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Is skiboarding dying? And how can we save it

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  • ThatSlyBastard
    replied
    Originally posted by Tom91381 View Post
    Well if sales or sold out boards on skiboardsonline are any indications , I think it’s becoming a little bit more popular ?
    I look at that Facebook page and it keeps going up with new people joining all the time.
    I’m sure Talon’s videos do help out with his subscription base and views , but just because you don’t see the Skiboards while your on the mountain doesn’t mean they’re not there .


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    Not necessarily. But if there is a lot of skiboarders, you would see them.


    Also, boards have been selling out since I first bought revel8s like 10 years ago. I think they only make one batch per year.



    As for others commenting about rental shops and such that is true. BUT that is why I think if we can get enough exposure, it will hit a point where it pays off bigtime. If people just see skiboards on the mountain, it would be enough to raise their interest whether they are rentable or not. Many places do still offer lower end skiboards and snowblades.


    Also I think the name skiboard hurts us. No one knows them by that name. I actually just tell people I ride mini skis because it is much easier than trying to explain what a skiboard is without using the term mini ski or snowblade.

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  • newbie2011
    replied
    Originally posted by Fun Machine View Post
    A common attitude I see here is the idea that skiboarding and skis/snowboards are mutually exclusive, that one must make a choice. We may not say it so bluntly or even admit to it, but it's there.
    I think this is mostly true, at least for many people, and actually in my opinion it's not a bad thing.

    Maybe it's just the wording, but the way you put it sounds like somebody would miss something out of choosing one over the other, which might not be the case for many people.

    When I think about choice, I think "educated choice", trying some of the different options and knowingly making a choice. When you choose the option you enjoy over the one that you struggle with, they do become mutually exclusive, but it's not a bad thing, because you know you won't get back to the option you dislike.

    I was an average skier, struggling on steeper blues slopes with lots of muscle pain, knee pain, not being able to really enjoy it. I got into skiboards and they were perfect for me, I've improved immediately and in no time I was able to do red and black slopes and keep pace with expert buddy skiers.

    So skis obviously got out of the equation for me, but this is my knowledgeable choice that I don't regret it at all.

    Talking about the niche for skiboards, I don't think it's that thin actually. There will always be good skiers that won't even consider trying skiboards, but I don't think this is a problem. It's not them the "target" for skiboards in my opinion.

    I'm convinced there are *lots* of people like myself from some years ago, people that are trying to enjoy skiing and they don't manage to and struggle with it. I'm convinced for many of those skiboards would be a much better alternative if they would be aware of it. To me that's the major thing : putting the alternative out there, in their face, for people to see it ...


    Otherwise OP, consider yourself lucky you have a community there, in 7 years I've yet to stumble into a fellow skiboarder in the Alps

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  • Toro
    replied
    Originally posted by Fun Machine View Post
    I think one key reason for the decline of skiboarding is zero accessibility for the masses. Every sport has attrition from the aging out of its participants, so growth has to focus on attracting and keeping new ones. Two of the pillars of snow sports are the schools and rental shops, and the industry has settled on skis and snowboards. So when beginners go to resorts, they don't see skiboards, aren't told about skiboards, can't rent skiboards, can't buy skiboards, and can't take lessons to skiboard. So then, it is no surprise that they aren't ever going to skiboard.
    Therein lies the catch-22. It is notoriously difficult to make money selling skis through normal channels, but it also is clear that the way to grow would be to get boards in the hands of people. The only way I can think of to help the “demo” aspect is for us skiboarders to reach out to a handful of local receptive ski shops who might be interested in running the program.

    I envision RVL8 sending out boards and bindings to the shop for demoing while they run the logistics of renting them out. They could probably get the majority of rental income as well as good portion of sales proceeds if someone wants to buy the demo pair. Probably best to keep the number of shops extraordinarily low as well as the available boards/bindings since it is unlikely multiple would be rented out at once eg. a shop gets maybe 5 RVL8 boards and 2 bindings.

    I know there are some places that are fine renting out skiboards (Sugar mountain in NC does but they are the Head 94cm) so I’m sure on a small scale this might be doable. I don’t think it could hurt anyway


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  • Fun Machine
    replied
    Originally posted by ThatSlyBastard View Post
    Why is this? Why the decline?
    I think one key reason for the decline of skiboarding is zero accessibility for the masses. Every sport has attrition from the aging out of its participants, so growth has to focus on attracting and keeping new ones. Two of the pillars of snow sports are the schools and rental shops, and the industry has settled on skis and snowboards. So when beginners go to resorts, they don't see skiboards, aren't told about skiboards, can't rent skiboards, can't buy skiboards, and can't take lessons to skiboard. So then, it is no surprise that they aren't ever going to skiboard.

