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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bill Jennings: Snowboarding slumps with trend toward skiing again

Bill Jennings Correspondent

This winter there’s been something different about my mountain trips that I couldn’t quite put a finger on. It recently hit me in the lift line: skiers appear to be outnumbering snowboarders. After a couple of decades of growing popularity (estimated at about 5 million riders) that saved the snow sports industry, could snowboarding be in a slump?

I decided to investigate whether this is true. Apparently a decline in snowboarding has been in progress for a while. Recent findings from ongoing research by SnowSports Industries America show that the number of those who snowboard peaked in 2010 and has declined by a little more than 10 percent through last winter. Meanwhile, the number of skiers ticked up last winter by a little more than 9 percent.

Further evidence of snowboarding’s retreat can be found at the retail level as well. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, snowboard equipment sales have dropped by $70 million over the last 10 years.

“We have been seeing that trend, particularly in the adult side,” said Terry McLeod, Snow Sports School Director at Schweitzer. “In terms of alpine versus snowboard, the ratio is skewed this year where the percentage of adult group snowboard lessons have gone down.”

Snowboarding’s surge in popularity happened largely at the expense of skiing. But now the tables seem to have turned. In an ironic twist, ski manufacturers have co-opted the fundamentals of snowboard design. Wider skis with deeper side cuts, rocker cambers and twin tips have made skiing a lot easier. More people also may be discovering having feet that function independently has many advantages, especially in the terrain park.

Snowboarders exert pressure on a single surface on a single edge with their full weight. Skiers can divide the load between two surfaces and four edges. This difference results in greater diversity and better performance in the park. Skiers are going faster, jumping farther and catching bigger air than snowboarders.

For example, according to the website Snowboarding Essentials, in the 2005 Winter X Games skier Simon Dumont soared 22 feet out of the superpipe while snowboard superstar Shawn White was able to catch only 16 feet of air. But perhaps the coolest trick a skier can do that a snowboarder can’t is the signature trick of crossing their boards into an X to look like a helicopter as they fly through the air.

“I think the teens are moving more toward skiing,” McLeod said. “With the whole freestyle movement and the X Games, for a number of years they’ve been seeing skiers do some pretty big stuff. Kids are thinking they don’t have to be a snowboarder to be cool. They can do that on skis.”

Snowboarding became popular as a rebellion against the establishment. The snowboarding industry, which became mainstream by promoting an anti-establishment image, could be losing credibility in that department. “Snowboarding thinks it’s cool,” wrote Jack Clayton, on the website Mpora, “and there’s nothing cool about something that thinks it’s cool.”

The demographics of snowboarding have changed. It’s no longer a scene exclusive to slackers with their pants dropped around their ankles. Parents, uncles and aunts – even grandparents – have spent a substantial part of their lives snowboarding. Skiing could be today’s de rigueur rebellion against the establishment.

When snowboarding emerged in the early 1990s, skiing was in a downward spiral and the future of the industry was in doubt. Now it’s apparent that both modes of gravity-driven mountain transport are here to stay. Each will have its ups and downs. Popularity of one over the other in the future is likely to be cyclic in nature. For now, skiing thinks its cool again. It may not be long before that’s not cool.