It’s Sunday Jan. 6, 2013 and just over 150 airline employees from all over the country are descending upon Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the North American Airline Ski Federation Ski Week. This is the first of four to be held this season. Karen and I are coming from Phoenix and decide to take the easiest option through SLC. We travel “space available” and both legs are wide open. We even get First Class on the short flight from SLC and are met by a cowgirl passing out free mimosas in the JAC terminal. I just love it when a plan comes together!
Sales of snowboards and snowboard equipment have slipped 21% over the last four years, while sales of skis have climbed 3% in the same period, according to SnowSports Industries America, a trade group that tracks the $3.5-billion snow sports and apparel industry.
Baby boomers aren’t the only ones bailing. Last season alpine skiing replaced snowboarding as the most popular snow sport among kids ages 6 to 17, according to the trade group. That’s the first time in nearly a decade and a troubling sign for snowboard makers battling for a key demographic.
Loosely based on The Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing, Third Edition, by Bob Barnes, this project presents a brief and concise glossary of many common skiing and ski teaching concepts, including both contemporary and historical terms. It is by no means a complete list. For more in-depth coverage of these terms and many more, see the original Complete Encyclopedia, currently available in PDF e-book format through EpicSki.com. In addition to brief definitions, this glossary includes a few explanatory images, as well as specific links to the ever-growing collection of video clips in my Vimeo.com channel, “The Complete Encyclopedia of Skiing.”
From discounts to rentals to special programs, there are ways for families to save.
“Too old” and “too expensive” are two of the main reasons people choose to stay away from ski and snowboard slopes. Not much can be done about aging, but lots can be done with respect to the cost of skiing and/or snowboarding.
True, skiing and snowboarding can be expensive if an individual chooses to pay top dollar for equipment, passes, lessons, fashionable attire and midday lunches. A little planning, especially for locals, however, can cut out-of-pocket expenses considerably. Among the tricks are buying discount passes, looking into season rentals and package programs, and visiting areas with kids-ski-snowboard-free programs.
Happy New Year from all the hard working folks at the DSJ WHQ. Hope 2012 was good to you and everyone is enjoying a great holiday season. And speaking of another year in going down in the books, we dug this little gem of ski chronology from a past issue of Ski Magazine. It has several fun items of interest…