Snowsports Industries America Launches “Generation Snow” Initiative

Snowsports Industries America (SIA) has announced a new platform to address the issue of increasing participation in winter sports. SIA’s new platform, called “Generation Snow” is a long-term effort to address the issue at its core by opening a solutions-based dialogue within the industry, and a partnership with Share Winter, a national grantmaking organization that works closely with carefully selected grantees to build efficient, effective, sustainable winter sports programs and pipelines to ongoing winter sports participation.

According to SIA’s 2019 Participation Report to be released this week, 24.6 million people participated in winter sports during the winter of 2018/19. While this is a slight increase of 1.2% year-over-year, as a whole winter participation has seen only modest growth over the last 10 years, with some years attracting fewer participants than the prior. Given this, the industry needs to focus more on driving new participants to winter sports. With the launch of Generation Snow, SIA has committed to helping add 100,000 new winter sports participants by 2028. 

Cross-Industry Collaboration 

SIA is part of the launch of an industry-wide partnership with Share Winter amongst the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), the Professional Ski Instructors of America and the American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI), and the National Ski Patrol (NSP). 

With these snow industry partners, ISA is  facilitating collaboration across the winter industry by establishing participation as a priority for all key winter stakeholders. The on-going dialogue will focus on our collective partnership with Share Winter, focusing on introducing a new generation to winter sports and grow participation. 

Share Winter Donation and Industry Match

SIA is challenging the industry to match their $40,000 donation to Share Winter to reach a goal of $100,000 in 2020.  

Winter Gear Locker

Access to proper gear can be a major barrier to participation. To address this issue, SIA is inviting any manufacturer to donate unused gear to Share Winter which will be distributed to deserving grassroots programs and young first-time snow sports enthusiasts as-needed.

Innovation and New Ideas

By looking at best practices, alternative methods and non-traditional solutions from around the globe, SIA wants to elevate new and innovative ways to grow participation in all winter sports and help bring those to the forefront.

“Participation is a key initiative for SIA. Ensuring the growth of new participants into winter sports is critical to our industry’s future success,” says Nick Sargent, SIA President. “SIA is excited to partner with Share Winter to not only get more kids on snow but also to provide the industry with new opportunities to support Share Winter programs that will directly help build to 100,000 new youth by 2028.” 

“This partnership demonstrates the industry’s commitment to growing winter sports and offering opportunities to the next generation of skiers and riders,” says Constance Beverley, Share Winter CEO.
“As we work to grow a more diverse and inclusive snow sports community, we’re honored to add these outstanding partners to our efforts.”  

For more information, please visit https://snowsports.org/participation/