Skiing is dying, but how fast?

MaimHelp

MaimHelp

Active member
Got super fucking bummed out today after skiing tremblant a touristic resort I thought was the shit a couple years ago.

they had like 2 rails up when they used to have like at least 15 plus rails, and trust me they got enough snow to have some more fun parks.

tourism and rich ass boomers are ruining the sport and In the pay 3 years I’ve noticed it way more than before. Vail and other corps keep buying resorts, milking them for money, and not putting their money into what people like.

it’s been really irritating me, had my old home resort bought by vail (big boulder) which was absolutely fucked over, heard 7 springs just got bought by vail a few weeks ago, and it seems to just be happening faster and faster

no park funding and crowded ass lift lines making me real bummed
 
Vail sold 2.1M passes this year, "skiing" isn't dying. But maybe your idealized version of skiing is waning or evolving.

**This post was edited on Dec 29th 2021 at 6:28:55pm
 
dude I've never actually been there but I've always heard wack things about tremblant, of course they would do something like this. That might be skewing your perspective
 
Rising insurance. Companies taking a Disney approach to running a ski hill. Park rats are not dropping money for 5 family members.. they are buying pbrs and look bindings
 
It’s been a complete shit show in CO this year. I’ve never had a worse time with such an epic storm cycle. They desperately need a more aggressive and enforced traction law. Just driving around ski towns is straight up a nightmare now. The stoke is also at an all low. So many people who can’t ski just complaining and taking up space.
 
CO’s always been lax about traction. The only state I’ve ever seen actually turn people away when not properly equipped is California. Every other state says “we reserve the right to sue you” which does nothing.

14370629:ericforman said:
It’s been a complete shit show in CO this year. I’ve never had a worse time with such an epic storm cycle. They desperately need a more aggressive and enforced traction law. Just driving around ski towns is straight up a nightmare now. The stoke is also at an all low. So many people who can’t ski just complaining and taking up space.
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topic:MaimHelp said:
Got super fucking bummed out today after skiing tremblant a touristic resort I thought was the shit a couple years ago.

they had like 2 rails up when they used to have like at least 15 plus rails, and trust me they got enough snow to have some more fun parks.

tourism and rich ass boomers are ruining the sport and In the pay 3 years I’ve noticed it way more than before. Vail and other corps keep buying resorts, milking them for money, and not putting their money into what people like.

it’s been really irritating me, had my old home resort bought by vail (big boulder) which was absolutely fucked over, heard 7 springs just got bought by vail a few weeks ago, and it seems to just be happening faster and faster

no park funding and crowded ass lift lines making me real bummed
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bromont (another resort 1 hour south from montreal) was completely full today all parkings full and it was all fucking tourists
 
14370628:hoodratz47 said:
Rising insurance. Companies taking a Disney approach to running a ski hill. Park rats are not dropping money for 5 family members.. they are buying pbrs and look bindings
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Woah dude, just wanna set the record straight that I buy modelos.

But you pretty much summed it up. ROI on a park isn’t all that great.
 
14370541:Notaskibum said:
Vail sold 2.1M passes this year, "skiing" isn't dying. But maybe your idealized version of skiing is waning or evolving.

**This post was edited on Dec 29th 2021 at 6:28:55pm
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From a numbers or business perspective skiing is bigger than ever, its just growing in a different, more profitable, market segment than the 2000s. As with most things, everything comes full circle. Skiing was more of a posh, high end activity pre snowboard and now we seem to be cycling back to that post peak of parks and younger folks diving into it.
 
Idk man.. my hills the best it’s ever been. 3 parks, both free ride zones open, 68 inches of snow already and hardly any tourists this year
 
fix up the spare room, packing

14370797:sexyjulian said:
Idk man.. my hills the best it’s ever been. 3 parks, both free ride zones open, 68 inches of snow already and hardly any tourists this year
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I cannot stress this enough

all these cry baby post are pointless and will never change the direction of skiing. If you want change then you have to make the business case for it backed by data.

also there are places doubling down on park and action sports. Woodwards have been poppin up all over the place in the last 10 years. Finding successes like this plus compiling your own data that paints the picture for a better guest experience with better parks is what needs to happen.

Stop wasting energy throwing pitty parties on the internet and go fuckin do something about it.
 
14370628:hoodratz47 said:
Rising insurance. Companies taking a Disney approach to running a ski hill. Park rats are not dropping money for 5 family members.. they are buying pbrs and look bindings
Click to expand...

Insurance is actually significantly cheaper for a ski resort than an amusement park thanks to the skier safety act which includes terrain parks. Its awesome! America is thirsty to sue people so having this act is huge for the industry.
 
There are companies that specialize in building playgrounds.

Instead of the PTA trying to do it, they hire pros.

Is there anything out there like that for parks?

