Alan Jones sent us a copy of the Executive Summary of his report on ski centre usage surveys.

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SNOWSPORT ENGLAND

SNOWSPORT CENTRE USAGE SURVEYS

Executive Summary

1. Three surveys were carried out: the larger general one mainly through a web site and the smaller ones by direct circulation of hard-copy to coaches and instructors and to performers.


2. Replies overwhelmingly supported the strategy that “As many skiers and boarders as possible should have a snowsport facility of reasonable size sufficiently close to home to make regular weekly practice attainable at acceptable cost and without excessive travelling”. This is carried forward from the 1988 strategy with just the inclusion of snowboarding. Replies also strongly supported the previous view that “Easy access by public transport is essential to serve young and disadvantaged persons”. Most people also thought that better local facilities were essential for the development of snowsports in this country.


3. It appears that most people would regard 30 minutes as a reasonable travelling time for regular evening usage, but only about half these would accept 45 minutes. Unfortunately 30 minutes travel time is probably an unrealistic target for rural areas. 100 metres seems to be generally regarded as the minimum reasonable size, with many respondents looking for longer. This may also be an unrealistic target in some areas where it is difficult to find a suitable site. The questionnaires to instructors and performers showed most of these to live near slopes and many to be unwilling to travel much more than indicated above (except for competitions).


4. Views varied widely on acceptable charges, but it is clear that many people would resist the charges currently being charged at some centres, particularly indoor snow centres. It may be that the differing views arise from those currently familiar with commercial prices and those familiar with prices at club-run slopes run largely by volunteers. Generally people seemed to think juniors and student should pay a little above half price and OAPs, disabled and unwaged should pay a little under half price, although some thought the disadvantaged should pay less the £1. It would appear that many people would be willing to pay more for instruction and this suggests that slope managers under-value their instructors. Discounts are expected for off-peak usage and for families, but people would be prepared to pay a small premium for long slopes and snow centres.


5. There seems to be some dissatisfaction with existing centres in terms of convenience, length, cost, design and management. There is a demand for better facilities for the disabled and for specialist activities such as freestyle and Nordic.


6. The concept of Regional Centres of Excellence was widely supported and people seemed prepared to travel for up to an hour to such centres, but many people were expecting them to have a slope of at least 300 metres which may well not be attainable in many locations. There was rather less support for the concept of a National Centre of Excellence and peoples’ aspirations for this were even more unrealistic. It has to be realised that a 300 metre slope requires a big hill and/or a very large structure. Planning permission will be very difficult to obtain for such developments, especially in naturally hilly areas which tend to be environmentally sensitive. There may be better prospects for developments which result in reclamation of derelict areas such as old quarries and mines. Very large indoor snow centres may have to be close to large centres of population to be viable and may well turn out to be prohibitively expensive.


7. A wide range of ages was represented in the replies, but biased very much towards the older end with more than half over 40. Geographic distribution was uneven and did not reflect population density.


8. Many of the respondents to the main questionnaire indicated that their nearest slope was more than 30 minutes away and a significant number were more than 45 minutes away. Most were considerably more 30 minutes away from a slope which they regarded as satisfactory and many more than an hour away. By contrast, most respondents to the coaching scheme surveys were 30 minutes or less from their nearest centre. More than half the respondents to the main questionnaire were not members a British snowsport club.


9. Coaches and instructors were nearly all part time but many worked for more than 200 hours during the year. Slightly more were waged rather than volunteers and the volunteers tended to do much fewer hours.


10. There is a division of opinion amongst coaches and instructors both on whether indoor artificial snow is worth the extra cost and on whether the new artificial material is better than the traditional ones. Snow seems to be slightly favoured for experts rather than beginners and the new material favoured for beginners rather than experts.


11. The performers showed an age range from 8 to 67 (other respondents ranged up to over 75) and significant numbers in Sport England’s over 50s target category. They did a lot of training at their local centre and travelled considerable distances to competitions but were much less willing to travel long distances for regular training. They indicated a strong desire for water lubrication with nearly half regarding it as essential.


12. In general the survey shows dissatisfaction with the present provision of facilities both in quantity and quality also, in many peoples eyes, cost. There is a demand for longer slopes that it may not be possible to meet.

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The full report may be obtained from Snowsport England, telephone 0121-501 2314, e-mail info@snowsportengland.org.uk, at a cost of £30 to None-members and £15 to Members.

Acknowledgements: UK Skiers Resource www.ukskiersresource.co.uk and Ellis Brigham www.Ellis-Brigham.com, www.Snowboard-Asylum, www.Ski-Clobber.com.

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