    Originally posted by ThatSlyBastard View Post
    And more importantly, how can we help the sport to grow?
    To be honest, we riders can't do much as individuals or as a group to help the sport grow - at least not by ourselves. We can be leveraged for marketing of the sport (social media, meet-ups, word-of-mouth, etc), but we can't solve the accessibility problem.

    Originally posted by ThatSlyBastard View Post
    Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?
    I think there is an unrealized demand in the mass market for skiboarding. Not huge demand, but enough to make it a strong niche product that can sustain a market share for the long term. A common attitude I see here is the idea that skiboarding and skis/snowboards are mutually exclusive, that one must make a choice. We may not say it so bluntly or even admit to it, but it's there. That doesn't help grow the sport. Instead, we should look at it as when in the life of a snow sports participant can skiboards fit really well, perhaps better than other options at that time, then make it accessible to those people at that time. There may need to be new skiboard products to target those needs. It is OK for people to move into and out of skiboarding - that's far better than never trying it.

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  • Tom91381
    replied
    Well if sales or sold out boards on skiboardsonline are any indications , I think it’s becoming a little bit more popular ?
    I look at that Facebook page and it keeps going up with new people joining all the time.
    I’m sure Talon’s videos do help out with his subscription base and views , but just because you don’t see the Skiboards while your on the mountain doesn’t mean they’re not there .


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    Leave a comment:


  • joechoi74
    replied
    I think many people show an interest but do not want to invest in a purchase without trying.

    Maybe people or Rvl8 can setup a free test run on mountain for a few runs as a promo event? Or maybe setup a loan program by other skiboarders who have extra sets?

    There is some interest by people who see them but they do not want to take that financial leap. A new setup can get pretty pricey for the average "interest" in a thing that looks cool.

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  • Toro
    replied
    I haven’t been around long enough to know the long term trend line, but as far as forum participation I think a lot got offloaded to Facebook’s skiboard connection. While it’s clear that group had grown, for a lot of the nuanced stuff I like it here, the repository of information is amazing and on FB it’ll just get lost in history.

    I try to introduce people to skiboarding as much as I can, and I have been guilty of exploring the longer skis. But to me they serve different purposes. I wouldn’t think about long (but still “short”) skis except in very specific and tricky conditions where I feel I want the effective edge and stability, and I think it’s laughable when I see people with planks out east. I’m not sure anything can be done besides increased awareness and getting out on the slopes. I do think that the future of the sport is more in resort riding than park only because if the image isn’t there, park riders they will ignore, but bombing even blues might help people struggling with long skis or seeing something different to make the switch.

    I personally came to it when I saw some people mess around on the slopes, then I went down the rabbit hole and saw what “real” riding on them could be. Coming from a snowboard background my gorilla stance was not conducive to long skis as it is to centered skiboards and I love it. I think video content (not just POV) is crucial for those who want to explore and in this regard Talon’s videos are orders of magnitude better than what was out there when I went down the rabbit hole.

    Side note: I would also love to see SBOL get a site upgrade and would happily contribute to a gofundme or something for it. I think in line with the image thing there are likely a lot of people turned off by the design (whereas RVL8 site is more modern)


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  • ThatSlyBastard
    started a topic Is skiboarding dying? And how can we save it

    Is skiboarding dying? And how can we save it

    Whats up guys. I hate to be that guy but has anyone else been feeling like the sport is going the opposite direction? It has been a small sport for a while but it seems to have really lost steam recently.

    For instance, I used to think it was bad that I would only see 1 or 2 other skiboarders when Id go to the mountain. Now I rarely see any.

    In fact, I have not seen 1 skiboarder this year. And I ski on the east coast where conditions are great for it.

    Im going to assume others have noticed the same thing and ask several questions:

    Why is this? Why the decline?

    And more importantly, how can we help the sport to grow?

    I feel that as a whole we dont do enough to get the sport out there. Most people have never even heard the term skiboarding. And those who know skiboarding by look usually just think snowblades, which carries negative connotations.

    I mean even around here, the forum isnt active. And in recent years I have noticed an uptick in people recommending junior skis rather than sub 110 skiboards, to new riders. If you want to ride junior skis that is fine. But I think we need to do everything we can to support skiboarding's core 110 and under community.

    Talon does a great job with his youtube channel but we nees more of that.

    But what else can we do? Rider meet ups are basically non existent. Even in the East Coast where everyone is fairly close by there is no shredfest or even a few people meeting up.

    I'd like to see the sport grow. Id like to see other riders and ride with other riders. And Id preferably like to avoid having to stock up on revel8 boards to last me the rest of my life if it gets worse lol.

    Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?
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