gorilla 0 Posted March 10, 2002 Share Posted March 10, 2002 ....in favor or SKIERS. According to someone who works at Iwappara. My Japanese friend has a mate who has a condo at iwappara and goes every weekend. He was talking to someone over there who works on the ski hill and says that this year there seems to be a reversal in the trend, albeit small, with the number of skiers increasing. What d'ya know? Seems the other way round to me at other places I have been to (haven't been to Iwappara ever...), but will be interesting to see how this turns out. The return of a ski boom??? Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 10, 2002 Share Posted March 10, 2002 Nah, it's the onset of apartheit. Skiers are congregating at certain resorts to get away from all those boarders who 'keep falling over' (boarders keep falling over because there are so many new ones, and you do fall over a lot the first season). Soon there will boarders' resorts and a handful of skiers' resorts. What d'you think, gorilla? Link to post Share on other sites
gorilla 0 Posted March 10, 2002 Author Share Posted March 10, 2002 Dont know Ocean11. Will be interesting to know how the figures are at resorts this season. Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted March 11, 2002 Share Posted March 11, 2002 Interesting. I would have thought the trend was the complete opposite. In reality, it probably is. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted March 11, 2002 Share Posted March 11, 2002 I dunno, I have spent this whole season (my first) boarding. But now I am getting a bit sick of it. Its such a pain getting in and out of your bindings everytime you go thru a ski lift. So I am thinking about going back to skiing next season, maybe getting some of those short skis so I can still do jumps and stuff. Theres also something a bit tragic about snowboarding and its hip image, but I cant quite put my finger on it. At the same time though, some skiers look diabolical in their garish pink and purple shellsuits. I think as you get older skiing seems more appropriate. When I see guys in the late 30s on boards it looks kinda lame in the same way as when I see guys in the late 30s wearing teenage fashions. So my point is, I think it is possible that people are thinking in the same way as me - kind of maturing beyond snowboarding as they get older. Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted March 12, 2002 Share Posted March 12, 2002 Interesting you should say that bobby12...how long were you skiing before you turned last season? Link to post Share on other sites
cal 6 Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Went out for some beers last night in Tokyo and one of my Japanese colleagues introduced me to his friend who worked in the sports retail business. Said that this season has seen a relative drop in the sales of snowboards and a relative increase in sales. Put a bit more simply - ratio of skis/snowboards sold has shifted in favor this year in favor of the 2 planks. Whether this guy knows anything or not is another matter. Interesting anyhow hey? Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 I haven't noticed a significant number of beginner skiers this year. As ever, you see more far more little kids on skis than on boards, but among adults, there seem to be far more beginner boarders. What we may have is a significant decrease in people taking up skiing and snowboarding as a whole. A lot of the skiers who go out are die-hard enthusiasts who've been skiing for years. Such people are not likely to give up soon, so if the number of new people going out fails to cover the number of had-enough-after-two/three-seasons-types, the proportion of skiers will increase, even if the actual number of skiers does not. Link to post Share on other sites
Ocean11 0 Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 What gets sold may actually bear no relation to who is doing what at the gelende too. It could be that the board market was saturated last year, and it will take a while before people need new ones. Skiers may simply be upgrading now because new developments in skis attract them (gosh, the handles on these stocks are excellent, I must have a set!) Link to post Share on other sites
kobet 0 Posted March 28, 2002 Share Posted March 28, 2002 From what I have seen there seems to be another increase in the number of snowboarders again this season, not the other way round. Anyone have any stats? Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted March 29, 2002 Share Posted March 29, 2002 From what I've seen its another increase in favor or boarders this season Link to post Share on other sites
Thunder Birdz 0 Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 The other day at Kagura I would say that it was 70% boarder / 30% skiers. Very few people there - almost empty. Link to post Share on other sites
miteyak 0 Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 From what I saw this season, skiing is on the rise, but most of my sliding was early and late season, so more popular with the die-hards. Telemarking definitely on the rise, though, not a trip went past without seeing at least one other 'marker! Link to post Share on other sites
oo 1 Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 Fun skis are pretty "in" this season as well. Link to post Share on other sites
barok 0 Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 . . . lousy snowlerbladers . . . Link to post Share on other sites
SamuRye 0 Posted May 12, 2002 Share Posted May 12, 2002 Any end of season stats on this at all? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted May 13, 2002 Share Posted May 13, 2002 Probably been said before but I reckon boarders are still on the increase generally. Must be more than 50% of the total riding population by now. Link to post Share on other sites
sachiko 0 Posted July 2, 2002 Share Posted July 2, 2002 In my newspaper there was article about season number of skia and snowboarda. It said quite same as year before in general for all of Japan. Link to post Share on other sites
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