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Defying the snowboard slide

Numbers say sport still in free fall, but not necessarily at DMR

The two skier kids had hit the proverbial wall and were sprawled playfully in the snow, at the feet of their snowboarding dad.

Don Bader stood alone there at the bottom of a run at Durango Mountain Resort on Saturday. And while a new report indicates that Bader may, indeed, be alone – or close to it – as a snowboarder these days, all indications are that snowboarding numbers are at the very least just leveling off, not continuing to plummet, at least at DMR.

The demographics, too, may be changing. Consider the Baders. The two children who accompanied Don Bader to DMR on Saturday – his 10-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter – have been members of area ski teams since they were young, along with Bader’s other child – a 16-year-old son. They don’t snowboard. Don Bader, 52, does. That’s a turnaround from how skiing and snowboarding were perceived not that long ago: kids snowboard, older adults ski.

“One of the reasons I took (snowboarding) up was to get ahead of the curve with my kids. But they really haven’t been that interested (in snowboarding),” said Don Bader, who said he skied for about 40 years before turning to snowboarding. “For me, skiing all these years and then picking up a board allows me to see the other side. There are still a lot of snowboarders. I know a lot of people who do both. I hadn’t been aware of that (dwindling snowboarding numbers). Overall, it’s not noticeable.”

Reports of a continued transition from snowboarding to skiing are nothing new. Just over a year ago, The Durango Herald reported that snowboarding participation had dropped 4.5 percent during the previous five years, while skiing had grown 6.7 percent. And snowboarders had fallen to 30 percent of resort visitors in 2011-12, down from a peak of 33 percent in 2009-10.

Last week, The Associated Press reported that the decline in snowboarding continued last season, with snowboarders making up just under 28 percent of visitors to U.S. resorts, down from about 31 percent the year before, according to the Kottke National End of Season Survey for 2013-14. Snowboard sales dropped 25 percent since their peak in 2008-09, while ski sales rose 1.5 percent during that time, according SnowSports Industries of America data. An average of 5 million snowboarders and 6.8 million skiers took part in the sports between 2010 and 2013, according to the AP story.

DMR – “Purgatory” – doesn’t track the number of snowboarders or skiers who visit the resort each year, but there are numbers that would indicate that snowboarding is, at the very least, holding its own at DMR.

“We have Snowburners – an eight-week program for kids (ages 3-12) – snowboard lessons and ski lessons. We saw an increase in kids who enrolled in Snowburners over the last year,” said Kim Oyler, director of communications at DMR. “And the advanced All-Terrain Pioneers (ages 7-14) – it was the same as last year, which is good news. And we just added Burton Riglet Park, which is a learning center for young snowboarders ages 3-7 to get the feeling of sliding on snow with a snowboard, and with an instructor. It’s a great area to learn to snowboard. It’s controlled, but fun – a playground-type setting.”

Changes in technology have been attributed, in part, to snowboarding’s slide in recent years as younger skiers turned to modern twin-tip skis and fatter skis that make skiing easier and more versatile. But, according to Oyler, snowboarding also is starting to embrace that more user-friendly technology.

“Technology is changing. Snowboard manufacturers are making smaller boards now that are perfect for kids,” she said. “Young kids are able to learn at a younger age.

“I think it’s leveled off,” Oyler added of the reported decline of snowboarding numbers, “but I don’t think it’s declining at Purg.”

Eric Williamsen of Ski Barn in Durango, which rents both skis and snowboards, said the store is still renting snowboards on a fairly regular basis, and that if there has been a decrease in snowboarding numbers this year, it might be attributed to mediocre snow conditions, at least as of late, with temperatures in the 50s this week. Still, on Tuesday, he rented a board to someone who was Purg-bound.

“People are still renting them, getting into the sport,” said Williamsen, who said he’s been working at Ski Barn for about a year. “But Colorado is getting into skiing. It’s easier in powder (than snowboarding). Purg is a traverse mountain. It’s flat. A lot more people are skiing.”

Williamsen, 25, said he is a regular skier. He’s tried snowboarding a few years ago, but prefers skis strapped to his boots.

Brice Covington, 21, said he skied for a couple of years as a child, but switched to snowboarding when he was 11, near the height of the snowboarding rage, and hasn’t looked back. A cook at Dante’s restaurant at DMR, he’s on his board at Purg most every day. And he says he’s not alone,

“This season, and in (recent) seasons at Purg, the younger kids are starting to pick it up,” Covington said. “I have a few friends who are transitioning (from snowboarding to skiing). Snowboarding is tougher than skiing. I think it’s a lot of the reason why people are making the transition.”

Although mostly a snowboarder, Bader still skis from time to time. But for him, snowboarding is the easier of the two, and kids aren’t the only benefactors of that.

“Learning to snowboard is easier,” he said. “You can pick it up quicker. And there’s quite a number of people my age or 10 years younger who snowboard. There are some dedicated snowboarders there. I rarely see little kids (snowboarding). It’s mostly adults.”

A skier, Oyler didn’t try snowboarding for the first time until this winter.

“I’ll definitely take another couple of lessons,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll be a total convert. It’s just one more way to get outside at Purgatory.”

bpeterson@durangoherald.com



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