SIA Releases Participation Study

Snowsports Industries America (SIA) announces the release of its study on participation in winter sports across the 2020-2021 season, the first in the “post-pandemic” era, when the majority of health-related mandates were lifted and participants were unencumbered by travel restrictions.

Providing an in-depth look across all winter snowsports – skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, fat biking and touring – the study highlights a general cumulative view of winter sports participation and demographics on an annual basis, in addition to further analyses of individual winter sport activities.

Participant demographics, frequency, regional representation, crossover activities and more are included to provide key insights into the behaviors of winter sports enthusiasts.

This year’s look at the 21-22 season helps tell the story of participation post-pandemic, and provides insight into anticipated demographic shifts. Of particular note, SIA reports, is that total snowsports participation did not significantly differ from 20-21, with only a 0.5 percent decrease – 24.4M in 21-22 versus 24.6M in 20-21, which is within the margin of error for the study. However, when looked at individually, this figure masks some differences within the individual sports.

Alpine skiing (which includes freeski and telemark) saw a 5 percent decrease in unique participants , and with skiing making up the largest share of overall participation, trends in this category have a disproportionate impact on the overall trends. To that end, all other sports recorded an increase: cross-country skiing saw an 8 percent increase, snowshoeing more than 20 percent, and alpine touring more than 90 percent. Snowboarding and snowboard touring saw an increase of 3 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

The study also highlights that while the number of older participants continues to decline (especially among those 65 and older), the growth in all other age groups under 45 continues to bolster the overall number of participants.

Similar to findings in last year’s report, snowsports are making modest gains in attracting a more diverse audience and more people of color. Overall snowsports diversification saw an increase of 4percent and 2 percent for Black and Hispanic participants, while White, non-Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander saw a decrease in number.

The 2021-2022 SIA Participation Report is free to all SIA Members and is available for download in the Member Portal.

For more information and to become a member, visit snowsports.org.