Don't even get me going on this topic, LOL.
I've been an avid (some would say "hardcore") outdoor recreation junkie for decades. And I've spent a huge part of my life mastering and pursuing "fringe" outdoor sports (like hang gliding, hardboot snowboarding, whitewater slalom racing, motorcycle sport-touring, etc.) I've also been an expert canoeist for decades.
I don't say any of this to blow my own horn—but simply to point out that I've had decades of close observation of not only outdoor sports generally, but who is doing them and how the media portrays them. And my broad-brush conclusions (there are always exceptions!) after all these years of observation are as follows:
1. People are lazy. They are ALWAYS looking for shortcuts. ALWAYS. Generally speaking, people don't want to take the time to actually PRACTICE something to master it. They just want to be able to do it, period. So people naturally gravitate to sports with an extremely low-barrier to entry. In watersports, we're talking about whitewater rafting—which requires almost no skill—and paddleboarding, which also requires almost no skill to just do it at the local pond or calm-water lake. (If you question whether whitewater rafting requires any skill, I have personally watched hundreds (possibly thousands) of complete idiots lacking any experience or skill bounce their way down class IV rivers with nary a scratch. Occasionally they go overboard but are generally hauled back in soon enough with no harm done. Kayaking and canoeing in whitewater require VASTLY greater skill.)
2. People are weak. They want sports that don't require good physical conditioning. (Just look at obesity rates in the US, maybe Canada too, I don't know?) In particular, any sport that requires the ability to lift a boat weighing 45-75lbs onto a vehicle is beyond the reach of most people—as are sports that require good conditioning to even do well. This is a big reason (along with no-skill-required) why people love paddleboarding.—because paddleboards are generally light enough that even weak people can pick them up (or inflate them).
3. The media only publishes what sells, period. And Xtreme sports (it's gotta have the "X" in there!) sell far more than serene scenes of someone just paddling along for hours. Magazine publishers know they will sell far more magazines when the cover depicts some Xtreme kayaker plummeting off a 50-foot waterfall or Xtreme sea kayakers paddling through monster surf surrounded by deadly reefs and rocks...or surfing Deception Pass at peak tidal currents. This has the net effect of convincing the majority of people that "those sports are insane, no way I'm doing that." People do what they can SEE themselves doing...and how they see themselves is in published media (including YouTube). When that media doesn't show average people having average adventures, they look elsewhere.
4. Finally, people are CHEAP. With rising inequality and more people struggling to make ends meet, nobody has the wherewithal to drop $3,000 dollars on a kayak. Hell, I'm likely never to be able to drop $3K on a kayak, which is ultimately why I paddle $1600 plastic boats. (Yes, I know the second-hand market is there, but my point still stands.) To go back to the paddleboard example, you can buy a perfectly good inflatable paddleboard now for...what? $500-600? Not to mention the "Clorox bottle" kayaks being cranked out by the thousand and sold in big box stores for $250. And forget paying for instruction—most people, after spending even $600 on a paddleboard, aren't going to then spend another $100 for single-bladed paddling lessons (which they all DESPERATELY need, as evidenced by all the paddleboarders I see who don't even use the T-grip with their top hand...DOH!)
It's all very saddening to me, and I don't think it's likely to change. Maybe there is some trickle-down effect: if a million people are farting around spastically on their paddleboards, more people will bubble up who are actually talented and gain skills—and eventually say "This paddleboard sucks! I need a REAL craft I can actually GO SOMEWHERE in!" and graduate to distance kayaking.
I think cost is a huge factor too. I mean, I'd love to start a sea kayaking program in my community here in Oregon—but I couldn't feasibly do it without buying a stable of boats—and that can be pretty costly. (As compared with, say, starting up a hiking program.)
More worrisome to me though is the general dumbing-down of the wilderness experience. Because one thing is absolutely certain: as you make it easier for people to get deep into wild places (with guided tours, powered travel, etc.) those wild places suffer. After decades of observation, I'm 100% certain of that.
Scott
