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grown in more than three decades? That’s the long
term question. The one that begs immediate atten-
tion is how close are we to seeing the asymptote
of growth when the recent, three-year trend in
snowsports participation in the U.S. is a reduction
of interest, not growth?
This, of course, fosters more questions that
don’t allow the luxury of waiting for market
results to be tabulated in a spreadsheet, num-
bers that may not address the more important
questions of why, and thus what to do about it.
Nor do we have the luxury of sitting by idly and
simply hoping things get better.
We know the economy has not recovered as the
presstitutes in the lamestreammedia repeatedly
claim because we know average household income
is flat or down. We also know inflation is on the
move because we see how the cost of everything
has steadily risen in the last three years, especially
essentials such as groceries and medical care. That
means there is less disposable income available for
the luxury of skiing, and SIAfigures confirm this by
noting participation by 18- to 35-year-olds is down.
Equally important, there’s less snowfall, meaning
less opportunity or reason to go skiing, much less
buy equipment. All of which means anyone in the
business of selling ski gear needs to be very careful
about what products are carried.
Fortunately, the European market provides a
good example of what happens in a more mature
market. In spite of a similar stasis in the overall
size of the downhill market, interest in skiing off-
piste continues to grow.
Even if it can’t keep growing forever, back-
country ski gear is a solid inventory investment
for the following reasons. First and foremost is
the fact that core skiers go to the mountains more,
and spend more on their favorite sport. Well
more than a third (37 percent) of snowboarders
are considered core, as are 30 percent of skiers,
and if conservatively 15 percent of all downhill-
ers are backcountry skiers, then roughly half the
core skiers and riders are going out of bounds
and need specialized gear. In other words, your
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Winter 2015
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