What do you think?
Rate this book
Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry is Bad for Skiing, Ski Towns, and the Environment
In this impassioned expose, lifelong skier Hal Clifford reveals how publicly traded corporations gained control of America’s most popular winter sport during the 1990s, and how their greed is gutting ski towns, the natural environment, and skiing itself.
Chronicling the collision between Wall Street’s demand for unceasing revenue growth and the fragile natural and social environments of small mountain communities, Clifford shows how the modern ski industry promotes its product as environmentally friendly, while at the same time creating urban-style problems for mountain villages. He suggests an alternative to this bleak picture in the return-to-the-roots movement that is now beginning to find its voice in many American ski towns, and he relates stories of creative business people who are shifting control of the ski business back to the communities that host it.
Hard-hitting and carefully researched, Downhill Slide is indispensable reading for anyone who lives in, visits, or cares about what is happening to America’s alpine communities.
Chronicling the collision between Wall Street’s demand for unceasing revenue growth and the fragile natural and social environments of small mountain communities, Clifford shows how the modern ski industry promotes its product as environmentally friendly, while at the same time creating urban-style problems for mountain villages. He suggests an alternative to this bleak picture in the return-to-the-roots movement that is now beginning to find its voice in many American ski towns, and he relates stories of creative business people who are shifting control of the ski business back to the communities that host it.
Hard-hitting and carefully researched, Downhill Slide is indispensable reading for anyone who lives in, visits, or cares about what is happening to America’s alpine communities.
- GenresNonfiction
300 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
3 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 2, 2007
Nonfiction. An extremely interesting look at the effect of big ski corporations on all sorts of things connected with skiing. I love to ski, and the stuff he says about these big companies do made me feel kinda bad. Decidedly one sided, but he makes some very good points. If you love skiing, you'll enjoy this book.
April 13, 2013
Interesting reading. I have been one of the fortunate few to have started living in and working at the Keystone ski area in Colorado in the mid 70's and am still here in 2013! This book puts into words what we old time employees felt and thought. I was very lucky to have found a job away from the ski industry but still stay and enjoy the lifestyle as it is.
February 23, 2025
I wish every Epic/Ikon pass holder would read this!
From what I’ve experienced through the 2000s since this book was published, this information seems tragically overlooked these days.
A ton of research & experience adds a lot of substance to the author’s points…some a bit extreme, but mostly very valid.
Reading this was intriguing, frustrating, heartbreaking, and near the end a bit more visionary. Reading it over 20 years later knowing how the industry has played out made this a great read.
A 2nd edition or documentary with this content + updates would be profound!
From what I’ve experienced through the 2000s since this book was published, this information seems tragically overlooked these days.
A ton of research & experience adds a lot of substance to the author’s points…some a bit extreme, but mostly very valid.
Reading this was intriguing, frustrating, heartbreaking, and near the end a bit more visionary. Reading it over 20 years later knowing how the industry has played out made this a great read.
A 2nd edition or documentary with this content + updates would be profound!
January 25, 2018
A very different look at the ski industry. I have been complaining about the cost of taking my family up to the slopes for about 20 years, this sums up my thoughts and gives more insight of the clever marketing that takes place.
October 27, 2019
Very eye opening to learn about the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the ski industry as well as the corruption of the US Forest Service. I also loved learning about the history of ski resorts and the mergers and business aspects of running resorts.
March 28, 2024
Great summary of industrial tourism masquerading as "adventure".
April 15, 2017
Hal Clifford’s Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry is Bad for Skiing, Ski Towns, and the Environment analyzes the changing nature of the ski industry. According to Clifford the major ski areas are increasingly focusing more on real estate and entertainment than skiing itself. The customers these areas seek, on average, spend only a couple of hours on the mountain, and often none at all.
The major ski areas are competing for the same, relatively small, pool of wealthy customers who can afford to purchase ski real-estate, or at least have the ability to spend thousands of dollars on single ski vacation. Clifford questions the economic and environmental sustainability of this real-estate and experience-oriented “arms race”, as well as how beneficial the ski resort development has really been for the towns they are connected to.
Clifford has a bit of an agenda in this book, somewhat anti-corporate but mostly nostalgia for an era that may never have completely existed. Clifford also claims the stratification of ski towns is the modern version of colonialism; this claim is more hyperbole than fact.
Despite Clifford’s bias, he does make a number of valid points. The ski area real-estate model pushes up prices outside the ski area and over time prices out many of those who work at the ski area or in town. There is certainly no free lunch when human impact is concerned; however, Clifford makes a number of valid points about the environmental impact of large-scale skis: continual development displaces wildlife, often without leaving viable alternative habitats.
Finally, Clifford is correct to question not just the environmental but economic sustainability. The major ski areas are, in many ways, playing a shell game to develop more real estate and have ever better artificial villages than their competitors. However, the competition for wealthy clientele is largely a zero-sum game: a ski area gaining one these customers means another ski area lost a customer. It is questionable how many ski areas can really be supported on a business model that relies mostly (if not completely) on a small elite.
I read this book some years ago when it first came out but on a re-read it holds up fairly well and the predictions and analysis have been mostly accurate 10 years later--the lack of affordable housing in ski towns is probably not a new revelation to anyone who has lived in a state with a large concentration of ski areas but nonetheless remains an important issue for ski towns.
