When we covered age in the statistics last year, there was a big drop in skiers between age 29 and 30. The question I wondered is whether there is a natural drop in skiers after age 29, or if there is a demographic wave of skiers in their 20s—one that might correlate with skiers who turned 18 after the canceled race of 2000.

The verdict: it’s a wave. The big drop—although it’s less pronounced this year, with almost as big a rise from age 27 to 28—occurs after age 30. And the peak is still amongst skiers in their 40s and 50s. It will be interesting to see if the nadir for skiers in their 30s progresses in the next several years. I’m not sure if it will, or if there are fewer skiers who are that age—and often have young children, which in not conducive to training—and once the kids are older (and skiing themselves) they’ll come back in to the Birkie fold. Time will tell.

For a breakdown by age and gender, see the gender page.

… and by wave: