Trend: The Ski Resort of 2015

Here’s a fun little trend to think about — what will happen with the sports of snowboarding and skiing as we go into the future?

That’s the focus of a little trends documents that I whipped together for some fun, but never got around to posting online.

I just did a quick re-edit to bring it  up to date, and it’s available as a PDF on the right or here.

Here’s how it opens:

“By 2015, the ski industry had positioned itself to support the emergence of the next ski demographic.

It was well prepared through an investment in technology and people to deal with the reality that the majority of the new skiers and snowboarders of of 2015 — and many existing enthusiasts — were completely wired, mobile, and expecting a far more interactive ski resort experience. In doing so, the industry  was keeping up with the massive societal change that was occurring as mobile technologies, social networks, and location-oriented “apps” came to change the very nature of the skiing / boarding experience worldwide.”

I took up the sport of skiing at the age of 40, having never really known how to ski. I keep getting a little better every year; have had the opportunity to ski the Swiss Alps and other “big mountains,” and live a family lifestyle that involves a voyage to our home “ski club” every weekend. Both of my sons have become snowboard instructors — and I daresay that I think the sport has changed my overall life in a very good way.

Take a read — you might find the future of this sport, as it becomes influenced by mobile, technology, location and social to be kind of fascinating.

And there’s more on this topic through the links below, include some video clips where I talk about these trends on stage!

Related postings:

• Blog post – The future of skiing 
• Blog with video : Jim on the future of snowboarding and skiing 
• Jim Carroll on “the future of skiing” in the San Jose Mercury Post 
• read Don’t Mess with My Powder, Dude! (PDF) 
• Personal : Why we ski