Mind the Wealth Gap

By Katie Brinton

In a 1996 issue of SAM, founding publisher David Rowan opined, “As we struggle to understand our industry’s future—the mandate for NSAA’s convention ... in May—we must grasp more than the mechanical projection of ethnic and other demographic statistics. We must also come to grips with the things that are shaking up a lot of the comfortable assumptions we grew up with and assumed almost as our birthright.” 

The comfortable assumptions he refers to are those that have long under-pinned the middle class: “the surety that you would earn more next year, that your kids would do better than you, just as you had done better than your parents.” 

The gap. Only, the middle class, which boomed in the post-war period (1947-1973), has been in decline since the ’70s. From 1973-1994, the rich got richer while everyone else got poorer: only the top one-fifth of the population saw their share of wealth grow in that period. 

And, well, here we are again. Or rather, here we remain. The wealth gap has continued to grow. From 1990-2022, the top 20 percent of Americans saw their share of wealth increase, with much of that growth consolidated in the top 1 percent of earners. The remaining 80 percent of Americans saw their share of wealth decline, according to Federal Reserve data.

The 60 percent of earners between the top and bottom quintile—i.e., the middle class—have seen their total share of wealth fall from 37 percent to 26 percent in the last three decades. 

What does that mean for the ski industry? Rowan asked the same question in 1996. “It is hard to say definitively,” he wrote. “If truth be known, the sport was probably always fueled by the participation of people enjoying incomes in the top quintile, or 20 percent, of the spectrum. … As pointed out, skiing has always been expensive. But there may have been an attitudinal difference when the middle class was alive and well.”

We know the economy affects consumer confidence. Rising costs, driven by inflation, were top of mind for voters in November. And while the consumer confidence index (CCI) has been mostly on the rise after taking a dive early in 2024, consumers remain wary about the future and their economic prospects, according to the most recent (at press time) Consumer Confidence Survey. 

With looming economic concerns, will folks still spend money to ski and ride? It’s true that our high-income participant is better insulated than most against economic flux, people still spend on luxury items even in a downturn, and, usually, snow plays a bigger role in our skier visit numbers than the economy.

The risks. But, as Rowan noted, “…there are probably some downsides to becoming so dependent on the super-rich.” The super rich, he said, often prefer work to play, and have many choices competing for their cash. “Our industry will also have to be alert to whatever downside there may be to having the sport increasingly identified as an elitist sport,” he warned. “It is a gnarly image to manage.”

Are we managing it? That’s up for debate. Visit any snowsports-obsessed corner of the internet to find a litany of consumer complaints and talking-head thought pieces about the cost and accessibility of U.S. skiing and riding. (Is this one of them? It’s sure looking that way.) 

While Covid gave us an opportunity to increase spending (interestingly, wealth for the typical U.S. family surged during the pandemic, although that growth has since reversed, according to the Pew Research Center), the rising cost of a day ticket is pricing out the everyman. And if we are relying on the 1 percent to fill the till and our participant pipeline, well, as Rowan suggested, there are some risks to that strategy. 

Signs of change are on the horizon, with some operations making moves that might indicate a growing concern about pricing as a barrier to entry.

Jay Peak, Vt., froze or rolled-back pricing on hundreds of products this season. “There’s something to be said, we think, to acknowledging the problems our guests are facing and responding in a way we’d want a business that we consider part of our lives to act,” said GM Steve Wright. 

Jay Peak-owner PGRI has also done a price freeze for Ragged Mountain, N.H., and offers a “Mission Affordable Pass” at all its areas. In Colorado, Loveland and Ski Cooper also implemented price freezes. 

Sugarbush, Vt., offered a deeply discounted, unrestricted all-mountain lift ticket for $99 that included a bonus day later in the season. Red Lodge Mountain, Mont., launched Any Pass Days, two-for-one lift tickets for passholders from any ski area, worldwide, on select days. 

Alterra offered a “kids ski free” week in December. It was a mostly midweek offer in early season and, of course, a ticketed adult would need to accompany the 12-and-under crowd. Nonetheless, we hope it was widely successful.

Antelope Butte, Wyo., went all-in on kids this winter with free season passes for anyone under 18. 

While the success of these efforts has yet be measured, the effort is there. And that’s reason for optimism. 

“Despite what some may see as the underlying gloom of my concerns in these musings, I would say the ski industry can be well positioned for the future—if we learn to change and adapt,” said Rowan.

It’s a good sentiment, so we’ll leave him with the last word.

