN & DAVID BECHER, RRC ASSOCIATES

he ability to make smart, strategic decisions starts season, slightly above the range of 111,784 to 140,870 sur-
T with having good information, combined with sea- veys in each of the prior 10 seasons.
soned experience and a knack for the business. The NSAA To ensure that the results are as representative as possi-
National Demographic Study provides the first part of ble nationally, data from each participating resort has been
that equation, with its wealth of metrics about skiers and weighted in proportion to its number of snowsports visits. In
snowboarders. addition, the respective six NSAA regions have been weighted
The study tracks selected demographic, “skiographic,” in proportion to their share of total national visits.
and trip characteristics of skiers and snowboarders over time. The NSAA Demographic Study provides a variety of
Results are based on surveys—both on-site and post-depar- insights regarding both the short-term visitation dynamics
ture—conducted at 87 participating ski areas throughout influencing the industry this past season as well as important
the United States. A total of 141,687 surveys/data records long-term trends in the participant profile. Here are some of
were incorporated into the research file during the 2016-17 the highlights from the study, which is available from NSAA.

22 | NSAA JOURNAL | EARLY WINTER 2017