blunted_nose

Second thought: New snowboarder emerging each day, Better then the riders before them, tons of them. they push snowboarding to the next level and the old guys simply cant follow. Name one pioneer of snowboarding that could throw down a triple cork?

Big Foot

That's great that you have a job with a lot of flexibility, most people don't. For the average Ameircan a work week consists of 40 hours between Monday and Friday. This only leaves a total of two days for that individual to partake in a hobby. I, like the average American work a standard Monday through Friday work week. As much as I would love to spend the entire weekend on the mountain (which I have already done multiple times this year), I cannot do it every weekend. Somtimes I am limited to one trip a week, or if something important is going on that weekend I might not even make it to the mountain .

I've been boarding for 12 years, and absolutely love the sport, but let's face it, snowboarding for me is a hobby. Somtimes real life takes precedent over hobbies. If that doesn't make me a "true rider" then so be it, but to me it sounds like your opinion of a "true rider" is someone with no job that just snowboards all day living off their parents and stickin' it to the man. That's not me. I would like to note; however, that I have never given my boss a rimjob.

Maierapril

The people that keep the industry going are the people that are able to AFFORD the products and services that drive the growth of the snowboarding industry, not through the shitty jobs so you speak of that allows you to barely cover the cost of rent let alone be able to purchase the gear and services that companies depend on to thrive through profits.

__________________
Arbor Draft / Union Flite
Stepchild Corporate / Flux Titan
Rossignol Mini / Flux SE

blunted_nose

I know, i was trolling....

trapper

Personally, I would rather a mountain be covered by a bunch of snowboarders than a bunch of skiers, so I would probably be disinclined to agree that fewer snowboarders is a good thing. I never have a problem with other snowboarders, but skiers however, don't even get me started (I'm generalizing here of course, based on personal experiences).

I say our mission is not to weed out the newcomers (of which I sorta am having started only a couple years ago) and instead should be to convert non-riders into riders and skiers into riders to overrun them on the mountain.

itchynscratchy

i should've been more specific...kids as in toddlers/babies.

liner

Sadly it's probably because of the economy. GENERALLY speaking, skiing is still seen as a more fluid classy sport associated with the high/middle class. As big as snowboarding is now, i think it's more casual. A lot if riders I know have good jobs and rude for fun, rather than also getting brought up in those family ski weekends.

Point is, if the upper half if the social class primarily skis, which may be a safe assumption, and all price point are going up, skiing and riding has become significantly more expensive. And if more riders than skiers are opting to spend there money elsewhere, rather than on weekend trips, that'd explain it to me.

Ride as much as you can. It's good for the soul. But the whole ski/snowboard separation hate is just lame nowadays. Who cares if there's more skiers than riders. We're all there tk enjoy the day

trapper

Yeah I know. My comment just stemmed from the fact that I've had many more negative encounters in terms of near crashes, rude behavior, etc directed at me by skiers than snowboarders. At the end of the day, you're right, we're all there to enjoy it and the more demand for snowsports in general, the more likely we are to see new hills open up, places expand, etc. so we'd all benefit.

liner

Oh haha I didn't even see that's was just responding to the article lol.

NightRider2613

Well fuck me, that caused the shitstorm of all shitstorms…..anyway, let me clarify a bit to keep the flames at bay. I wrote the damn thing in the heat of the moment after reading the article and getting pissed at the fact that the author seemed to imply that snowboarding was dying a slow death solely due to the fact that former riders were staying home and slaving behind a desk instead of pursuing their hobby. Don’t know why I got so fired up about a NY Times article, but I guess it has been one of those days.

I think the thing that gets me is that I have plenty of friends that sit around all day in an office, come home, watch t.v. for hours, and then go to bed. Rinse and repeat, and that is their life. I think the bigger issue here is a commentary on the state of leisure activities in this country in general. Stats continue to show that Americans spend much less time pursuing leisure activities and far more time connected to their offices as compared other workers in the industrialized world, especially with the advent of cellphones, computers, pagers, and the like. I think that is what pisses me off. As a country, I think we are a bit too obsessed with our careers to the detriment of our passions, and yes, by extension, our families. Some of my fondest memories are from when I was a kid and my dad and I went skiing at the local mountains. That is what we need to get back to. I work a five day a week, 40 hour job as do most people, but I also make time for my interests. I don’t have any kids, but if I did, I would be taking them with me to the mountain and teaching them how to ride.

We absolutely need to keep more people on the mountain, but we need return visitors more than anything else, not just people that come to try it for the day and never come back. We especially need young people to keep riding but of course that also requires parents that have enough free time to take them to the mountain. I want new people to learn the sport, and gapers will always be gapers, but I just think this is going to be difficult to do in the bullshit, cutthroat, capitalist-competitive paradigm that we live in where workers aren’t paid their fair share, and time off is more of a luxury than a right. As others have noted, this is especially true in this current piece of shit economy where many workers are held hostage by their jobs.

That is what the article was hinting at, it is where my frustration lies, and that is what I was trying to discuss as well. Sorry if I offended, it certainly wasn’t my intent to piss anybody off.