The Enduring Impact of the Baby Boomers 

By Rick Kahl

Wonder who’s been keeping the lift lines full? Look no further than the baby boomers, as has been the case for most of the past 50 years. Initially, the boomers were introduced to skiing in the 1960s and their sprawling numbers helped fuel the industry’s rapid growth. By the 1980s, they were introducing their Gen X and millennial kids to snowsports.

Back in 1996, SAM predicted that boomers “will dominate population growth in the twenty-first century, especially among the most affluent segments. ... The future of skiing depends on keeping baby boomers on the slopes while introducing their children to the sport.”

Well, mission accomplished.

Recent thinking was that boomers had remained important for bringing their grandkids into snowsports. While true, in the past few years, they have done more than that: they’ve kept themselves on the slopes, and with greater frequency. According to NSAA’s Kottke End of Season & Guest Experience Report, boomers accounted for 15 percent of visits in 2023-24, up from 12 percent in 2020-21 and on par with 2018-19.

At some point, boomers—the oldest of whom will turn 80 in another year—will finally drop out of snowsports. They have postponed their departure far longer than many observers expected 10 or 15 years ago. But time catches up with all of us eventually.

Then what?

A Participation Cliff?

By Rick Kahl

The Growth Committee, set up during Kelly Pawlak’s tenure as president of NSAA, had the right idea. Get smart people in a room and figure out how to keep a healthy pipeline of future skiers and snowboarders. The pandemic sidelined their efforts for a while, but there is renewed interest to get back to the task, and there are pressing reasons to do so, namely troubling data trends. 

Growth Committee co-chair Dave Belin told SAM, “The data is clear, we are underperforming in the under-25 demographic, and we need to fix that—or at least start by understanding why we are losing youth and teens in our sport.” The under-25 group comprised 40 percent of skiing and riding visits in 2013-14, but just 34 percent in 2023-24.

This demographic is, by far, the largest source of newcomers to snowsports. It would seem that future-proofing our sports by feeding the pipeline with these newbies should be a major focus of the Growth Committee.

Another key sign: Lesson volume is down nearly 25 percent from 2013-14. Children’s lessons, a key part of the pipeline, are down nearly 20 percent. The short story is that lessons dropped nearly 50 percent during the pandemic, and have not fully rebounded. 

In speaking with operators anecdotally, another concern is determining what portion of the 2022-23 ski/ride population (which NSAA estimates at 11.6 million) dropped out in 2023-24 (down to an estimated 10.6 million). Was it just a regional thing tied to snow, particularly the lack of it? Was it lower-level skiers/riders and beginners? The latter might help explain the drop in snowsports school customers.

Given the importance of this total-participants data point, the Growth Committee is exploring how to get this metric moving in a positive direction again.

Incoming NSAA president Michael Reitzell said part of his focus will be to take the data NSAA produces and dig into why we are seeing declines (total participants, especially younger participants, should be atop the agenda), and then determine what we can do about them (see “Meet Mike” on p. 68). This makes a lot of sense. Data is just numbers until you understand the why and how to apply it to your business.

2024 Terrain Park Contest Winners

By Jordyn Bremer

The SAM Terrain Park Contest started back in 2005 as “What’s in Your Park?” and included only terrain park features. It has since evolved to also celebrate terrain park events, videos, and the crews doing the work. 

The goal of this annual contest is to showcase the innovation and creativity of park builders, offering fresh ideas and inspiration for terrain park programs around the globe. It also gives the entries valuable exposure throughout the public voting period and beyond. While votes play an important role, they’re just one way to evaluate what makes a standout feature, event, edit, or crew.

The 13 features submissions included a “Jibstrument” where riders can play their own tune each time they ride over it, and a satellite dish turned into a roulette wheel. There were 24 event entries ranging from rail jams, banked slaloms, fundraisers, women-only gatherings, and kids-only competitions. We also had nine park edits and 14 crews in the mix. Creativity, ambition, progression, and community were themes in all.

Again this year we enlisted the help of The Summit at Snoqualmie (Wash.) terrain park groomer Jess Goucher, who utilized her aptitude for the written word to ready many of the submissions for publication.

Prinoth provided the prize package for category winners, plus a free registration to Cutter’s Camp for a crewmember at the resort that garnered the most votes across all categories.

More than 1,700 votes were cast online during a roughly 30-day voting period. This year’s category winners truly highlight the incredible work happening across the industry. So, without further ado, here are the winning entries in each category: 

Feature: The Volcano, Loon Mountain Resort, N.H.

