The Slopes Are The New Greens

WINDHAM, N.Y. - At the top of the D chairlift at Windham Mountain, no one was talking about the 2,000-foot trip to the bottom or the ski conditions. It was all about interfaces, revenue streams, and business plans.

For a day, the mountain had turned corporate boardroom, with aspiring moguls pitching their electronic-security technology or efficient oil filters to investors on the ride up the chairlift before racing to the bottom to do it again... - Boston Globe

Then take a look at this article:

Over the past decade, the leisure activity most closely associated with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession.

The total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

More troubling to golf boosters, the number of people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005 from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third.

The industry now counts its core players as those who golf eight or more times a year. That number, too, has fallen, but more slowly: to 15 million in 2006 from 17.7 million in 2000, according to the National Golf Foundation. - New York Times

I think it is safe to say that the slopes are the new greens.