It snowed again in Reno last Monday night, an unnecessary reminder that this season might never end. But while skiing in these parts continues unabated, it’s time for Realskiers to wrap up the current year with a recap of all the Revelations and podcasts I’ve recently created for the collective edification of my Dear Readers and Listeners.
In the lyrics of the Grateful Dead, what a long, strange trip it’s been. Half the country got no snow to speak of, while the other half experienced what it’s like to get too much snow; in some instances, way too much snow. In the equipment domain, a lot of what was new this year happened outside the mainstream: most fresh faces fell into the Big Mountain genre, the province more of dreamers than pragmatists. The arena with the most new product families was Alpine Touring, as America’s infatuation with backcountry skiing continued to inspire new sub-sets of skiers who plan to climb uphill a little, a little more or all the time. What was once a niche is now broad enough to house several baby niches within its ever-expanding confines.
While the ski world is somewhat cocooned in its own realm, it is not immune to outside influences. The ski trade has changed a lot in the last 50 years, but there hasn’t been a single innovation introduced to the sport that can compare with the disruptive force of the Internet. Now Artificial Intelligence, the new darling of the tech sector, will further erode the credibility of information sources. For starters, are you certain what you’re reading now isn’t the product of AI? How about the next article you read, after this one’s contents have been digested by the omnivorous appetite of AI? When will the last shred of credibility go up in smoke? I explore the probability that AI will be the next great destructive juggernaut to deform the ski marketplace in ChatGPT AI Has Ski Patter Down Cold.
Not that ski media needs much help in finding the basement. The ski world’s iconic print titles, and the brilliant editors who led them, are long gone. So is one of the fundamental principles of journalism, the separation of the functions of editing and publishing. The commercial side of the Internet is effing fueled by eliminating this crucial divide. Why bother writing a well-reasoned product profile (or at least the pretense of one) without a link to somewhere the subject under review can be purchased immediately? The inanity of “Top Ten” lists is underscored by their skinny, 4-sentence “reviews” and ubiquitous BUY NOW buttons.
BTW, if you think ANY of the Top Ten lists generated by what’s left of ski media have any validity whatsoever, your brain is suffering from acute malnutrition. To illustrate just how depraved and blatantly dishonest such a “Best of…” list can be, I dissected an odious example in The Bottom of the Barrel.
Fraudulent Top Ten lists are the perfect vehicle for influencing public opinion, which is helpful for brands that cut corners, cheapen product quality and substitute overnight gimmickry for the long and costly slog of R&D. I’d love to tell you that things are going to get better soon, that the market will somehow self-correct when it has no incentive to do so, but the reality is quite the opposite.
I hope you’ll take a moment and visit one of the 26 2022/23 Revelations you may have missed, or listen to any of the 40 podcasts of Realskiers with Jackson Hogen. As you peruse my most recent content, bear in mind that what you are reading – or listening to – is rare and endangered. If you’d like to help ski journalism worthy of the term to survive, we have a Tip Jar on the Realskiers home page…
See you next season.
22/23 Season Revelations:
When Shopping for a Deal, To Thine Own Self Be True
2023 Ski Market Preview: The Golden Age of Incrementalism
How to Read Ski Data: Mining Ski Stats for Behavioral Clues
Fear of Flying
The Ski Price Matrix Explained
The End is Nigh: An Optimist Looks at America’s Skiing’s Future
On Taking What the Mountain Gives You or the Many Shades of Perfect
Readers Respond to Revelation On Fear of High Lifts
Another Brilliant Idea I Don’t Like
Are You Ready?
How It’s Supposed to Work
Seven Skis That Transcend Their Genres
Enlightened Self-Interest Explained
Skier, Know Thy Feet
On Being Early
Another Reason to Get New Boots
Stymied
Seven Things We Think You Know
ChatGPT AI Has Ski Patter Down Cold
Reflections of a Ski Tester on Trade Fair Eve
The Bottom of the Barrel
Ski Luminaries Explain Why You Should Listen to Jackson
The Extraordinarily Gifted Athlete Who Created the Modern Ski Boot
The Things We Do for Love
A Fresh Perspective on How to Buy in a Maturing Ski Market
Groundhog Year
22/23 Season Podcasts of Realskiers with Jackson Hogen
[Note that all Podcasts use the same url.]
