Oslo-based Skiforeningen, the local skiing association, has broken another record after counting 72,000 members at the end of this past season. Even though the winter was poor, with late snow that melted early, new skiers and outdoors enthusiasts signed up in droves.
“We’ve had good growth the past several years, but it’s especially nice with the growth this season, which was difficult,” Espen Jonhaugen, Skiforeningen’s marketing chief, told newspaper Aftenposten.
The association had stable membership of between 45,000 and 50,000 throughout much of the 1980s, but since 2008, membership has increased by nearly 50 percent. Jonhaugen linked the growth to generally higher interest in skiing and outdoor activity, along with Skiforeningen’s courses and programs for making the hills and forests more accessible and user-friendly. Membership growth cut across all age groups, but was greatest among youth.
newsinenglish.no staff
