Sitting in the AVweb trailer at Osh-kosh this year, my friend Bob Miller and I were talking about... skiing. The estimate is seven million skiers hit the slopes several times last winter for about 60 million people-days of skiing. About 46 percent of those people had annual incomes over $100,000.Miller put this in context with another stat from the FAA. Downward trends in pilot starts, attrition in the current pilot population (through age or otherwise) and other measures showed a dwindling trend in GA that effectively hits zero by 2030.His take-away from this was we in GA have something to learn from the ski industry. The industry has worked hard to make skiing safer—through better equipment, better trail markings, a cultural change toward wearing helmets and taking lessons, and more rigorous certification of those instructors. Public perception of skiing changed in response and now more people ski.
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