Browse Our Archives

May 2015

A Wild and Crazy Year

It was the anti-Goldilocks year: too warm or too cold; too little snow, or too much. Yet many areas enjoyed record or above-average seasons.

Linda Goodspeed

Written by Linda Goodspeed | 0 comment

In a wild and crazy winter, sparse snow and warm temperatures in the West, coupled with ample snow but too-cold temperatures in the East, resulted in a lackluster 2014-15 season. Yes, Colorado might set another record. But that will hardly offset four years of drought in the Far West, crippling Arctic cold in the East, and cold but dry weather in parts of the Midwest.


West: Warmer Than Usual, Less Snow
After four years of drought, the season started hopefully in California. Early snow in December raised spirits and allowed everyone to get open for Christmas. But the momentum quickly died. January was the driest and second warmest on record. The Sierra Nevada received only two percent of normal precipitation, and recorded an average temperature of 53 degrees for the month.

At least seven areas had to close, some never to reopen.

“No one is throwing in the towel,” says Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industries Association. “I don’t see anyone going under.” But many are examining business plans. At Tahoe, Heavenly is looking to boost summer business 45 percent with a new mountain bike park, kayaking and paddleboarding, along with zip lines and mountain coasters.

The season was not much better farther north. In Alaska, where average temperatures have risen 6.3 degrees over the last 50 years, Anchorage received less than a third of its normal snowfall, with precipitation instead falling as rain.

Snowfall was also down, and rainfall up, in Washington and Oregon. Higher elevation areas—Stevens Pass, Timberline, Mt. Bachelor, Mt. Hood Meadows, Anthony Lakes, White Pass, Mission Ridge, Crystal—did “OK.” Some lower elevation areas never got open. John Gifford, president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association, predicts visits will fall about 50 percent from the 10-year average.

The Rockies fared better. Despite lower than normal snowfall in Colorado, the state was on pace for another record visit total. Utah also received less snow than usual, but lodging and visits were up over last year, despite a rapid March warmup. “We had a big pull from California and the Pacific Northwest, and quite a few people coming to Utah instead of Tahoe,” says Paul Marshall, communications director at Ski Utah.

Even with below average snowfall and its third warmest winter on record, Jackson Hole, with some of the nation’s deepest base depths, had a good season. “We definitely picked up visitors from the Far West,” says Anna Cole, communications manager.

She notes that the multi-resort Mountain Collective pass has helped drive some of that influx. “It really allows people to make the decision of where to ski based on snow conditions. We’re seeing an uptick in pass usage and sales.”

A new north-facing lift and trails installed last summer helped Whitefish, Mont., dodge a bullet in a lean snow year. “It really paid off for us,” says Nick Polumbus, director of sales and marketing. “Snowfall was only a third of normal.” On the bright side, midweek business was up, and Canadian visitors remained loyal despite a lowered exchange rate.


Midwest: Warmer than Last Year
In the 10-state Midwest region, less natural snow but a bit warmer temps (President’s week excepted) helped push business up slightly over last season.

“Last year was good. This one is proving to be a bit better,” says Scott Crislip, general manager of Snow Trails, Ohio, which started making snow Nov. 13, its earliest start ever. With tubing up and visitors coming from farther away, Crislip says the season was the third best of the last 10.

At Wild Mountain, outside Minneapolis, visits were up slightly despite only 28 inches of snow (13 of them in November), a frigid February, and a dramatic March warmup that shut down the area nearly a month early. “It was a weird year, but they’re all weird lately,” says owner Amy Frischmon.

For the first time, Wild offered a free season pass to beginners who completed its three-day learn-to program. Of the 121 newbies who finished all three lessons, 99 actually used their passes. “Hopefully, we introduced another 100 people in this area who became skiers, not just took a lesson,” Frischmon says.

Although down some from last season (a record), Crystal Mountain, Mich., had its third strong year in a row, just in time for the area’s $9 million investment this summer in a new triple chair, six new slopes, and an expansion to its base inn. “We had one of the best Januarys we’ve ever had,” says Brian Lawson, communications director. “MLK was really good this year. In recent years, it’s been one of the toughest weekends to fill.”


East: Too Cold and Too Much Snow in the Backyard
Record snow, but too much cold made for only an average-to- above season in the Northeast. The extreme cold kept many skiers from enjoying epic snow conditions. Considering the fantastic conditions, above average was very disappointing.

February was almost a disaster. Bitter cold, combined with strong Arctic winds over President’s Day weekend, prevented some areas, including Loon and Wildcat, N.H., from even opening. Others opened late or had to shut down lifts.

“It was a marginal day on what should have been the biggest day of the year,” notes Tom Meyers, marketing director at Wachusett, Mass., which had to close on another day that month for a different reason—too much snow. “It was a total paradox from mid January to the end of February, with incredible snowfalls. But we did not see the business you would think with such fantastic conditions.”

“If someone had told me November 1 that by the end of February we would have over 100 inches of snow and Boston would have over 100 inches of snow, I would have said, ‘Yippee’!” adds Bruce McCloy, marketing director at Sunapee, N.H. “Be careful what you wish for. It was a combination of too much snow too fast, the timing of some of the storms on weekends, and too much cold. People couldn’t get out to get up here.”

Despite the disappointing February, the season had a happy ending for just about everyone, with a phenomenal March. “It’s going to be a great year, just not the year we expected with all the snow,” McCloy says.

“All in all, we’re going to end up with a very good season,” Meyers adds. “All of our anxiety for that six weeks has been put to rest.”

In other good news, Meyers says online sales were way up, season pass sales rose, there was a huge shift from one-day to three-day lesson packages, and retail had a record year.

Nashoba Valley, Mass., also had a good year, but not as good as hoped with all the snow. “The conditions were awesome. I can’t ever remember three feet of fresh powder at Nashoba Valley. But the cold was crippling,” says Pam Fletcher, marketing director, who did a an educational series for Boston television stations on how to dress for the extreme cold.

Many smaller areas, such as Titcomb and Camden Snow Bowl in Maine, were not as severely impacted by the extreme cold and had great years. Larger areas like Sunday River and Sugarloaf USA were not as fortunate. “Missing that Monday of President’s week really hurt,” says Greg Sweetser, executive director at Ski Maine.


Southeast: On a Roll
“We’ve had a good run,” says Chris Bates, general manager at Cataloochee, N.C., after the resort’s third straight record season. Bates says lessons were up, thanks to switching to terrain-based learning and adopting the Elan free-skis program (complete five beginner lessons and receive a free pair of skis). “We bought 400 pairs of skis, and will do it again next year,” Bates says.

Consistent cold temps also lifted other North Carolina resorts, including Wolf Ridge, Sapphire, Appalachian, Beech, and Sugar Mountains, to strong results.

Ditto for Virginia, West Virginia, and the mid-Atlantic. “It’s been a great season,” says Anna Weltz at Seven Springs and Hidden Valley, Pa. So good, in fact, that Seven Springs was selected to host Superpark19, April 5-9, the first time an Eastern resort has hosted the prestigious snowboard event.

But in this wild and crazy winter, that was the norm. “A big thing that happened this year in snowboarding, due to the prolific Eastern Seaboard snowfall, was that almost all snowboard video crews headed to New England to film for their movies,” says Mary Walsh at Snowboarder magazine. “Video crews have always found their way out East, but this was a mass pilgrimage that lasted for weeks and months.”

It was that kind of year. When Sugar Mountain, N.C., opens earlier and closes later than Sugar Bowl, Calif., it’s a strange season, indeed.