The major ski areas are competing for the same, relatively small, pool of wealthy customers who can afford to purchase ski real-estate, or at least have the ability to spend thousands of dollars on single ski vacation. Clifford questions the economic and environmental sustainability of this real-estate and experience-oriented “arms race”, as well as how beneficial the ski resort development has really been for the towns they are connected to.
Clifford has a bit of an agenda in this book, somewhat anti-corporate but mostly nostalgia for an era that may never have completely existed. Clifford also claims the stratification of ski towns is the modern version of colonialism; this claim is more hyperbole than fact.
Despite Clifford’s bias, he does make a number of valid points. The ski area real-estate model pushes up prices outside the ski area and over time prices out many of those who work at the ski area or in town. There is certainly no free lunch when human impact is concerned; however, Clifford makes a number of valid points about the environmental impact of large-scale skis: continual development displaces wildlife, often without leaving viable alternative habitats.
Finally, Clifford is correct to question not just the environmental but economic sustainability. The major ski areas are, in many ways, playing a shell game to develop more real estate and have ever better artificial villages than their competitors. However, the competition for wealthy clientele is largely a zero-sum game: a ski area gaining one these customers means another ski area lost a customer. It is questionable how many ski areas can really be supported on a business model that relies mostly (if not completely) on a small elite.
I read this book some years ago when it first came out but on a re-read it holds up fairly well and the predictions and analysis have been mostly accurate 10 years later--the lack of affordable housing in ski towns is probably not a new revelation to anyone who has lived in a state with a large concentration of ski areas but nonetheless remains an important issue for ski towns.
September 17, 2024
a good read ab the downfall of the ski industry! and most industries! yay corporate greed
January 13, 2016
What was originally "a tool for nation building" in Norway, as they sought independence from Sweden, skiing was considered a pastime that bred toughness and mental and physical strength. From this distant past we have somehow turned a few corners and fell down a flight of stairs while forming what is the modern ski industry. An orgy of wealth situated largely around three large corporations, Vail Resorts, Intrawest and American Skiing, that dominate the ski resort industry, liquify mountain towns and purge them of their original residents, all in the name of profit and an ever increasing profit motive required by companies who trade publicly on Wall Street and hope to compete on a corporate scale.
This story, however, is rarely told. Hal Clifford grew up skiing and has a genuine love for the sport, but as a journalist he had to question the negative social trends he witnessed occurring in many of these tourist-driven mountain enclaves. The result is "Downhill Slide," an eye-opening investigation of the cost of these resorts, both on their communities and the natural environment that surrounds them.
Clifford concludes by postulating what can be done to turn this dire circumstance, and the corporatization of the mountain West, around. He offers the idea of community ownership, of small-scale operations and of disentangling the fate of the working class from the greedy palms of elite Wall Street business executives and shareholders.
"What can be replicated, and what is critical to the future of skiing, is local control and low costs. Without external pressures to turn an ever increasing profit, these ski areas grow only to accommodate skier demand, not to satisfy Wall Street. Local control is a critical and necessary difference that changes everything, for it essentially aligns the ski area's interests with those of the [mountain community]."
This story, however, is rarely told. Hal Clifford grew up skiing and has a genuine love for the sport, but as a journalist he had to question the negative social trends he witnessed occurring in many of these tourist-driven mountain enclaves. The result is "Downhill Slide," an eye-opening investigation of the cost of these resorts, both on their communities and the natural environment that surrounds them.
Clifford concludes by postulating what can be done to turn this dire circumstance, and the corporatization of the mountain West, around. He offers the idea of community ownership, of small-scale operations and of disentangling the fate of the working class from the greedy palms of elite Wall Street business executives and shareholders.
"What can be replicated, and what is critical to the future of skiing, is local control and low costs. Without external pressures to turn an ever increasing profit, these ski areas grow only to accommodate skier demand, not to satisfy Wall Street. Local control is a critical and necessary difference that changes everything, for it essentially aligns the ski area's interests with those of the [mountain community]."
June 23, 2013
Read this in preparation for getting personally involved in a 20+ year battle with a proposed resort. Gave me the history and analysis I needed and never felt like a slog for more than a few pages at a time. Would've been nice to hear more about Canada though, and the book could've done with a little more immigration analysis and a little more clarity around issues of class. Overall though, I'd recommend it, though I do wonder what's changed since the book came out. Looking forward to reading The Weekender Effect by Robert Sandford.
April 18, 2014
This is a shocking document of the pure corruption and greed and is our ski industry. It's scary how blind and ignorant those big corporations are when they want to exist in environmentally minded communities. Makes me never want to buy a ski pass....but it's just so fun. Definitely makes me consider skiing ONLY the small mountains that are here in Tahoe, and never again giving a penny to Vail or KSL. I would consider this a must-read for any skier/snowboarder, especially those living in areas like Tahoe or Colorado where these corporations are in control. All locals should know this stuff.
April 7, 2008
As a ski bum of three years, I appreciated the history of the ski industry. While the book made me raise my fist to the 'man', I also struggled to paddle through all the data. However, I would recommend ski loving folk to take a ganter at the tale of our warped and enviornmentally destructive sport.
September 3, 2008
It's a bit like an editorial, but a good idea of what it is like living in a ski town past the 70's and the market that surrounds it.
October 8, 2008
See my review at www.abdou.ca/litpicks.html
Read
August 9, 2011The Cadillac Desert of the ski industry... exposes the dirty laundry.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews