Why aren't more people taking up scuba diving?

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I can only think of off piste or back country skiing in the 90's - avalanche beacons come to mind - safety equipment...

Dang found it - Helmets... who would have thought? lol
Helmets Come of Age
Following horrific ski accidents in 1997 involving Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy, helmets became de rigueur as a skiing accessory. Now skiers and snowboarders look like rubes if they fail to wear a helmet. The growth of extreme skiing and the explosion of ski and snowboard films means more riders and skiers are going fast and big. This makes helmets even more important.
- See more at: http://www.distinctlymontana.com/outdoor/history-ski-equipment#sthash.6fnqsJD2.dpuf

 

[JohnN]

Ok, another hint: we have two people (a pop star-turned-politician, and a member of America's "royal family") to thank for this innovation taking the slopes by storm at the end of the 90's.

Michael Kennedy
Sonny Bono
Natasha Richardson
Michael Schumacher


Not that I necessarily agree. . . extreme stuff was done before helmets became 'cool', and IIRC Natasha Richardson fell on the bunny slope

--------------added-------------------

Just looked up Warren Miller. He's been making "extreme skiing"movies since 1950. It would be interesting to document the first one made with the skiers wearing helmets. . .

--------------added-------------------

besides those cranial screws to mount your GoPro make getting a good haircut difficult. Helmet mounts are much easier

 

[RJP]

Michael Kennedy
Sonny Bono
Natasha Richardson
Michael Schumacher


Not that I necessarily agree. . . extreme stuff was done before helmets became 'cool', and IIRC Natasha Richardson fell on the bunny slope

But the allure/popularity that it brought to the sport from people that are NOT extreme never would have taken off.

And for that same reason... Natasha Richardson is an even better example.


Think about how many kids/families you see on the slopes now.

Holy s**t... the Ski Helmet may be killing scuba diving!

"Hey honey? If we buy helmets for little Timmy and Sarah... skiing will be perfectly safe. You and I should each get one too. Then we can do a family ski vacation this year instead of going to the Cayman Islands and looking at stupid parrot fish again!"

Think about it... that's when things started to flatten out. Seriously...

---------- Post added December 11th, 2014 at 05:54 PM ----------

I can only think of off piste or back country skiing in the 90's - avalanche beacons come to mind - safety equipment...

Dang found it - Helmets... who would have thought? lol
Helmets Come of Age
Following horrific ski accidents in 1997 involving Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy, helmets became de rigueur as a skiing accessory. Now skiers and snowboarders look like rubes if they fail to wear a helmet. The growth of extreme skiing and the explosion of ski and snowboard films means more riders and skiers are going fast and big. This makes helmets even more important.
- See more at: The Evolution of Ski Equipment - gear downhill alpine skiing skis helmets boots poles | Distinctly Montana Magazine

Funny - I found that exact same article two weeks ago (how do two guys from Somerset County NJ end up finding the same article from a Montana magazine) and have been corresponding with the author regarding the "ski vs scuba" thing.

When you read that article it's clear that skiing has had 9-10 "disruptive" and "breakout" innovations in the same time period (1940's to present) that scuba diving has had exactly... NONE.

 

[JohnN]

But the allure/popularity that it brought to the sport from people that are NOT extreme never would have taken off.

And for that same reason... Natasha Richardson is an even better example.


Think about how many kids/families you see on the slopes now.

Holy s**t... the Ski Helmet may be killing scuba diving!

"Hey honey? If we buy helmets for little Timmy and Sarah... skiing will be perfectly safe. You and I should each get one too. Then we can do a family ski vacation this year instead of going to the Cayman Islands and looking at stupid parrot fish again!"

Think about it... that's when things started to flatten out. Seriously...

---------- Post added December 11th, 2014 at 05:54 PM ----------



Funny - I found that exact same article two weeks ago (how do two guys from Somerset County NJ end up finding the same article from a Montana magazine) and have been corresponding with the author regarding the "ski vs scuba" thing.

When you read that article it's clear that skiing has had 9-10 "disruptive" and "breakout" innovations in the same time period (1940's to present) that scuba diving has had exactly... NONE.

But we have Warren Miller making extreme skiing films for the last 64 years. Correlation is not causation, unless you believe women's dress hemlines can predict the World Series / DJIA / yadda yadda

---------------------------------added-------------------------------------
And an equally compelling argument could be made that things flattened just about the time the Great Recession started. Disposable income goes in the toilet, so do 'luxury' activities. Here is a quote from a golf analysis (replace golf with SCUBA):

In a survey done in 2001 by Golf20/20, in the US, occasional golfers with an average age of 44 years account for 13,500,000 plays annually, of which 65% are males and
35% are females. Most of these golfers own their own home and earn an average
household income of $77,000. Typically they will play 1 to 7 rounds a year. For core
golfers there are 7,900,000 players with more than half having a college education, an
average income of $79,900, are married, and have children in their family. These core
golfers will typically play 8-24 rounds per year. Finally avid golfers account for
8,200,000 people with an average age of 56 years, and average income of $82,800 per
year. These golfers like to travel and will typically play golf 25 times a year or at least
twice a month.

GOLF AND THE ECONOMY
Given all of the golf demographics and rounds played, the Great Recession that began
in 2006 and that has continued to lag our economy for six years, has had a depressive
effect on golf courses. With a very slow pace of recovery, the heavy hand of
unemployment, although claimed to be going down, still looms on the horizon. And in
the last three to four years, golf courses have endured declining rounds played, higher
operating costs per round and lower greens fees. Again, many courses failed. Yet
there was no problem with them being snatched up by multi-course operators

 

[RJP]

Correlation is not causation,

Nor does it rule it out.

Would you agree that there are FAR more kids and families with kids on the slopes now that 20 years ago?

And it's not just helmets of course. Better skis make skiing easier. Better clothes make skiing warmer. Helmets make skiing safer. Snowboarding/extreme stuff makes it cooler.

Two words for you:

"Après ski"

Those skiing m*********ers even have a cool word to describe when their NOT skiing!

 

[boulderjohn]

As I pointed out with the PADI curve, when it starts scuba was new, and there were very few certified dives in the world. Thus the pool of potential diving students was enormous. As the people acquired their lifetime certifications over those decades, the pool of potential students became smaller and smaller and smaller. You would have to find a competent statistician to take that factor out of it before you can draw any meaningful conclusion about other factors.

 

[RJP]

As I pointed out with the PADI curve, when it starts scuba was new, and there were very few certified dives in the world. Thus the pool of potential diving students was enormous. As the people acquired their lifetime certifications over those decades, the pool of potential students became smaller and smaller and smaller.

Good point, the pool of potential divers shrunk from 3,691,000,000 people worldwide in 1970 all the way down to the last few remaining 7,240,000,000 non-diving people on the planet today.

Better call a competent statistician... because I can't figure out how the pool of potential students has become smaller when the population grew by nearly four billion people.

:d

 

[boulderjohn]

Good point, the pool of potential divers shrunk from 100% of the population in 1970 all the way down to the last remaining 99.3% of the population today.

:d

Of course, you are talking about the total population of the world with those numbers, not the total population with a reasonable potential to become scuba divers. I'm not looking for the Taliban to show up in my classes soon, for example

 

[drrich2]

On skiing vs. scuba. Skiing is associated with attractive, athletic young people with a chance to show off and family fun.

Scuba…well, remember the term 'frog men?' I recall a t.v. program mentioning women use purses instead of having wallets in their pockets because they're terrified we might think they're actually shaped that way (if they stuffed their pocket).

Picture the cast of the hit show Friends. Now, picture them in ski gear posing for a picture. Now picture them in masks, snorkels, weight suits, BCD's, tanks on their backs, big fins on their feet, hair wet & long hair in disarray… Ross tries to impress Rachel with his nudibranch photos, Chandler tries to impress Monica with his Buddha hover...

Some fairly strong differences. Also, I think skiing is seen as rather inclusive; family fun, or fun for a couple. Scuba is more divisive for many; how many threads do we see asking about destinations with a non-diver in tow, or the spouse snorkels, etc…? The better scuba destinations are often away from big resorts & large sandy beaches.

Richard.

 

[RJP]

Of course, you are talking about the total population of the world with those numbers, not the total population with a reasonable potential to become scuba divers. I'm not looking for the Taliban to show up in my classes soon, for example

Even the US population grew by 110,000,000 in the 44 years since PADI did their first OW class.

So the US population grew from 205,000,000 in 1970 to 316,000,000 today.

Less than 1% of the population dives.

So the potential pool has gone from 100% of 205,000,000 to 99% of 316,000,000.

And you contend that the number of certs has flattened because there have been so many certs issued to date?