Event: Urban Air, Idaho Potato Drop, Tamarack Resort, Idaho

Edit: “Crotched Parks, January in Review,” Crotched Mountain, N.H.

Crew: Woodward Eldora Park Crew, Eldora Mountain, Colo.

Congrats to our winners and to all who entered. We look forward to an even bigger showing in 2025. Check out all the 2024 entries online at saminfo.com/terrain-park-contest.

SUPPLIER NEWS

Italy-based DEMACLENKO named Diego Facchinetti as the new general manager for Demaclenko North America, which serves the Canadian and U.S. markets. 

Sweden-based HESTRA GLOVES appointed James Hampton president of its North America division. Dino Dardano retired after 20 years in the role. 

SNOW PARTNERS promoted Jackie Cerra to marketing blazer and Doug Olson to executive director of the Hession Foundation.

Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, Nev., hired SNOWBALL EFFECT to engage local youth year-round and make a positive impact in northern Nevada.

PEOPLE 

In the West, Chris Ingham was appointed VP of operations for Breckenridge Resort, Colo. … JD Critchon is now VP and GM of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Colo. ... Steamboat Resort, Colo., hired Josh Miller as lodging operations director. ... Big Sky Resort, Mont., promoted Tom Marshall to general manager, mountain experience. … Jeff Schmidt has retired as Red Lodge Mountain, Mont., GM. … Tamarack Resort, Idaho, named Kara Finley as COO. … at Brundage, Idaho, Todd Armstrong is now CFO, Rachel Wessel is director of employee services, Rebecca Repp is F&B director, and Lilly Davies is mountain sports school director. 

In California, Northstar California named Tara Schoedinger VP and GM. … Mountain High promoted Katie Hartnell to chief technology officer and Rose Reinhardt to director of risk management. … Troy Cohee was promoted to China Peak GM. … Dodge Ridge promoted Bret Rimmer to lift operations supervisor, Kevin Liljedahl to vehicle maintenance manager, and Lisa Sandberg to F&B manager. … Bear Valley promoted Fred Ackerman to patrol director, Max McCormick to director of retail and rental, Emily Kay to ski and snowboard school manager, Kaylie Diaz to rental supervisor, Alec Barberi to head of facilities, parking, snow removal, and shuttles, Josiah Camacho to director of F&B for the village and resort, Jeremy Rodegard to vehicle maintenance manager, and Brad Cumberland to GM. … Kevin Somes was promoted to director of compliance for California Mountain Resort Company.

In the East, Mike Giorgio is now VP and GM of Stowe Mountain Resort, Vt. ... Deirdre Riley was named GM of Crotched Mountain, N.H. … Mt. Abram, Maine, hired Josh Thompson as GM. … Attitash GM Brandon Swartz is now also general manager of Wildcat Mountain, N.H. … Lea Gabrielle Potts is the new VP and GM of Mount Snow, Vt.

In Canada, Dave Morrison was named as CEO of Mica Heliskiing. 

Boyne Resorts promoted Stacie Harris to VP of communications. … Bo Bigelow was named executive director of the Midwest Ski Areas Association. … The Vermont Ski Areas Association hired Becca Munkelwitz as marketing and partnerships manager. ... Ski California named John Rice president and CEO.

Internationally, Josh Elliot was named CEO of the Australian Ski Areas Association. … Hanazono Resort, Japan, hired Justin Downes as president. 

AWARDS

Wes Kryger, president of Greek Peak Mountain Resort, N.Y., was inducted into the SKI NY Hall of Fame for his contributions to the SKI NY association and the New York ski industry.

John Fagan, an attorney who has worked with every California and Nevada ski resort, was honored with the Ski California Bob Roberts Award of Excellence for outstanding service to the industry. 

Loam Pass recognized MTB pass partners with its inaugural Crankbrothers Riders’ Choice awards. Among the ski areas recognized were, Mt. Bachelor, Ore.; Timberline Lodge, Ore.; Tamarack Resort, Idaho; Angel Fire, N.M.; Woodward Park City, Utah; Woodward Tahoe, Calif.; Spirit Mountain, Minn.; Marquette Mountain, Mich.; Bryce Resort, Va.; Burke Mountain, Vt.; Bolton Valley, Vt.; and Killington Resort, Vt. 

OBITUARIES

Wachusett Mountain, Mass., co-owner and ski industry leader David Crowley died Nov. 20. He was 69. Crowley succumbed to a rare degenerative neurological disease called progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP. He was diagnosed several years ago. There is no known cure