Near perfect winter weather across the continent, particularly in the East, may result in record ski seasons in both the United States and Canada. U.S. resorts are hoping to top 54 million skier visits for the fourth time in the last decade, while in Canada, a record-breaking 18 million skier visits is expected for the first time ever.
East
“Everything that could go right went right,” said Alice Pearce, executive director of Ski New Hampshire. “The major snowstorms all fell midweek, we hit every holiday. It was amazing.” Last season, New Hampshire did only 1.9 million skier visits. By the end of March, resorts were on pace to break the 2.2 million record set in the early 90s.
Some resorts were more amazing than others. In New Hampshire, Mt. Sunapee was up 37 percent over last year, on track to do 240,000 skier visits (double its best in just three years under Tim and Diane Mueller). Bretton Woods was up 18 percent, and Pat’s Peak, the Dartmouth Skiway and other smaller areas were “posting numbers I’ve never seen from them before,” Pearce said.
Records in Vermont and Maine are less likely, although both states were running well ahead of last year. “The only disappointment anybody has this year is they haven’t burst at the seams,” said Greg Sweetser, executive director at Ski Maine. “Everybody loves those super-record days. But with so much terrain open all over New England, the skiers got spread out.”
Mid-size areas like Shawnee Peak, Mt. Abram and Saddleback in Maine, and Mad River Glen, Ascutney and Bromley in Vermont had particularly strong seasons, as did community areas like Eton, Titcomb, Black and Hermon mountains in Maine. “We saw a lot of straight skis on the hill, a lot of lessons,” Sweetser said. “I think we were attracting new people as well as people who haven’t skied in awhile.”
In the Southeast, “everybody had a record or near record season,” said Steve Showalter, president of the Southeastern Ski Areas Association. “The season started earlier, lasted longer with no major thaws.”
West
With the exception of the Pacific Northwest, which never recovered from an extra dry January, western resorts had a good, and in some cases, great season.
After last year’s admittedly crummy season, Colorado, at the end of March, was running within .1 percent of the record (12 million skier visits) 1997-98 ski season. “There was a lot of pent-up demand, especially from the Front Range skiers,” said Kristen Rust, communications manager at Colorado Ski Country USA. “There were some incredible deals going on. As a result, all the Front Range destination resorts did very well.”
If snow and deals were the story in Colorado, in Utah it was snow (by the end of March some resorts were still sitting on more than 90 inches) and pre-Olympic hype. “We were thinking record season at the beginning with the early start,” said Nathan Rafferty, communications director at the Utah Ski and Snowboard Association. “We’re still thinking record, but not by as wide a margin.”
The record (3.144 million skier visits) was set two years ago. Although the pre-Olympic competitions and publicity helped bring record crowds this year, Rafferty said resorts are bracing for a down year next season when the actual Games begin.
“Even though the Olympics last only 17 days in February and only three of 14 resorts are involved, we’re finding that people don’t want to be where they are,” Rafferty said. “Everyone, even resorts not involved in the Olympics, expect crowds to be down for the whole season.”
As a result, Utah will soon launch a promotion offering lots of deals before and after the Games. “The message is, ‘if you stay home and watch the Olympics on TV, great, but come to Utah before or after the Games and you’ll get some great deals,’” Rafferty said.
Despite energy woes, a slow start and early finish, California bounced back strongly from last season’s disappointing 6.5 million skier visits. “It won’t be a record year [7.2 million two years ago], but we’ll come out well, probably close to 7.2 million,” said Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Association.
Southern California, led by Mountain High, which posted a record 500,000-plus skier visits, was off the charts. Tahoe resorts did well, as did Mammoth, despite some rolling blackout scares.
“The energy crisis didn’t really impact our business at all,” Roberts said. “But it’s going to get worse and ski resorts are looking at a variety of options—wind, solar, hydroelectric, working singly or as aggregators. We’re trying to put as many options out there as we can.”
The energy crunch hasn’t reached the Pacific Northwest, but neither did the snow this year. An exceptionally dry January that left the snowpack between 30 and 50 percent below normal at most resorts, will mean a down year in Washington and Oregon.
Midwest
The Midwest has been on a moderate growth curve the last three seasons. “It was a good, but not great year,” said Chris Stoddard, president of the Midwest Ski Areas Association. “The farther south, generally the better the season was, partly because it was a good year so people skied closer to home.”
But nobody’s complaining. The region’s best season (nine million skier visits) was set nearly 20 years ago. Since 1998-99, the Midwest has been on a steady upward climb and should reach seven million this season, Stoddard said.
Canada
Coming off two strong 17 million-plus seasons, Canada is poised to break the 18 million mark for the first time.
“We’re expecting and hoping for a 15 percent increase over last year across all of Canada,” said Colin Chedore, president of the Canadian Ski Council.
But it will be a hard-fought record, at least for western resorts that had to battle back from a snowless early start. “It was a challenging year,” admitted Jimmie Spencer, president and CEO of Canada West Ski Areas Association. “The saving grace was the summer grooming many of the areas have been doing. They’ve done a tremendous amount of raking, soiling, seeding, and it all paid off. Most of the areas had reasonably good conditions, even with very little snow.”
Areas with major snowmaking investments fared well—Lake Louise, Norquay, Nakiska, Panorama, as did coastal areas, Whistler and Blackcomb, which received more natural snowfall. Although the West won’t hit last year’s record 8.4 million skier visits, heavy late-season snow and a strong close “should bring us fairly close to that mark,” Spencer said.
In eastern Canada it wasn’t even close. Perfect season-long weather and a surge in day skiers helped nearly every resort to a record, some by as much as 25 percent. “I can’t remember a better season,” said Claude Peloquin, executive director of the Quebec Ski Areas Association. “All of our destination markets increased, but the biggest increase was people from Quebec.”
