indiggio Posted February 11, 2014 Report Posted February 11, 2014 Then why the F are the lift lines so damn long? http://qz.com/175664/the-descending-popularity-of-downhill-skiing-in-america/ Quote
indiggio Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Posted February 11, 2014 One thing is that there are alot less ski areas now than 20-30 years ago. I believe liftlines used to be much longer back in the day with alot less lift capacity. Skier visits have been essentially flat for the past 20 years while the US population has grown significantly. Now most of the growth in population has been amoung lower income folks and mainly non whites. Indeed, we're quite spoiled by high-speed detachables. Start getting torqued if the wait in the VIP line is more than a couple of minutes... Forgot how bad it used to be when there were only the double doubles. Quote
Schif Posted February 11, 2014 Report Posted February 11, 2014 all the people who got me into snowboarding no longer snowboard I second that 1 Quote
indiggio Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Posted February 11, 2014 (edited) I've been noticing the lack of crowds as the lift ticket counters as well. Going out to grab snack around noon, there's hardly anybody in the ticket lines. However, some of this may be due to the ability to purchase tickets online at a discount. Also think that the mountains are pricing out many through the cost of a ticket. The price may be justifiable through the mountain's budget, but the same accounting doesn't apply to people's stagnant income levels and their budgets. Edited February 11, 2014 by indiggio 1 Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted February 11, 2014 Report Posted February 11, 2014 You can't compare Blue to the rest of the country. Blue is gaining in popularity. Imagine a place like Bolton valley or jay peak or bogus basin. Bolton needs work. They really need a resort developer like Jay to come in and do some amenity improvement. Lifts are outdated, base area is run down, and the Nordic center is falling apart. It is finally a profitable entity, but it needs help. Quote
jordan Posted February 11, 2014 Report Posted February 11, 2014 Loveland is doing great. The parking lots are filled almost every weekend (although the lift lines are almost non-existent...the parking is the bottleneck that keeps the crowds down) I think they benefit from the fact that their lift tickets run $61 in a land where $100+ is the norm. Quote
sibhusky Posted February 11, 2014 Report Posted February 11, 2014 Whitefish is setting new records annually. But, definitely over the past fifty years, skiing and boarding have not kept up with the general population. There have been endless discussions about the reasons on Epic. At least ski areas are finally starting to acknowledge they have a problem. Their approaches to fixing the problem, though, are all over the map. Too many short term profit guys are still running many areas. 1 Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Sugarbush has broken records every year since Win took over the mountain in 03. Growth is going well at the Bush... Quote
Schif Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 The fact that every mountain around here needs a summer operation should be an indicator that skiing alone isn't paying the bills anymore. Quote
Ride Delaware ? Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 (edited) The fact that every mountain around here needs a summer operation should be an indicator that skiing alone isn't paying the bills anymore.Elk? $1,000 season passes and they make it happen. If a mountain like Blue with all their skier visits can't make it happen, then you might be right. However, I see the waterpark expansion, at least for Blue or CB, to be a grab for more money, not necessity. Or even more possible, a look to the future with climate change. Edited February 12, 2014 by Ride Delaware ? 1 Quote
Justo8484 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Elk? $1,000 season passes and they make it happen. If a mountain like Blue with all their skier visits can't make it happen, then you might be right. However, I see the waterpark expansion, at least for Blue or CB, to be a grab for more money, not necessity. Or even more possible, a look to the future with climate change. The water park at blue is for year round revenue stream in order to get financing for a hotel. I thought that was pretty common knowledge at this point. Quote
sibhusky Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Actually, the most you would pay here is $67 and you can do it for $50. And to me, that's a lot of money. When you add the cost of skiing to the HASSLE of skiing, no wonder people are buying 60 inch screens and a Wii ski app and staying home. Quote
guitar73 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 i think since this hobby has gotten insanely expensive, it costs $100 to ski out west and even $50+ for bear creek golf isn't cheap either, btwn clubs, balls, shoes, and a bag, etc. also, greens fees (w/cart) at most public courses are def in the $50 range. however, people are going out and golfing and more people are either starting to play, or at the very least, follow it on tv. but the big difference i see between golf and skiing is as sibhusky put it...hassle. also, i think that on average the majority of people do not have a high tolerance for colder weather. in the end, it all depends on where you are willing to spend your money....imho. 3 Quote
toast21602 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 People also never used to have to but cell phones and pay cell phone bills. That's a huge monthly expense that could have gone to these extra activities but now pays for them to play games and text with their phones. 1 Quote
