Selling the nonski slopes

Resorts pursue a sledding, hiking, snowshoeing clientele

January 31, 2008|Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - On a recent Saturday, Cully Gustafson was racing down a slope on a Hammerhead sled - a new piece of equipment that sports bicycle-like handlebars and a springy mesh seat - on his first trip to Tenney Mountain resort.

"I haven't skied in a couple years," said the 46-year-old from Plymouth, Mass. "No time now with kids."

With lifestyles so jam-packed and high-priced, fewer people are sinking time and money into skiing or snowboarding. So several New England resorts this season are trying to squeeze more money out of skiers and snowboarders while also luring people who otherwise would not set foot on the slopes by dedicating small sections of their mountains to easier-to-learn, cheaper activities such as sledding, snowshoeing, and winter hiking. After all, a day of skiing or snowboarding can easily cost $90 at popular mountains, while snowshoeing and cross-country skiing can be as little as $30.

"This is revitalizing the ski operation," said Kirk Nassetta, a partner with White Mountain Exploration, which took over operations at Tenney in June and has also introduced snowshoeing and snow-cave construction this winter.

The steep expense and learning curve of skiing and snowboarding deterred 17-year-old Samantha Claussen, who recently skimmed down a Tenney slope in a doughnut-shaped snowtube. The Derry, N.H., student is so busy with bell choir, karate, and seven other extracurricular activities that she raches the slopes only once a year. "If I spent the money to take lessons, I'd have it only for one day and I'd forget it all by next year," she said.

Claussen isn't alone. The US population of downhill skiers has declined 17 percent since 2001, with the number of skiers ages 7 and older who hit the slopes more than once during the calendar year totaling only 6.4 million in 2006, according to the National Sporting Goods Association. The snowboarding population also has slid 17 percent since 2003, turning out only 5.2 million boarders in 2006.

David Belin, director of RRC Associates, a ski and snowboard industry consultant in Boulder, Colo., said participation in physically intense downhill skiing has been blown back by the popularity of other leisure activities and destinations, the aging baby boomer population, and perhaps even by the increasing numbers of obese children.

The number of times skiers and snowboarders visited the Northeast's 139 ski areas last winter fell 5.6 percent from the 2005-2006 season to 11.8 million, the fewest in more than a decade, according to the National Ski Areas Association.