SAM Magazine-Vail, Colo., Jan. 8 2009-Ski resorts across the U.S. have been reporting strong holiday visits as December snowfall brought out skiers and snowboarders in droves.

In Vermont, Okemo Mountain Resort saw skier rise seven percent above of the same Monday-through-Sunday period over the Christmas holiday last year, and six percent ahead of the five-year average for the same timeframe. The week ranked second in the past five years and fourth in the last ten years. "Skiing is a lifestyle sport," says Okemo VP of Marketing Scott Clarkson, "and the business levels we are seeing confirm that people will continue to hold on to the lifestyle values that are important to them."

Jiminy Peak has posted record skier visits to this point of the year. The count is nearly 71,000, up 4 percent, and New Year's Day "was a record breaker," said president and CEO Brian Fairbank. Other departments are also enjoying the boom, with Explorer's Children's Programs are up 21 percent from last year, and the GET Skiing and Burton Learn to Ride First Time lessons programs up 26 percent.

Maine resorts also posted strong results over the holiday period. Saddleback Ski Area CEO Warren Cook said, "We posted a 14 percent increase in skier visits and real estate sales are very active." Shawnee Peak posted strong holiday numbers, too: "We had ten long vacation days, with Christmas and New Years falling on Thursdays. Our Ullr Fest, on the 29th, generated a record turnout," said marketing director Melissa Rock. At Mt. Abram, marketing director Art McNeally reported, "Our parking lots were full, our New Year's Eve party sold out, [and] the tubing park had lines." Powderhouse Hill is on pace for record attendance as a result of the December snowstorms.

In the South, Sugar Mountain, N.C., said holiday visits up more than 40 percent over last year. In Minnesota, Welch Village noted that while post-Christmas visits were down from last year, the resort still experienced its third-best holiday period and set a new record for visits on January 1.

Visits also held up in many parts of the West, with Colorado's Arapahoe Basin, Powderhorn and Winter Park all reporting record-setting days. Both Vail and Beaver Creek had full mazes. Prior to the holidays, "It was really quiet," noted a bartender at Vendetta's in Vail. "But then it was like an explosion went off." Backing up that casual observation, the USFS said that Vail hosted more than 19,900 skiers last Friday, while nearby Beaver Creek exceeded its Forest Service-imposed "manage to" number of 11,000 the same day. In fact, Beaver Creek hit its limit every day except Monday during the holiday week.

Farther west, Park City's holiday numbers were on pace with last year. In California, Mountain High, just outside of L.A., reports visits up more than 40 percent over last year. Meanwhile, Mammoth Mountain was trending behind last year's figures before the holidays but finished December up 1 percent over the previous season. \

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