Ski Press World Inc. - Index

Ski Press World Inc. - SIA Day 1 - Index

Photo: Courtesy of Orage/Skier: Phil Casabon
cover story
34 SNOWPRESS DAY 1 skipressworld.com/snowpress
One Family;
Many Challenges
ONE FAMILY. ONE HOUSE. THAT’S THE THEME OF SIA.08, AND RIGHTLY SO. WHAT
HAPPENS TO ONE SEGMENT OF SNOWSPORTS — SKIING, SNOWBOARDING,
SNOWSHOEING — CAN HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON THE OTHERS. AND FOR
SNOWSPORTS TO THRIVE IN COMPETITION WITH VIDEO GAMES, MALLS AND
ENDLESS BUFFET LINES, THEY NEED TO DO SO AS ONE LIKE-MINDED CLAN.
Given that snowsports fi t the physical, emotional and aspirational needs of so many different
demographics — from Boomers to Xers to Nexters — we have the capability to reach entire
families with our messages of fun, fi tness and beautiful outdoor living.
Using the 2007 SIA Intelligence Report as a blueprint, we built a profi le of three fi ctional
families that ski, snowboard or snowshoe together. While they may seem different on the
surface, their needs are very similar. Meeting those needs can help us all build a better
snowsports future for everyone.
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS, OR KNOW YOU NEIGHBORS?
Picture a nice tract of exurbia in a nice state, near a nice range of mountains with lots of
very nice ski areas. Three nice four-person families live there in comfortable, nice houses.
Each year when autumn rolls around, their bikes and golf clubs and soccer gear all get
cleaned and stored away for the winter. Alpine skis, snowboards, snowshoes, cross-country
skis and other winter gear are brought out of closets, waxed, sharpened, checked all over
and evaluated to determine whether everything’s a go for another season or whether it’s
time to go shopping. Most years it’s time to go shopping.
Sound too good to be true? That’s because each of these families is a fi ve-percenter. That
means they belong to that roughly fi ve percent of Americans that actually participated in
some kind of winter sports last year.
Let’s repeat that for those of you who skimmed right past it. Only fi ve percent of all Americans
participate in winter sports! And that includes all winter sports, not just skiing, snowboarding,
cross-country skiing and wandering about on snowshoes. That level of participation, culled from
2006 data, represents fewer participants than the prior year. The numbers are going down. �
Photo: Courtesy of Burton/Owen
Photo: Courtesy of Mountain Hardwear/John Kelly