This was an interesting little article that popped up in The Age yesterday – based on a study conducted, skiiers are getting more enjoyment out of a snow trip than those on a board are… It’s an interesting idea, and not one that makes a whole lot of sense. When I looked into it, it appears that the Telegraph in the UK picked up on a single line in the press release on a study about overall happiness in snowsports, added some random statistics from who-knows-where, published it and then The Age re-posted in full (you can read it here).

The study was conducted by Hyun-Woo Lee of Florida State University. He worked with Yonsei University to conduct the survey with 279 visitors at three major ski resorts in South Korea. What the study actually showed was that the enjoyment gained was different. In a follow up post to the initial release, Hyun-Woo says that the two groups had a statistically significant difference in enjoyment, but that due to other factors, the effect of that difference was nil. You can read more from him over here.

The actual point to the study was the link between overall happiness and participating in a snow sport. Which was proven beyond doubt. The release concludes with this, “Adult playfulness can influence people’s happiness, while activities and socially convening around a sporting activity such as skiing have positive psychological outcomes and contribute to overall well-being … This is also true for people who only casually participate in sports.”