Somma yous should funnel your trust funds into a startup, go national, and build parks errywhere.
 
14370824:Abomber22 said:
There are companies that specialize in building playgrounds.

Instead of the PTA trying to do it, they hire pros.

Is there anything out there like that for parks?

Somma yous should funnel your trust funds into a startup, go national, and build parks errywhere.
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So for big comps SPT is the big dog. They build the park for X games and used to for Dew Tour. I'm not sure if they did Dew Tour this year; I know they helped but Woodward was involved with them.
https://snowparktech.com/about-us-3/action-sport-events/
https://snowparktech.com/
 
14370834:Abomber22 said:
Ok

Was thinking smaller, for local areas, but business plans are a bitch
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That's a niche market but with no one in it that makes great room for growth. You would need to understand the market plus have experience building a park or someone who you would pay to build it. Would be a perfect side hustle for an existing terrain park manager/ builder.
 
TLDR OP went skiing during the holidays and other people dared to use the mountain

Maybe I’m just spoiled because my local hill has rails up from opening day to closing day
 
Skier safety act? Never heard of that..

14370821:partyandBS said:
Insurance is actually significantly cheaper for a ski resort than an amusement park thanks to the skier safety act which includes terrain parks. Its awesome! America is thirsty to sue people so having this act is huge for the industry.
Click to expand...
 
14370541:Notaskibum said:
Vail sold 2.1M passes this year, "skiing" isn't dying. But maybe your idealized version of skiing is waning or evolving.

**This post was edited on Dec 29th 2021 at 6:28:55pm
Click to expand...

14370544:MaimHelp said:
What real skiers call skiing is dying
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Ok, so you basically just proved his point OP
 
14370621:hi_vis360 said:
dude I've never actually been there but I've always heard wack things about tremblant, of course they would do something like this. That might be skewing your perspective
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guys one mountain i know axed their park so all of skiing (read: freeskiing) must be dying
 
14370853:hoodratz47 said:
Skier safety act? Never heard of that..
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1024446.gif

i mean it started in CO in 1979 but utah didnt adopt it until 2012 and idk if others still dont have it so its not as unreasonable for someone whos been on NS for 17 years to not be aware as I originally thought lol.

In CO the liability a resort has is extremely low as skiing accidents are covered under the act an their are inherent risks associated with skiing and it was revised to include terrain parks too.
 
It's not a thing in Oregon. Fuck we don't have to have safety bars on chairs

14370868:partyandBS said:
View attachment 1024446

i mean it started in CO in 1979 but utah didnt adopt it until 2012 and idk if others still dont have it so its not as unreasonable for someone whos been on NS for 17 years to not be aware as I originally thought lol.

In CO the liability a resort has is extremely low as skiing accidents are covered under the act an their are inherent risks associated with skiing and it was revised to include terrain parks too.
Click to expand...
 
If you are in an area with no snow right now and you have $300 and some time, build a dry ski setup. Its not super complex and can help fill in the gaps when you can't go to the mountain and there is no snow on the ground.
 
Idk ive noticed the park scene growing at the midwest resorts around here. Sure some of the resorts are shrinking the parks, but we have a massive wave of 13-18 year olds who are getting very good very quickly.
 
14370913:The.Fish said:
Idk ive noticed the park scene growing at the midwest resorts around here. Sure some of the resorts are shrinking the parks, but we have a massive wave of 13-18 year olds who are getting very good very quickly.
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Yeah I’ve noticed that too from insta edits, so many cold kids popping up everywhere there
 
14370914:MaimHelp said:
Yeah I’ve noticed that too from insta edits, so many cold kids popping up everywhere there
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We are at the point where kids are hiking to get dub swap combos and 3 swap combos. It is insane. I used to think a kfed was an elite level trick when I was growing up.
 
topic:MaimHelp said:
Got super fucking bummed out today after skiing tremblant a touristic resort I thought was the shit a couple years ago.

they had like 2 rails up when they used to have like at least 15 plus rails, and trust me they got enough snow to have some more fun parks.

tourism and rich ass boomers are ruining the sport and In the pay 3 years I’ve noticed it way more than before. Vail and other corps keep buying resorts, milking them for money, and not putting their money into what people like.

it’s been really irritating me, had my old home resort bought by vail (big boulder) which was absolutely fucked over, heard 7 springs just got bought by vail a few weeks ago, and it seems to just be happening faster and faster

no park funding and crowded ass lift lines making me real bummed
Click to expand...

Skiing in tahoe is almost fully ruined due to tourons from the bay and vail owning half the resorts
 
It would be much worse if Woodward never ventured into the snow sports world. Their emergence in the park scene gives me so much hope for the future. As long as Woodward stays on top of skiing/snowboarding we will always have top tier parks around the country.
 
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