End-of-Season Numbers Not So Bad
The Kottke End-of-Season numbers for the 2001-2002 season were released and despite 9/11, late openings and a slowing economy, skier visits came in at 54.2 million, only off 5.5 percent from last season’s record breaking 57.3 million. In fact, 2001/2002 figures are the third highest on record and if considered on a 10-year average, this year’s numbers were up 0.7 percent.
Broken out, all regions except for the Pacific West were down over last season: the Northeast by 10.5 percent; the Southeast down 9.5 percent; the Midwest dropped 7.2 percent; and the Rocky Mountains saw a 5.9 percent loss. The Pacific West, because of some great snowfall, saw a 10.1 percent increase over last season.
Much of the decline in visits can be attributed to lack of early season snowfall, as well as little late season snowfall. Combined, these two periods were estimated to be down by 31.4 percent. Hardest hit was the Southeast with 61 percent less snowfall than average. The Northeast saw 46 percent less, the Midwest was down 29 percent and the Rocky Mountains region was off of its average by 10 percent. It seems that the snow didn’t get past the Pacific West region, which saw a 31 percent increase.
Other highlights of the report, which is prepared for NSAA by RRC Associates, were strong season pass sales, up 75 percent since 1998/1999, and an increase in snowboarding numbers, which went from 27.7 percent of total visits last season to 29.2 percent this season.
Overall, weekend adult ticket prices averaged $49.59, however ticket revenue per visit averaged only $27.39.
SLOC Reports Profit
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee reported that the Winter Games turned a $56 million profit, most of which will be used to maintain the Olympic venues. SLOC credits budget cuts, planning, good turnout and better-than-expected revenues ($6 million more than projected). SLOC will return $10 million of the profit to the U.S. Government, which were unused federal funds in the first place.
By comparison, the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta had $10 million leftover and the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games reported a $200-million surplus.
Heavenly Deal Closes
It’s official. Vail Resorts, Inc. is the new owner of American Skiing Company’s (ASC) Heavenly ski resort in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. The final price was $99.2 million, most of which ASC plans to use toward decreasing debt.
Club Med Leaves Copper
After 21 years, Club Med will close up shop at Copper Mountain Resort, Colo. Club Med will sell its facility to Copper’s owners, Intrawest Corp., for $8 million. However, Club Med has plans to open a new facility at another Intrawest location, with Mammoth Mountain, Calif., and Mont Tremblant, Que., topping the list of resorts. Crested Butte, Colo., is the only other ski resort in the U.S. with a Club Med property.
USSA And NBC Ink Deal
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and NBC Sports have signed a four-year broadcast agreement running through the 2006 Olympic season. Under the deal, NBC will broadcast eight hours of alpine and freestyle skiing and snowboarding each winter through 2006. The agreement includes a primetime broadcast of the Chevy Truck U.S. Snowboard Grand Prix from Park City on Saturday night, December 21. The agreement is in addition to a previous arrangement that will provide 14 hours of coverage of the FIS World Championships.
Breckenridge Gets OK for $400M Expansion
Vail Resorts and the town of Breckenridge have agreed on plans for a $400 million expansion and renovation for Breckenridge ski resort. The agreement, reached after three years of negotiations, includes approval of 400 to 500 new condominiums and homes on the mountain, a makeover for the aging Peak 8 base area, creation of a new Peak 7 base area, and installation of a gondola linking the town center with Peaks 7 and 8.
The plan is designed to integrate the resort’s expanded base areas and on-mountain residences with the existing town. The agreement includes fewer residential units and less retail space than Vail Resorts’ original plan and addresses parking and access issues that the town had raised. In return, Vail Resorts receives $10 million in benefits and newly generated tax revenues to help finance the gondola, along with approval of a ski run that allows visitors to ski/ride back to the gondola base and parking lots north of town. Breckenridge is installing two new lifts this summer, with the gondola slated for installation in 2005.
Vancouver in 2010?
The Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation has officially thrown its hat into the ring for the 2010 Winter Olympics. In all, eight cities will make bids and then the list will be whittled down in August 2002. Each of the remaining candidate cities will then submit a final Bid Book in January 2003. The final decision will be announced on July 2, 2003 in Prague, the Czech Republic.
WestRock Signs Lease
The developers of WestRock Lake Cascade, a proposed year-round destination mountain resort in Idaho, have signed a binding lease on 2,100 acres of state land. With the signing, WestRock CEO Jean-Pierre Boesflug presented Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne a check for $400,000 as an advance on the first two years of the lease. The money is earmarked for a public school endowment.
Before WestRock starts any significant construction, however, the proposed resort is waiting on three important regulatory milestones: Approval of a water rights application; resolution of a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers filed by an opponent of the development; and a vote by legislature to confirm the extension of the land lease from 10 to 49 years.
Okemo Begins Jackson Gore Expansion
After four years in the application and permit process, Okemo, Vt., has begun construction of a detachable quad lift and trail system for its Jackson Gore development. The lift, six intermediate and advanced trails, and snowmaking will be completed for the 2002-03 season.
The entire $100 million project encompasses proposals for a condo hotel, train station, base lodge, retail village, tennis center, golf course and water park. But those elements are subject to a ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court, which is expected to hear an appeal of the project this summer. If the Court rules in Okemo’s favor, construction of some infrastructure could begin before the 2002-2003 ski season arrives.
Two Ski Areas Find New Owners
Two years ago, Searchmont Ski Area in Ontario went into foreclosure and was taken over by the bank, which ran the area the first season and let the local community run it this past season. For 2002-2003, Searchmont will enter the season with a new owner, Jack McDermott of Chicago.
