How will the image of snowboarding be affected if more skiers & older people take up the sport?

Question

As you may know, snowboarding is a sport that appeals to young males for the most part.

So how will the image be affected if older people take up the sport? Can the appeal of snowboarding be expanded to a more diverse audience?

Thanks for your responses!

Answer 1

youll be seeing more and more older snowboarders. personally, as a 22 year old rider of ten years I love seeing old guys shredding and I know I'll never quit. Snowboarding is still fairly a new sport so we don't really have old man lifetime riders like skiers do but the longer the sport is around the more there will be. As for the image, its already been destroyed so how much worse could it get?

Answer 2

Very good question indeed. Snowboarding is mainly seen as a sport for the younger generation but it is a relativly new sport and has only really becoming mainstream over the last 20 years or so. In that time its image has changed a bit and in 20 years or so i see the average age of snowboarders being alot older than it is currently. Like most sports snowboarding is easier to learn when you are young but you can pick it up at any age and once you have learned there is no reason why you cant board untill you are 60+. Admittedly i cant see many people pipe riding or rail riding at that age but for freeriding and just general cruising i dont see there being an age limit, you just have to be aware of your body and how much abuse it can take and alter you speed and/or terrain accordingly.

I remeber seeing a programme a while back on big wave surfers all the top guys that did that where in there late 30s early 40s. I can see some aspects of snowboarding becoming like that not so much the freestyle but more backcountry freeriding and stuff like that.

I think skiers taking up snowboarding is a good thing, you shouldent have to stick to one do both if you want. Alot of Ski manufactures make boards now such as Salomon, K2, Atomic, Rossignol, Head, Volkl etc. There is still alot of snobbery towards skiers and ski brands by many snowboarders who are too concerned with image more than anything else, like having the right brand board and wearing the right kev clothes. But i think in time snowboarding will be a sport for people of all ages and all backgrounds, and i think that will be a good thing overall . Good luck with the riding.

Answer 3

it will probably help.. as an "older" rider(i'm 32) i personally would love to hear words like "stoked" and "gnarley" used less--gives us "old" riders who actually have a brain cell a bad image--i remember watching the winter olympics 2 years ago and was embarrased by how stupid young american snowboarders sounded on LIVE TV being broadcast around the world--one gril from VT was giving some weird hand gestures when the camera was on her, another said "uh like i'm so stoked right now, like this is so cool"--way to represent you morons!!!!

by the way, no i'm not lame, 15 years when i was "shredding" at their age i still didn't talk or act "the image" simply because i didnt want to look like an idiot

Answer 4

Naaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh !!!  Break dancing was enough for me !!!!!

Answer 5

It won't be our image (the snowboarders) that will be affected.. it will be the older skiers whos will.  

Its the exact same as old people trying to have a facebook or myspace... they just look clueless, and does not change facebookes image.  

In the end the skiers and old people will just look like their trying to be something their not.

Answer 6

Well, it apparently appeals to the female crowd to in their perspective of guys.  They pretty much dig any guy that can surf, skate, or snowboard well.

In all actuality, there are older people doing the snowboarding, but they're a rare sight.  Spills while snowboarding+old age=bad for the body.  So that's why you don't see that many.  And if you do, they're usually doing high speed carving, but not much park, and they'll own anybody younger than them in a race.  You have to remember, when snowboarding first started, they didn't have twin tips, or things like that.  They had strictly directional boards, and it wasn't until fairly recently that park and jibbing became big, so speed was where it was at.

Most of the older generation sticks to skiing because falling isn't as common, and the majority of them are either: used to it already, or find it easier to pick up.  That's not to say 30+ year olds don't try snowboarding, it's just that they usually don't pick it up as fast.  As for the female side of the industry, it's catching on.  More and more girls are trying it, the majority of the time, I see girls getting taught by their boyfriends.  So as you can see, it is expanding.

As for the image of snowboarding, it's pretty narrow and that narrow image is already pretty shot.  It's like skating and surfing.  A lot has been sold out.  People wear and act like they know what they're doing, but in reality, they don't have a clue what they're doing.  Companies like Burton are being worn by people who think wearing the name automatically makes them good, and snowboarding is becoming the "cool thing" to do.  For example, take Four Square or Special Blend.  Two pretty big names in the snowboarding industry, but where I live, it's not as big as skating.  Whenever I used to wear my Four Square shirt, people gave me confused looks, they thought it was the game.  And they never knew what the Special Blend logo was, what it represented/what the company does.  That's what I mean by narrow.  Burton, Burton, Burton.

I'm not a hater, just saying what's known by the majority of riders out there.  In fact, I like most of Burton's stuff, although their low-end stuff is pretty overpriced.

That's all that I can think of, but yes, snowboarding is growing very fast, just hope global warming doesn't mess it up.

Answer 7

Not to be rude, but we all know what happened to Sonny Bono who went skiiing... He wound up getting killed... Maybe he was too old...Sad..

Answer 8

Hmmm thats an interesting question, hence the star.  I feel like the image of snowboarding has been changing every year so much,   I feel its more represented by pros and ams. They rock certain gear, act a certain way, ride a cetain way, and get up in the magazines and videos, and we see what they do and want to be that. So I dont really see the image changing that much due to a flow of older people and skiers.  There are different types of snowboarders though, I think the younger shreds will be more apt to be mad about a flow of old people and skiers, but there are some of us that would encourage it. I would love to see every skier put down the skis and hop on a deck. Same with the older folks.

I feel like the older people( ones that are just starting) that ride these days do it kinda because they have something to prove. They want to feel young again maybe.   I think it would be hard to really stear it in the direction of old people becasue these days snowboarders have a bit of a punkish image and then you have the guys who look like rap stars jibbing and everyone wearing a banadana over there face.   I think more along the lines that,  the image of snowboarding woould have to change to get the older people to ride.

Now skiers on the other hand. If you go to a decent park, and have the skiers and snowboarders drop there deck and skis. I bet you wouldnt be able to tell most of them apart. I think that the style of snowboarders, has had a huge impact on the skiers and there style.  I think it would be much eaiser to bring skiers over to the dark side than older folks.

The appeal of snowboarding can be expanded, but only by companies like DC, Burton. The companies that have the capital to advertise and promote there products. I mean kids come on this little blog website and think that there is one snowboard company and its Burton.  So its up to the big companies  to expand the sport. There advertisments are geared tward youth, so broaden the target group and things will happen.

THis is a hard question because if more skiers and older people ride, it will probally take away from that punk badda*s image that riders have...

Answer 9

I think that the way snowboarding in marketed means that few older people are going to take it up. Just browse any snowboard mag. Most of the photos are of young male riders (and some young female riders) doing huge jumps, tricks, and backcountry riding (avalanche danger). That type of marketing makes most older people think it is not a sport for them. All the articles in the magazines tend to promote the more dangerous side of snowboarding. If the industry wants to attract older people it needs to change how the sport is perceived, and that can only be changed by adjusting the marketing campaign.  

Some people my age frankly aren't in good enough shape to learn to snowboard. They've had too many injuries when they were younger, or they are just afraid that they will get seriously injured snowboarding. I have yet to talk any of my friends into trying it. They always say, "I'll fall and break something". To change that the marketing has to at least include articles that point out the benefits of snowboarding (great exercise, fun, addictive), and point out that you can make snowboarding just as safe as skiing.

How will the image be affected if older people take up the sport? I'm not sure, but I would think it will get more respect as a sport that even older people can do. Older people also have more $$ so if a large number of people my age started snowboarding it would bring different types of products and more expensive ones (and often better quality).

I started to learn to snowboard @ 38 years old. I was overweight, out of shape, and I was worried about getting injured (I think this alone keeps most people my age from trying it). But I stuck with it, and now I'm faster than most people going down the mountain (but not all). I don't do jumps, ride the pipe, or the park. I wear a helmet, wrist guards and knee pads to help avoid injuries. Personally I feel snowboarding can be just as safe as skiing although it will always be easier to have a violent fall on a snowboard. I took my time learning to snowboard and thankfully have avoided any major injuries.

One thing to keep in mind is that snowboarding started in the early 80's so there are lots of people out there that started snowboard when young and are now my age and still snowboarding. But young males are currently the biggest demographic and if you change the marketing to try to get more older people it might affect how young males view the sport. It might not seem as exciting. So care has to be taken to appeal to both types of riders. But then again, a little more emphasis on safety wouldn't really hurt those young male riders either.

And FYI, my goal is to still be snowboarding when I'm 80. I hope I make it that long. I've seen skiers close to that age, but so far no boarders...

Answer 10

I think the diversity will probably come from the sport itself. In other words I think the effect will be from snowboarders who are getting older rather than from older folks learning to ride.

I'm 29 and have been riding for about 11 seasons. The original snowboarding pioneers are getting to their 50's and even a lot of the sports current stars like Devun Walsh, Terje, JP, and Jeremy Jones are all pushing their 30's. While new younger riders are coming in and pushing the sport in totally new directions.

The result is that as riding becomes more mainstream and commonplace you'll see increasingly diverse styles of riding seperate from "everyday" riding. You can see a bit of it now with discernable styles of riding, Tournaments - Shaun White/Ross Powers, Back Country - Devun Walsh, Nicolas Meuller, Urban - Travis Kennedy/Aaron Bittner plus tons and tons of folks like Travis Rice and Heikki Sorsa who just go out and continue to redefine the sport.

The best analogy I can think of is Rock and Roll...it was cutting edge and underground in the late 40's and early 50's (and like snowboarding, considered the devil's music), and became main stream in the 60's. Today it's totally ubiquitous but has continued to evolve and diversify since then into punk, metal, grunge, glam, emo, etc. and new styles are still being defined.  I think snowboarding will follow pretty much the same path with certain trends going in and out of style (am I supposed to wear baggy or tight pants now...I forget?)

So to answer your question, whether snowboarding's appeal can be exanded, my answer's definitely yes.

Answer 11

Frankly I don't think "older" people will take up the sport.  If you are a skier I think you will remain that way and if you don't like skiing, I don't think you'll like snowboarding.  Now, depending on what you mean by "older" people, I think you'll be surprised to learn that most of the "older" snowboarders have been skateboarding most of their young lives and are now getting a chance to get on the snow.  I don't think you will have to worry about your image to much because most of those oldie but goodie 25 to 30 something year olds will probably stay out of your way as much as you will stay out of theirs so get out there and enjoy the "pow pow."