According to the results, snowboarders can ride without restrictions at the vast majority (94 percent) of resorts in the United States. Only four percent of respondents do not allow snowboarding at all and three percent have restrictions on when or where snowboarders can ride. However, this result is skewed. Of the more than 500 resorts in the United States, we know of eight–less than two percent of the total–that don’t allow snowboarding.

Taos, Fiesta Snow Play, and Cloudcraft in New Mexico, Aspen Mountain in Colorado, Perfect North Slopes in Indiana, Appalachian Ski Mountain in North Carolina, and Alta and Deer Valley in Utah are the last remaining holdouts.

The ratio of snowboarders to skiers continues to narrow, with resorts reporting that on average 26.2 percent of their ’97/98-season visitors were snowboarders, a sixteen-percent jump compared to last year.

In the SNOWboarding Business survey, the Pacific West continued to lead the way in the percentage of snowboarders compared to skiers:

Resorts predict that in five years, 37.9 percent of their visitors will be snowboarders–an increase of seven percent compared to what they predicted last year. When it comes estimations on the percentage of snowboarders as total resort guests, the Pacific West resorts outpaced those in the rest of the country:

With the continued growth of snowboarding and decline in Alpine sking, it’s hardly surprising that 77 percent of respondents said snowboarding was very important to the overall profitability of their resort, and 22 percent said it was somewhat important. This fact is driving resorts to expand their overall operations to include snowboarding, as we’ll see later in this report.

And where is all this growth coming from? Despite the hype and current demographic statistics from the NSSA and American Sports Data, middle-aged skiers crossing over to snowboarding were not pegged as the primary impetus.

When asked which demographic group was most responsible for the growth of snowboarding last season, 59 percent of respondents said it was teens new to the slopes. Twenty-six percent said it was teens crossing over from skiing, and only eleven percent said it was from guests more than twenty years old crossing over from skiing. Here is the regional breakdown:

With snowboarding pegged as being very important to a resort’s profitabiliy, it continues to be ironic that 57 percent of resorts said they guess or do not track the number of snowboarders at their resort–a ten-percent increase from last year. Other visitor-tracking methods used include on-slope surveys (twenty percent of respondents), ticket-office survey (five percent), lift counts (thirteen percent), and different tickets for snowboarders and skiers (one percent). Generally, larger resorts utilize surveys more often, smaller resort are more likely guess or not track the number of snowboarders.

Unfortunately, this apathetic attitude about tracking guests shows no sign of changing in the future. Sixty percent of respondents say they will not be implementing a tracking system in the next few years (compared to 49 percent last year).

Resorts report that the ratio of male to female snowboarders continues to slowly equalize. This year, resorts estimate that 24 percent of snowboarders were female (The Pacific West led with 30 percent; The Midwest was last with nineteen percent). This number is expected to grow to nearly 34 percent in the next five years, which would bring it in line with the ratio of male to female skiers, which is approxiamtely 60/40.

The Pacific West had the highest concentration of women riders, with nearly 30 percent (up twenty percent from last year). The Midwest brought up the rear with nineteen percent (up nineteen percent from last year).

It is widely believed that if a resort owner and employees snowboard, the resort itself would become more in tune with the sport. CUT line

Forty-two percent of resorts have a snowboard courtesy staff. That’s a sharp decline from the 60 percent reported last year. However, 78 percent of resorts say they have at least one member of the ski patrol on a snowboard–up a whopping 160 percent compared to last year.

On average, 34 percent of resort employees snowboard, up slightly from last year. This percentage varies greatly by region, however. For example, 59 percent of a resort’s staff snowboards in the Pacific West, 37 percent in the Rocky Mountain, and only 24 percent in the Midwest. However, only 23 percent of resort managers/department heads snowboard. Fortunately, 68 percent of resort owners snowboard, up five percent from last year.

According to this year’s survey, 80 percent of resorts say relations between skiers and snowboarders continue to improve (eighteen percent say there’s been no change).

"Having boarders on patrol and courtesy staff spreads the message that the sport is viable and here to stay," says Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia. "Skiers get to know the person on the lift rather than seeing them from afar and making judgments."

However, some resorts say the improved relatioship were not a result of any resort policy. "I think it has nothing to do with our policies, but is more of a result of the fact that there is now a snowboarder in every family that comes here–or at least someone who wants to be a snowboarder," says Butternut Basin in Massachusetts. "Even if their kids are small and don’t snowboard yet, the parents seem to have adopted the idea that ultimately their children may want to snowboard."

However, skiers appear to be grudging in their acceptance of snowboarders. Only 23 percent of resorts say skiers have fully accepted snowboarding (down from 29 percent last year); 69 percent say skiers have partially accepted snowboarding (up ten percent from last year).

"It may not be the boarders that cause conflict," says Holiday Valley Resort in New York. "It’s more a factor of the rebellious age group. It isn’t really much of a problem here, but some of the ‘older’ skiers may be silently wishing they’d go away."

While most resorts say cut skier v. snowboarder problems are miminal or age related, according to Sundance in Utah: "We need help with ski area boundary control where 90 percent of our violations are from snowboarders. Seventy percent of them know the rules yet choose to take a chance and endanger themselves and others."

A few others seem generally fed up: "Skiers are tired of the poor attitudes exhibited on the hill–so is the staff!," says Standing Rock Ski Area in Wisconsin.

Much like last year, resorts generally offer a full range of snowboard-specific services to their sideways-sliding guests. In fact, most categories saw a slight increase compared to last year. Snowboard events, rentals, and lessons are nearly universal.

Services that have been more slow to catch on include: the retail sales of snowboards at resorts, stand-alone snowboard retail shops at resorts, and snowboard-specifc maps. "Too expensive," and "Not neccessary" were the most common comments about these services.

It’s also interesting to compare the number of resorts that offer halfpipes with the number that own a halfpipe grooming machine such as a Pipe Dragon.

Here is a percentage breakdown of resorts that say they offer the following services:

Snowboarding continues to play an increasingly vital role in the health and profitability of the resort industry. With overall resort visitor days remaining flat, snowboarders are generally responsible for softening the financial blow of declining Alpine skier participation. For this, most resorts have done a good job offering snowboard-specific services and events.

The Pacific West continues to have the most progressive outlook regarding the future role of snowboarding at resorts–this is understandable since this region has also seen the greatest concentration of snowboarders on the slopes. The Southeast continues to lag slightly behind the rest of the country in terms of snowboard related trends. However, this past season showed significant growth in both the number of snowboarders and the prevalence of snowboard-specific services at Southeast resorts.

With snowboarding continuing the hover near the top of most sports-participation surveys, and with the flat to dipping number of Alpine skiers, expect to see more (if gradual) resort emphasis on snowboarding in the coming years.