I think one thing factoring into less people skiing is more people doing back country and touring. I myself this season have only went to ski resorts maybe 15 days , 6-8 of those days were out west in ideal conditions and the rest of the 25-30 days I've been out on our own.
I don't plan on throwing away $70+ to ski garbage groomed trails but want to be outside on my skis regardless. This pushes me to do some back country exploring, whether its a day/weekend thing to Mt Washington, VT, ME or even just a quick 30 minute hike up Mt Major its nice to enjoy the outdoors and nature. The industry changing and making touring bindings and skis much easier to use and more affordable is also helping people get outside of the resorts.
Helmets I support though. For me skiing trees is where I like to be, too high of a risk of hitting a tree to limit the fun to me by staying on the trails. My second thought was after college, I paid over 100k out of pocket thanks to not getting any "tuition assistance" to educate my brain, it would be stupid not to insure it with a $40 piece of plastic.
