Snow Sports Up 3% in October

Snow sports retailers sold $624 million in apparel, accessories and equipment from August 1 to October 31, 2013, up 3 percent in dollars sold compared to the same period in 2012, according to the latest figures from SnowSports Industries Association (SIA) and NPD Group. SIA also expects good snow conditions to have a positive impact on the snow sports market during the critical holiday buying season. Typically, about 35 percent of total season sales are made between Black Friday and December 31.

Overall through October 31, 2013, equipment Sales hit $161 million, up 1 percent in dollars sold and flat in units sold, while apparel Sales reached $272 million, up 2 percent in dollars sold and down 5 percent in units sold. Accessories sales were $191 million, up 6 percent in dollars sold and down 1 percent in units sold.

Among the notable trends:

Snowboard sales were up 1 percent in units sold to 100,000 boards sold through October 31, the strongest start for snowboard in three seasons. With about 7.5 million snowboarders in the U.S., good snow conditions likely will bring in some new riders and lapsed riders back to slopes (at resorts and in backyards across the country), says SIA.

Alpine Touring/Randonee equipment continues to enjoy significant increases in sales, through October AT equipment sales increased 26 percent in dollars sold and 23 percent in units sold.

Backcountry accessories sales including beacons, probes and shovels increased 46 percent in dollars sold through October.

Cross country ski sales increased 13 percent in units sold and 7 percent in dollars sold. Cross country boot sales are 16 percent in units sold to 11,000 units. Cross country sales suffered significantly with below average snow and late snow the past two seasons. The category should recover much of the decline with good snowfall this season, says SIA.

Alpine binding sales were up 11 percent in units sold and up 15 percent in dollars sold through October. Most of the gains stemmed from sales of high performance bindings with DIN 12+.