Just because winter is a time to bundle up with extra layers, doesn’t mean all of us are hibernating. Many of us get out and burn calories on the slopes, ice and take part in other outdoor adventures. SIA, the SnowSports Industries America organization, released its 2012 SIA Snow Sports Participation Report. The top finding shows that 6.9 percent of Americans participate in snow sports, and burn 332 million calories while they do it.
Despite the lack of snow in the 2012 winter season, plenty of people found ways to become active. Numbers of people hitting the slopes did see some decline. Snow sports participation fell from 21 million to 19.8 million. An additional 8.8 million people said they considered themselves skiers or snowboarders, but have taken at least two seasons off, primarily due to time constraints.
Alpine ski participation fell 11 percent to 10.2 million. Snowboarding participation declined 8 percent to 7.6 million. Cross country skiing participation fell 5 percent to 4.3 million participants. Alpine skiers and snowboarders made up three-quarters of all snowsports participants. More than half of alpine skiers are concentrated in California, Texas, New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington state and Massachusetts. Sixty-percent of snowboarders are concentrated in California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin and Virginia.
SIA partnered with the Physical Activity Council to survey more than 38,500 American households about their sports and leisure activities to conduct this research.
SIA Snow Sports Participation Report
SIA Snowsports Official Website