Skiing gets a second life.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS biz

BEEN SKIING YET THIS SEASON? THEN YOU MIGHT have already noticed something's different: There aren't as many snowboarders zooming clown the slopes.

A sport that seemed to be on an unstoppable growth track now seems to be declining. Just over 30 percent of U.S. ski resort visits came From snowboarders last season. compared with 32,1; percent in the 2009-20111 season, according to an industry survey by the National Ski Areas Association. The average number of days snowboarders hit the slopes has dropped to 6.1 per season Iron) record of 7.6 in the sport's late 1990s heyday. NSAA says. And-cover your ears, Shaun White there's a generational tilt: A report by skiing industry analyst RRC Associates found the percentage of children under 14 who start on snowboards hit a low of 34 percent last season. compared with a peak of 42 percent during the 2003-04 season.

It's a trend line Mark Neel has seen firsthand, both as the lather of a 15-year-old daughter and the longtime owner of an independent toning goods shop in downtown Castle Rock. Castle Rock Bike and Ski.

"Five years ago, almost all of my daughter's friends were snow boarders," Neel says. "Now it's more like 50-50." Neel sees the shift reflected both in retail sales and in equipment rentals, with a rising number of younger customers now choosing skis over hoards. "Snowboarding as an industry pretty much peaked in 2009. he says.

That's stark realization Ito a category that seemed to almost single-handedly reinvigorate the skiing industry by attracting big numbers of what Neel calls "non-traditional to the slopes starting 20 years ago. But it's a trend line that now has ski industry executives on watch.

"Today, there is every indication that the growth in snowboarding we took for granted has stalled, and visitation from snowboarding is headed toward a path of substantial decline." wrote Nate Fristor of RRC Associates in a much-quoted report published last fall.

Ski industry analysts have lots of thoughts about why snowboarding may be running out of momentum, and many of them are cultural: The first generation of boarders has grown up, the sport has lost sonic of its rebel luster, and women in particular are abandoning boarding as they age.

Those may be valid contributors, but another big Factor has to do with...