NMSKI Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Guitar my dad was telling me that alot less people have been playing golf the past few years and local courses have been responding with specials. During the tiger woods boom in the late 90s/early 2000s alot of new courses were built and alot of younger golfers began playing but since then many of those golfers have left the sport or become less frequent participants due to the economy. I stopped playing golf when my dad stopped paying for my rounds/equipment. 1 Quote
AtomicSkier Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Most expensive lift tickets are $120ish....most expensive golf courses are $500ish. Skiing is still "cheap" in comparison. Quote
jordan Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 If you ski a lot, its really cheap on a per-day basis. If you do it once or twice a year, it is really expensive. The initial investment is a lot higher than many other sports, and that is keeping new potential skiers away from the sport. 1 Quote
jordan Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 (edited) Ski vacations are also expensive on a per day basis. Ehh, they are as expensive as you make them. I can drive to Utah for example and stay in Sandy for $60 a night and ski for ~$60 a day. Jackson, for example, has extraordinary cheap lodging available and cheap lift tickets with the mountain collective pass, as does Aspen (inc cheap lodging in Glenwood), Whistler, etc. If you do it right, and don't need slopeside accommodations, you don't have to spend a ton of money on a ski vacation. There are plenty of really good deals out there. I spent less $$ to Heli-Ski in AK for a week last April than most people pay to vacation in Aspen/Telluride/Jackson for a week because I didn't need glitz to go along with my skiing. You pay a premium for glitz, not for the skiing itself. Edited February 12, 2014 by jordan 4 Quote
toast21602 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 $2600?!? I could go on a baller trip for that... And not to CO. 3 Quote
GSSucks Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Well Jordan for us east coasters who have to fly out west or drive to Vermont the per day cost is expensive. For example my 8 night/7 day trip to Jackson hole was $1300ish including airfare lift tickets and lodging...add in food and après ski, ground transportation and airport parking and at $2k easily so per day cost is $300. $2,000 is not alot of money for me, heck I drop $300+ spending money per week just living in Allentown but for those on a tight budget or with kids it's alot. For my Colorado skifari looking at. Airfare-$300 Baggage-$120 Airport parking -$100 Rental car-$200 7 nights lodging-$700 6 days skiing-$500 Food and drink-$500 Gas-$100 Marijuana-$100 $2600 for 6 days of skiing per day over $400....whatever...what use does that money have in my bank account. Can just make more money when I return. With the mountain collective pass don't you only get two days of skiing at Jackson hole? Could cut that in half if you lost 50-80 lbs, bring on the diet thread!! 3 Quote
jordan Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 With the mountain collective pass don't you only get two days of skiing at Jackson hole? 2 days plus 50% off the window rate after you use the 2 days Quote
toast21602 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 You are not 220lbs... Anyway... Snowbladez are popular, eh? 1 Quote
AngryHugo Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 Bring a scale to blue and I'll strip down to my boxers In my 40+ years on this planet, I've seen a lot of horrible things. This would be one of them. 5 Quote
Johnny Law Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 You can do it cheap too. Reading to VT Gas = $120 but less if your willing to siphon Hotel = 0 sleep in your car Ticket = 0 forge old ski school letters from a mtn your cousin worked at 10 years ago Food = 0 bring lots and lots of PBJ sandwiches and supplment with roadkill Drink = take an idea from Patches O' Houlihan/Bear Grylls and drink your own piss Weed = bring from home Seriously though everything is on the decline because people suck and are boring. Monday morning ask your shitty co workers what they did this weekend. You get a bunch of nothings and tv, tv's cool I like tv but nobody has hobbies anymore. How many of you have heard again ? When telling people you went skiing. Yeah shit head, I'm not a fat fuck who spends all their time jerking off to episodes of the Vanilla Ice Project while stuffing my face with foods more engineered than the fucking Holland tunnel. I go outside which I know is really strange, I should probably take after you and all your fat fucking face neighbors who are throwing away existence on a glowing 40" box and Dorito infused tacos....... 8 Quote
toast21602 Posted February 12, 2014 Report Posted February 12, 2014 You can do it cheap too. Reading to VT Gas = $120 but less if your willing to siphon Hotel = 0 sleep in your car Ticket = 0 forge old ski school letters from a mtn your cousin worked at 10 years ago Food = 0 bring lots and lots of PBJ sandwiches and supplment with roadkill Drink = take an idea from Patches O' Houlihan/Bear Grylls and drink your own piss Weed = bring from home Seriously though everything is on the decline because people suck and are boring. Monday morning ask your shitty co workers what they did this weekend. You get a bunch of nothings and tv, tv's cool I like tv but nobody has hobbies anymore. How many of you have heard again ? When telling people you went skiing. Yeah shit head, I'm not a fat fuck who spends all their time jerking off to episodes of the Vanilla Ice Project while stuffing my face with foods more engineered than the fucking Holland tunnel. I go outside which I know is really strange, I should probably take after you and all your fat fucking face neighbors who are throwing away existence on a glowing 40" box and Dorito infused tacos....... hahaha so true. lets stare at the tv, computer, ipad, phone all weekend. sounds fun. stfu and go do something. 2 Quote
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