Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort
Draft Master Development Plan

Snowboarding

The emerging popularity and growth of snowboarding has had a significant impact on many components of winter resort area operations. Snowboarding, initially viewed by many as an "alternate" or "anti-establishment" activity for mainly the younger, skateboarding crowd, has shown substantial rates of growth over the past several years. The increase in participation is due to several factors. In addition to interest from a "younger" generation (76 percent of participants are between the ages of 13-24), a growing number of advanced skiers, who because of sport burn-out or skiing associated injuries, have chosen to give snowboarding a try and, in many cases, are "crossing over" to the sport. In addition, because of the perception that snowboarding is far less technical and therefore easier to learn and progress, snowboarding is much more appealing to those who may or may not have tried skiing.

In the United States, there has been a continuous growth trend in the number of snowboarder winter visits. During the 2000/02 season, approximately 28 percent of the alpine lift users were snowboarders. While there is growth in every region of the United States and Canada, there are variations in the percent of snowboarders in each region. The Pacific West region continues to show the highest percentage of snowboarder visit growth in the country with just over 43 percent of visitors riding snowboards.

Plate I.6 illustrates the change in the extent of snowboarding participation between 2002/03 and 2006/07. While the growth rate over the past few years has risen steadily, it is projected that this rate will begin to slow and there will be a gradual shift in the demographic profile of skiers/snowboarders. The growth in snowboarding, although slowing, is projected to increase to about 35 percent from the current 30 percent. As aging baby boomers gradually leave the sport, they are likely to be replaced by younger participants who are snowboarders. Snowboarding as a proportion of total visits remained level this year overall, at 29.3 percent. Currently, 75 percent of the users at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort are snowboarders.