YOUR AD HERE »

Snowboarding slows, but still outpaces skiing

Allen Best

DENVER – The growth of snowboarding continues to slow, although it still outpaces the growth in skiing.



From growth rates of 21 percent at the turn of the century, the pace slowed to 11 percent and this year is expected to slow to 5 percent, according to Nolan Rosall, of the Boulder-based research firm, RRC Associates. Still, that growth rate will push snowboarding to more than 31 percent of all visits to the nation’s ski hills this season.

“That is still pretty solid growth,” he told The Denver Post. “It will be higher than growth in skier visits. But it’s certainly not at the rates we saw 10 years ago.”

Support Local Journalism



Sale of snowboards has dropped off even more, from 30 to 40 percent gains during the late 1990s to just 4 percent for each of the last three years, according to annual surveys by SnowSports Industries America, a trade group.

Vail Resorts’ Bill Jensen reports a 50-50 mix of skiers and snowboarders at the company’s five ski resorts.

Lake Tahoe can expect 35-foot waves

LAKE TAHOE – It’s happened in the past, so it will probably happen again. An earthquake of magnitude 7 will hit Lake Tahoe, as has happened several times during the past 10,000 years.

An earthquake of that force will generate waves of up to 33 feet high, said professor Rich Swichert at a well-attended lecture sponsored by the Squaw Valley Institute. The Tahoe World reports that Swichert advised listeners not to rush out for disaster insurance. Only in geological terms are Tahoe’s earthquakes frequent.

Friction in plans for Revelstoke resort

REVELSTOKE, B.C. Ð Revelstoke Mayor Mark McKee acted swiftly in late April to calm what appeared to be a deteriorating situation regarding the potential development of the municipal ski hill, Mount Mackenzie, into a major resort.

“There was some posturing going on and some potential lawsuits,” he told the Revelstoke Times Review.

The newspaper interviewed a one-time principal in the proposed resort development, Russ Powadiuk, but also acknowledged legal saber rattling in a complex case. Cause of the dispute was not evident.

McKee inspected eight resorts in the Alps, returning to British Columbia espousing the virtues of essentially car-less resorts.


Support Local Journalism