To Thine Own Self Be True
The End of Authenticity
2023 Ski Market Preview
A Call to Arms!
How to Read Ski Data
Understand the Brand
Fear of Flying
Larry Prosor: Witness to a Golden Age
Understanding Ski Categories
The End is Nigh: An Optimist Looks at America’s Skiing’s Future
Survival of the Fitter
On Taking What the Mountain Gives You
From Fallible to Foolproof and Back
Listeners Respond to Revelation On Fear of High Lifts
Silver Skier Reflections and Selections
The Making of a Skier: Salomon Field Days
Another Brilliant Idea
John Clendenin Podcast
Are You Ready?
Mike Hattrup, From Film Star to Backcountry Guru
How It’s Supposed to Work
Meet a True Real Skier, Tim Petrick
7 Skis That Transcend Their Genres
Enlightened Self-Interest Explained
“The Best Ski Boots of 2022-23”
Skier, Know Thy Feet
Season 67, Day 1
On Being Early
How the Ski Boot Market Works
Another Reason to Get New Boots
Santa is a Skier
Stymied
The Future Looks a Lot Like the Present
ChatGPT AI Has Ski Patter Down Cold
Reflections of a Ski Tester on Trade Fair Eve
The Bottom of the Barrel
Ski Luminaries Explain Why You Should Listen to Jackson
The Things We Do for Love
Groundhog Year
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Reader Comments on Why Ski Sales Have Shrunk
In this week’s Revelation, I posted my top ten (twelve, actually) reasons why skis sales have shrunk, along with the musings of two Dear Readers on the subject. Note that the topic’s focus was ski sales at retail, not skier or skier/rider participation rates, subjects that are certainly related but just as certainly not the same.
Below are verbatim reader responses culled in the last 48 hours. I’ve corrected the odd typo, but otherwise left these contributions intact.
My thanks to all who took the time to tell their tales. – J
Top Reasons U.S. Ski Sales Have Shrunk
[As I wrapped up an earlier Revelation, I proposed to my beloved readership that they share their list of the top ten reasons U.S. ski sales have shrunk. I elicited only two written responses, so I’ll reproduce both here in their entirety, along with my musings on the subject. Consider these submissions tinder to light a fire under you, Dear Reader, to submit a list of your own.]
From Rick Pasturczak
1. Snowboarding-
I’ve noticed most snowboarders are 12 to 20 years old and once they become an adult, almost all stop. While I noticed most skiers continue on.
2. High school and college sports-
Schools now require practicing sports during Christmas and spring breaks taking away opportunities to hit the slopes and family vacations to the mountains. I’ve been told by many parents the coaches forbid them to ski.
3. Travel costs-
Lodging, airfare, ground transportation, and lift tickets.
4. Video games
5. Cost of lessons make it expensive to improve.
6. Confusing selection of equipment
7. Magazines and movies showing extreme skiing
8. Cruising. We need some resorts to be all inclusive.
9. Baggy pants. Bring back stretch pants and sex appeal.
10. Last, we need mother nature to be more consistent with snow.
The Making of a Skier, Part X: The Mechanics & Managers Workshop Tour
When I left Salomon in the spring of 1987, my motivations could be distilled into three principal components:
• The parent company declared it was moving its Reno-based North American HQ back from whence it came. Neither I nor my family had the slightest desire to return to New England.
• I felt I was spending more energy battling factions within my own company than I was out-flanking our competition. I’d worked more or less without a break since June of 1978. My thin veneer of patience cracked.
• I wanted to write screenplays. Not that I had demonstrated any talent for creative writing or had any training in the field. I’d written reams of technical swill, brochure copy, training manuals and memos which created the illusion that I could at least write something, so why not screenplays?
Note that none of these factors involves finding a new job. At the time, I didn’t want to resume wearing the shackles of employment as they would interfere with my ludicrous screenwriting ambitions. Then the stock market went into a tailspin in October, crippling what little equity I’d managed to accrue on my minimalist salary. Oops.
