﻿HOW 
  THE 
  SURVEY 
  OF 
  SKIERS 
  WAS 
  CONDUCTED 
  

  

  Names 
  and 
  addresses 
  of 
  skiers 
  were 
  collected 
  at 
  all 
  operating 
  ski 
  areas 
  on 
  week- 
  

   ends 
  in 
  February, 
  March, 
  and 
  April 
  of 
  1965. 
  Every 
  tenth 
  skier 
  passing 
  the 
  investi- 
  

   gators 
  stationed 
  at 
  the 
  various 
  lift 
  lines 
  was 
  asked 
  to 
  participate 
  in 
  the 
  ski 
  study, 
  untU 
  

   approximately 
  10 
  percent 
  of 
  the 
  skiers 
  present 
  that 
  day 
  had 
  been 
  contacted. 
  At 
  the 
  same 
  

   time, 
  the 
  investigators 
  categorized 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  each 
  sample 
  skier 
  as 
  being 
  a 
  child 
  (1-12), 
  

   teenager 
  (13-19), 
  or 
  adult 
  (over 
  19). 
  

  

  Altogether 
  5, 
  984 
  skier 
  names 
  and 
  addresses 
  were 
  collected 
  by 
  the 
  U.S. 
  Forest 
  

   Service 
  Snow 
  Rangers 
  and 
  employees 
  of 
  the 
  Intermountain 
  Forest 
  and 
  Range 
  Experiment 
  

   Station. 
  Questionnaires 
  were 
  mailed 
  in 
  mid 
  -May 
  to 
  all 
  these 
  skiers 
  except 
  231 
  recorded 
  

   as 
  being 
  children. 
  (Bureau 
  of 
  the 
  Budget 
  restricted 
  questioning 
  persons 
  younger 
  than 
  

   age 
  13.) 
  Thus, 
  5,753 
  skier 
  questionnaires 
  were 
  mailed 
  (of 
  which 
  93 
  were 
  returned 
  

   unopened 
  because 
  of 
  incorrect 
  addresses). 
  

  

  By 
  mid 
  -June, 
  3, 
  512 
  completed 
  questionnaires 
  had 
  been 
  returned, 
  so 
  a 
  second 
  

   mailing 
  was 
  made 
  to 
  those 
  who 
  had 
  not 
  responded 
  to 
  the 
  first. 
  By 
  mid 
  -August, 
  another 
  

   1, 
  121 
  questionnaires 
  had 
  been 
  received, 
  which 
  made 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  4,633 
  answers 
  out 
  of 
  

   a 
  possible 
  5,660 
  valid 
  names. 
  Because 
  of 
  this 
  excellent 
  response, 
  no 
  further 
  attempt 
  

   was 
  made 
  to 
  contact 
  the 
  remaining 
  skiers 
  who 
  failed 
  to 
  return 
  questionnaires. 
  These 
  

   nonrespondents 
  were 
  assumed 
  to 
  have 
  the 
  same 
  characteristics 
  as 
  respondents. 
  

  

  Twelve 
  percent 
  (565) 
  of 
  the 
  returned 
  questionnaires 
  failed 
  to 
  show 
  the 
  number 
  

   of 
  times 
  the 
  skier 
  had 
  skied 
  during 
  the 
  year; 
  such 
  questionnaires 
  were 
  rejected 
  as 
  

   unusable 
  because 
  no 
  weighting 
  factor 
  could 
  be 
  assigned 
  to 
  the 
  individual 
  answers. 
  

   Therefore, 
  this 
  report 
  is 
  based 
  on 
  4,068 
  completed 
  skier 
  questionnaires. 
  

  

  This 
  skier 
  survey 
  had 
  two 
  basic 
  shortcomings. 
  First, 
  the 
  questionnaire 
  could 
  

   be 
  mailed 
  only 
  to 
  skiers 
  13 
  years 
  old 
  and 
  older. 
  Therefore, 
  the 
  results 
  apply 
  only 
  to 
  an 
  

   incomplete 
  sample 
  of 
  the 
  active 
  skier 
  population. 
  Second, 
  skiers 
  younger 
  than 
  19 
  were 
  

   not 
  asked 
  to 
  answer 
  questions 
  5 
  through 
  8 
  concerning 
  family 
  income 
  and 
  marital 
  status 
  

   because 
  of 
  restrictions 
  by 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  the 
  Budget. 
  Therefore, 
  the 
  data 
  pertaining 
  to 
  

   marital 
  and 
  income 
  status 
  can 
  be 
  applied 
  only 
  to 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  skier 
  population 
  19 
  or 
  

   older 
  . 
  

  

  48 
  

  

  