Artificial wall climbing, kayaking, snowboarding fastest-growing

The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association released a few findings from its 2002 Outdoor Recreation in America study. According to the study artificial wall climbing, kayaking and snowboarding are the fastest growing outdoor activities in America. In addition, the group says there are more than twice as many tent campers (43.5 million) than RV campers (19.1 million), but despite the huge difference, there are more “frequent” RV campers (6.3 million) than “frequent” tent campers (5.7 million). Also, trail running participation is up 11.5 percent since 1998 and trail runners averaged 47 days of participation in 2001 — the most of any outdoor activity in this report — while about 70 percent of mountain bikers are under the age of 35, and 40 percent of the participants have been involved in the sport for three years or less. And day hiking is more appealing to females, while overnight hiking is male-dominated.