Snowboarding is gaining in popularity and acceptance, but
even as the sport gains Olympic medal status in '98, many resorts
continue to ban it. The N.Y. TIMES reports that even though the
number of major board manufacturers has increased to nearly 20
and snowboarding visits at ski areas rose 17% last season,
resorts such as Park City and Keystone continue their bans,
claiming boarders are too reckless. Eric Blehm, Managing Editor
of Transworld Snowboarding: "Resorts like theirs will have to
change because financially, they'll have to. Families who go on
vacation want to go to mountains that allow both snowboarding and
skiing." NSGA reports the number of U.S. snowboarders grew from
1.5 million in '90 to 2.1 million in '94, while the alpine skiers
dropped from 11.4 million to 10.6 million during the same period
(Barbara Lloyd, N.Y. TIMES, 12/14).
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF GROWTH: Marker International of Salt
Lake City and DNR Sportsystem of Switzerland will begin
construction on a new 45,000-square-foot snowboard manufacturing
facility in UT. Production capabilities after the completion of
the first phase of construction will be 200,000 snowboards
annually (Marker International).
MIZUNO TO DIVERSIFY INTO RESORT MANAGEMENT: Mizuno Corp. of
Japan is planning to design and develop ski areas owned by local
governments and corporations in Japan. The company will
concentrate on marketing, advertising and retailing while
designing ski areas. Mizuno will develop three areas within the
next two years, including one in Nagano (KYODO NEWS SERVICE,
12/15).
