More Americans got outside last year, but with the recession putting a crimp in people’s budgets, outdoors enthusiasts looked for cheaper and quicker activities.
Participation in “core” outdoor sports and activities – camping, hiking, running, biking – was up by 3.3% last year, from 97.5 million Americans in 2008 to 100.7 million in 2009, according to the first results to be released from the Outdoor Foundation’s 2010 outdoor participation survey.
“We see the economy driving people back to nature,” said Christine Fanning, executive director of the not-for-profit organization, established by the Outdoor Industry Association to encourage participation in outdoor activities. “This has tremendous implications for health and wellness issues surrounding the sharp increases in childhood obesity. Outdoor recreation is finally being recognized as part of the solution. Our position is that nature should be the first prescription.”
Although participation was up overall, the survey, which covers a broad range of outdoor activities, from skateboarding to fly fishing, found that people reduced their spending on these activities. Only 4.5% of active participants spent more on outdoor activities than in 2008, with most cutting spending on travel and gear.
Instead of flying to some exotic locale with high-end gear in tow – like they might have done during, say, a housing bubble – people were more likely to go hiking or camping at a nearby state park. (STRAY readers most likely turned it up a couple more notches, but you get the point.)
The number of participants in expensive activities dropped in the tough economy, with some types of activities seeing larger reductions than others.
Sport climbing participation dropped by 9.6 percent, while traditional climbing and mountaineering were down by 19.8 percent, according to the survey results. Scuba diving, a gear and boat intensive activity, was down by 15.3 percent. Mountain biking, another potentially pricey sport, declined by 5.9 percent.
Snow sports did better, most likely due to good snow in the winter of 2008/2009, with cross-country skiing participation increasing by 8 percent, snowboarding by 3.7 percent and snowshoeing by 17.4 percent. Snowmobiling participation declined, most likely because of the cost. And the backcountry was a bit quieter…
Other interesting trends are evident in the change in participation in various activities since the association started conducting the survey in 2000. Since then, participation in rafting dropped 17 percent, canoeing by 7.6 percent and windsurfing – that neglected parent of kitesurfing – by 35 percent. On the other hand, surfing has increased by 9.7 percent, hiking by 8.4 percent and trail running by 16 percent.
Bucking the cost-related trend, participation in whitewater kayaking, which requires a good bit of gear, was up by 10 percent. This might have something to do with the proliferation of artificial whitewater parks, in recent years. But that’s pure speculation.
The report, which was released on May 21, was a high level overview of the 2010 participation survey by the Outdoor Foundation, an online survey of 40,000 American’s ages 6 and older. The full results and analysis will be released later this year.
