.jpg)
Winter sports in the United States are popular, both professionally and recreationally. Most sports activity on ice and snow takes place in the northern half of the country, but indoor facilities, simulators and artificial surfaces enable participation in all geographic areas.
The US has about 2000 ice rinks for skating sports. Ski touring, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing opportunities exist wherever there is sufficient snow cover on public access land, such as National Forests, state parks, and municipal parks. [1] The US has over 135,000 miles of snowmobile trails.
Compared to 2022, total winter sports participation grew by 22% in 2023. [2] Snow sports generated over $20 billion for the US economy in 2016. [3]
Sports
Curling
Once popular only in "the upper midwest and small pockets of New England", curling is gradually making inroads in the rest of the country. [4]
Figure skating
The governing body of figure skating competition in the United States is US Figure Skating. There are over 186,000 competitors as of 2020. Figure skating competition is a popular televised sport in the US. [5]
Ice hockey
Twenty-four of the thirty-one professional National Hockey League teams are based in the United States, the other seven in Canada.
USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. In the 2022-23 season, USA Hockey had 556,186 registered hockey players.
Skiing
Skiing in the US is a multi-billion dollar industry of growing popularity, with over 11 million recreational snow sports participants in the winter of 2022–23. [6] Annual reported totals of the skiing population vary somewhat with the quality and length of the ski season, which averages 106 days. Most popular are the regions of the Rocky Mountains, the Northeast and the Sierra Nevada/Cascade Mountains.
There are 480 alpine ski areas, [7] around 1,000 cross-country ski areas and 22 ski jumping hills in the US. There are 7 states which offer backcountry snowcat and heli-ski opportunities. The largest resorts see more than 85% of skier visits. More than 85% of alpine ski areas use snowmaking to some extent. Between 2008 and 2013, US ski resorts experienced annual revenues of about $3 billion.
National organizations include U.S. Ski & Snowboard, United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association, National Ski Council Federation, National Ski Patrol, Professional Ski Instructors of America, Snowsports Industries America (SIA), National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), and National Ski & Snowboard Retailers Association.
Sledding
Historically, the United States has only had limited success in bobsledding at the Olympics. [8] USA Bobsled is the governing body for bobsledding in the United States. [9] [10]
Kaillie Humphries is one the most successful bobsledders for the United States. [11]
Sled dog racing
Snowboarding
Snowboarding was once a popular and trendy sport among the youth of America in the 1990s and 2000s, but has declined in popularity since the early 2010s due to the expense of the sport. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Snowmobiling
Recreational snowmobiling in the US began in the 1950s and by 2010 had from 3-4 million participants. [17] Annual World Championship Snowmobile Derby and World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb competitions are held.
Snowmobile trails can be found in 27 states. A national organization is the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA).
Snowshoeing
The United States Snowshoe Association (USSSA) was founded in 1977 to serve as a governing body for competitive snowshoeing. Since 2001 they have held annual National Championships in February. Since 2019, participation in snowshoeing is up 12%. [18]
Winter Olympics
The United States is a traditional powerhouse in the Winter Olympics. [19] [20] However, the 2018 Winter Olympics saw the country's worst performance in terms of medals in 20 years. [21] [22]
Participation
In 2022, winter sports had over 30 million US participants. Outdoor Foundation reports that 8 million people participated in cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or telemark skiing in the 2012-2013 winter season. [23]
Winter sports are underrepresented by ethnic minorities due to the fact that such sports are expensive to play. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] In an effort to broaden participation, the Share Winter Foundation and its partners aim to share winter with 100,000 youth by 2028. [30]
Events
- Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome, entirely in the state of Alaska
- Winter festivals such as Saint Paul Winter Carnival and Dartmouth Winter Carnival include sports events
- Alaska's " Iron Dog" at 2,031 miles (3,269 km) long is the longest snowmachine race in the world
- World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb competition is held in Jackson, Wyoming at the Snow King Mountain resort each year in March
References
- ^ Winter sports National Park Service
- ^ Popke, Michael (2024) https://www.sportsdestinations.com/sports/all-sports/record-number-americans-participated-sports-33929 A Record Number of Americans Participated in Sports] Sports Destinations
- ^ Foersterling, Jack (2018) Low Snow Years Cost Ski Towns $1 Billion Powder magazine
- ^ "Puzzling yet popular, Americans are learning to love curling". Associated Press. February 16, 2018.
- ^ Lewis, Jon (2024) Figure skating cruises on NBC Sports Media Watch
- ^ Kuta, Sarah (2023) Ski Areas Reported More Visits Than Ever This Past Winter Smithsonian Magazine
- ^ Ski Areas 2023 NSAA
- ^ "SLEDDING SPORTS / Bobsled best U.S. bet". SFGATE. February 9, 2006.
- ^ "At Olympics, Holcomb still an inspiration for USA Bobsled". Toronto Star. February 15, 2022.
- ^ Dave Sheinin (2022-02-20) [2022-02-19]. "U.S. bobsled's secret weapon: A mysterious 'genius' who sees things others don't". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.[ please check these dates]
- ^ Prewitt, Alex. "Kaillie Humphries, Elana Meyers Taylor Steer the Way for Women in Bobsled". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Higgins, Matt (March 6, 2016). "Snowboarding, Once a High-Flying Sport, Crashes to Earth". The New York Times.
- ^ "Why snowboarding is fading in popularity". Nypost.com. January 23, 2015.
- ^ "Snowboarding declining in stats, coolness". Denverpost.com. December 26, 2013.
- ^ "Is snowboarding melting in popularity?". Ocregister.com. February 23, 2015.
- ^ "Don't Believe the Hype: Youth Snowboarding is Thriving". Snowsports Industries America. March 6, 2018.
- ^ Snowmobiling Fact Book International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, 2013
- ^ Akabas, Lev (2023) Americans More Active sportico.com
- ^ Graham, Bryan Armen (25 February 2018). "USA fell short at the Winter Olympics and things could get worse". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ Doyle, Terrence (16 February 2018). "The U.S. Stunk At The Winter Olympics Until Extreme Sports Came Along". Fivethirtyeight.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ Steinberg, Leigh. "5 Reasons Tiny Norway Dominates The U.S. In Winter Olympic Medals". Forbes. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ Lauletta, Tyler. "The US team is falling apart at the Winter Olympics and on pace to have its worst medal performance in 2 decades". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ Eisen, Hilary (2015) Winter Recreation on National Forest Lands Winter Wildlands Alliance
- ^ Prigeon • •, Jermell. "Bobsled Opening Doors for More Black Athletes to Live Winter Olympic Dreams".
- ^ "United States seeing uptick in diversity for Winter Olympics team". USA TODAY Sports. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ Douglas, William (3 February 2018). "2018 Winter Olympics: Numbers show black athletes making inroads in winter sports". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
- ^ "Economic report" (PDF). /gzg764m8l73gtwxg366onn13-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com. 2018. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ^ "Winter sports face a double threat, from climate and demographic change". Economist.com. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via The Economist.
- ^ "Trying to make Team USA look more like America". The Washington Post. 2018-02-04. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ^ Primeau, Brittney Buti (2023) Nonprofits unite to bring inner-city students to the slopes for a life-changing experience sharewinterfoundation.org
 | This article related to sports in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |