Millenials aren’t skiing enough?

Saw this on FB. The thesis is basically that as baby boomers age out, millenials are not taking up the slack. Interesting article but I tend to agree with the commenters who point out that our sport has just gotten too expensive
http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/as-baby-boomers-leave-ski-slopes-millennials-are-failing-to-fill-in-the-gaps/

It’s too expensive and the millennial generation doesn’t have money like the boomers. Oh well, everything has a life cycle.

I’ll be dead in 30 or 40 years or sooner, I can’t say I’m concerned really. If climate science is right we aren’t going to be too concerned with skiing anyways in the not so distant future.

My kids and my friends kids are all in there 20's and ex high school racers..For the most part they don't ski anymore..

Cost aside , they have no interest in getting up early/freezing their ass off /dealing with crowds etc..

So you are saying they are soft!

iv'e been dragging my kids to the mnt for 20 years. they just don't have the passion for the sport that I do. if they do ski with friends its on my dime.
millenials who do share our passion are most likely full of college debt and unable to afford it.

I think they are soft, no doubt. I also don't feel skiing is all that expensive, it certainly can be if you have to have everything new. Problem is kids seem to expect everything new these days. I guess it depends on where you live but around here for 600 bucks you could easily ski the entire year. Pass included. Kids pay more than that for a wicked smart phone

Harvey wrote

So you are saying they are soft!

Yes...

And like Sig said, they ski on their parents dime..

And Boomers and Gen Xer's are greedy yet financially inept generations that have stood over the the accumulation of 20 trillion dollars of national debt, making healthcare virtually unaffordable, created the largest economic downturn since the great depression. All the while thinking they "had it tough and everyone else is soft". My grandparents generation basically handed the Boomers the world, the United States at its peak, with every benefit, social service or otherwise, imaginable.

See how generalizations aren't exactly reasonable?

Maybe stop worrying so much about what Millennial's are, you guys aren't exactly god's great gift to the world.

What's it like to be a Millenial?

campgottagopee wrote

What's it like to be a Millenial?

Its like eating cookies... All the time.

Store bought ----

Haha, you know it.

Camp's point about skiing not being expensive is true though. I think relatively speaking with a pass or discount card its actually pretty affordable.

I think some of the issue, which is the case for many of my friends, most of them had to move to Urban areas for work, putting them much further away from manageable day trips. Jobs in Suburbia just weren't present for us when we were graduating college in 2008/2009. Coupled with the fact many left "skiing regions" all together, the mind set for continually and actively participating in skiing or snowboarding never became engrained as they moved on with their lives.

In my general area, the Mid Hudson Valley suburbs, my girl friend and I are huge outliners of the population demographics. The vast majority are Boomers and early Gen X'ers. Housing seems to the be the biggest issue, as most of the massive build out in the early 60's- early 90's has basically depleted affordable land.

evantful wrote

campgottagopee wrote

What's it like to be a Millenial?

Its like eating cookies... All the time.

So you're the size of a house, are a future type II diabetic and feel like crap all the time?

evantful wrote

  Coupled with the fact many left "skiing regions" all together, the mind set for continually and actively participating in skiing or snowboarding never became engrained as they moved on with their lives.

 

I'm lucky that I came from a skiing family. Both my Mom and Dad grew up skiing as kids, not to mention they grew up within a few short miles of ski hills. Same for me ---- skiing was just like going to school, hunting, playing hoops, riding bike, meaning it was just something we did. But it's all because of where I live. If it wasn't just a short drive/hitchhike I'm certain I would've done it as much if at all.

evantful wrote

campgottagopee wrote

What's it like to be a Millenial?

Its like eating cookies... All the time.

So you're the size of a house, are a future type II diabetic and feel like crap all the time?


Yeah man, pretty much an aspiring Boomer

JasonWx wrote

Harvey wrote

So you are saying they are soft!

Yes...

And like Sig said, they ski on their parents dime..

Well, yeah, it's always been that way. Kids are lazy, and, duh, poor kids don't ski. I'll bet you tell the younger ones to get off your lawn.

The last I heard, there's 1.3 trillion of student debt out there. Did our generation have that albatross around our necks at graduation? Um, no. And, college was basically free in the 60s and 70s.

I think this would have happened sooner if it wasn't for snowboarding, but that fashion craze hit a wall about five years ago, so now, goodbye small ski areas. Again.

campgottagopee wrote

I think they are soft, no doubt. I also don't feel skiing is all that expensive, it certainly can be if you have to have everything new. Problem is kids seem to expect everything new these days. I guess it depends on where you live but around here for 600 bucks you could easily ski the entire year. Pass included. Kids pay more than that for a wicked smart phone

Wait, what? 600 bucks? Do you live in the attic of a ski lodge without anyone knowing you're there, sneak down to steal food when everybody leaves, and rummage through bins for discarded skis?

Huh? Yea, 600 bucks ---- pass 400 --- boots, skis, poles 200 --- it's the old math, not the new math

evantful wrote

And Boomers and Gen Xer's are greedy yet financially inept generations that have stood over the the accumulation of 20 trillion dollars of national debt, making healthcare virtually unaffordable, created the largest economic downturn since the great depression. All the while thinking they "had it tough and everyone else is soft". My grandparents generation basically handed the Boomers the world, the United States at its peak, with every benefit, social service or otherwise, imaginable.

See how generalizations aren't exactly reasonable?

Maybe stop worrying so much about what Millennial's are, you guys aren't exactly god's great gift to the world.

Exactly this.

Every article or post that starts with "Millennials are killing..." does a complete disservice to its readers if it fails to mention two things:

1. Things are more expensive these days, especially things that people need (health care, housing, education).
2. Salaries are garbage & working conditions suck (lots of jobs have no paid vacation, no paid sick days, crappy or no health care coverage, crappy or no retirement packages, no overtime pay, etc.).

People these days don't have money and they don't have time. I work 3 jobs in the winter to afford skiing (down from 4) and just about break even (after factoring in gas money, apres beers, equipment, and lift tickets/season pass).

The other point that evantful makes later in the thread (most of the good jobs left are in cities far away from skiing) is a good one, too. Harder to motivate when you have to drive hours to get to the mountains.

I've found that there are a lot of privileged people on this board - people who went to school when it was a lot cheaper, people who own properties that provide them a passive income every month, people who debate which $60,000 SUV to buy.

Fewer people recognize that privilege. They were privileged to grow up in a time when jobs were better and higher paying (relative to inflation), when you could afford to "put yourself through college", when the local factory job provided high school dropouts with 30 years of employment and a pension & gold watch at their retirement.

It's far easier to just declare that "Kids these days are lazy" rather than to look at what has changed and why people might not be willing to throw down $300 to slide on snow for a couple of hours.

campgottagopee wrote

Huh? Yea, 600 bucks ---- pass 400 --- boots, skis, poles 200 --- it's the old math, not the new math

And I suppose you walk to the ski hill in winter stopping to forage berries and maybe hunt down squirrels for food, and wear animal hides from your hunts as warmth?

Dude, most people lives hours from ski hills.