Down in the states, Pines Winter Sports Park, Ind., was purchased by Chris Marshall, a local ski shop owner. The small community area lies on the eastern edge of the Chicago metro area.
Golden Eagle Award
Telluride Ski & Golf Company was awarded the 2002 Golden Eagle Award for overall environmental excellence. The award, presented by Mountain Sports Media, was given to Telluride for, among other things, completing an environmentally-sensitive expansion into Prospect Bowl.
Ski Patrols Create National Union
Six ski patrol unions have combined to form the United Professional Ski Patrols of America, a nationwide union. The unions include those at Steamboat, Crested Butte, Aspen and Breckenridge in Colorado plus The Canyons, Utah, and Killington, Vt., with a total of about 500 members.
The aim of the national organization is similar to unions everywhere: better working conditions, better benefits and better pay. Other issues of importance to the patrols are uniform safety procedures and job security for those who make a career of patrolling. Officials said the creation of the national union is a logical step given the number of resorts that have become organized, and was not spurred by any specific grievance.
No More Skiing at Brodie
Having owned Brodie Mountain since 1999, president Brian Fairbank, who also operates nearby Jiminy Peak, and his partner have decided to suspend ski area operations in favor of tubing, snowshoeing and other winter activities for the upcoming season.
Management at the western Massachusetts area pointed to several factors for the decision. First, unforeseen compliance expenses after the initial purchase in addition to larger-than-expected maintenance costs put a strain on the ski area’s finances. Second, the needed state grant for the construction of a public road through the resort was delayed and the timing for approval of various permits will not make it for this year’s construction season. In addition, the hoped-for development partner this past spring did not materialize. The final nail in the coffin was a 50 percent decrease in season pass sales this spring.
Durango Back in Action
After being forced to vote again on Durango Mountain Resort’s master plan by a petition drive organized by Colorado Wild, the La Plata Board of County Commissioners in Colorado voted unanimously 3-0 to uphold their previous approval. The approval clears the way for a public vote which will likely take place on August 13. Durango’s 25-year master plan includes 1,649 real estate units and 400,000 square feet of retail space on 612 acres, mostly concentrated at the base of the ski area.
People
At the United States Ski And Snowboard Association (USSA), president and CEO Bill Marolt was elected vice president of the International Ski Federation (FIS) and a member of the council. Marolt succeeds American representative Hank Tauber who retired after 14 years. Back home, the USSA named Phil McNichol as head men’s alpine coach. On the nordic side, Bard Jorgen Elden was named head coach for the nordic combined and Trond Nystad has been named head coach for the cross-country program. At the United States Olympic Committee office, president Sandra Baldwin resigned after admitting she lied about her academic credentials.
On the award front, Colorado Ski Country USA announced that Mark Voegli from Crested Butte Mountain Resort has been chosen 2001-2002 snowmaker of the year and Walt Valdez from Beaver Creek was awarded the slope groomer of the year honor.
In Canada, Ken Read has been named the new president of Alpine Canada Alpin.
In the publishing field, Skiing magazine raided the offices of Outside magazine and announced new editorial appointments. Dave Allen will become the new art director and Nicole Duggan becomes associate art director. Mark Peruzzi was named senior editor and Lindsay Yaw was named assistant editor. Peter Oliver and Steve Casimiro, neither of whom were from Outside, became eastern editor and California correspondent respectively.
In the Northeast, Okemo Mountain Resort, Vt., promoted Jennifer Smith to marketing manager and Lori Edwards to online marketing manager . . . At Loon Mountain, N.H., Jeb Boyd, director of snowsports, will now oversee rental operations . . . Further north, Shawnee Peak Ski Area, Maine, hired 1992 Italian Olympic ski racer Alberto Senigagliese as head race coach.
Heading west, Colorado Ski Country USA president David Perry announced his resignation. Perry will become Aspen’s new senior vice president . . . Perry replaces Aspen COO John Norton who has accepted the position of president/CEO at Crested Butte Mountain Resort . . . Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc. has created a new position, naming Chris “Gunny” Gunnarson director of youth market development . . . Rockresorts International, in which Vail Resorts has the majority interest, has appointed Michael C. Shindler as vice president of development and David M. Dudar as director of marketing . . . Rob Linde will take over the marketing department at Eldora Mountain Resort, Colo., once again.
In the Midwest, Barry Bolich, former GM at Indianhead Mountain Resort, Mich., is now mountain manager at Blackjack, Mich . . . .Seven Oaks Ski Area, Iowa, hired Jayne Smith as group sales director.
At the Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, Matt Mosteller has been promoted to senior director, business development.
Supplier Personnel
Chris Licata, vice president and director of sales at Salomon North America has announced his resignation, effective July 31, 2002.
At the SE Group, Chris Cushing, principal, will join the SE Group staff in the Park City, Utah office to establish a further presence in the intermountain region. Tom Allender, former director of resort planning at Vail, has joined the SE Group as senior associate in charge of mountain and resort planning in the Frisco, Colo., office. Lastly, Bob Nevins has returned to the SE Group as a senior associate and will be responsible for leading the land planning division in Frisco.
Supplier News
On the heels of the Aspen ski and snowboard school decision to make helmets mandatory for students under 12, The Saint Anthony Health Foundation and Leedom International have teamed up to promote a program whereby all ski and snowboard school participants under the age of 12 would be outfitted with Snell RS-98 certified helmets.
Bill and Annie Pawson have formed a new snowtube manufacturing company called Tube Pro, Inc. Their current address is 851 Butternut Ave., Waterloo, Ontario, N2V 2M4 Canada. The phone number for the new company is 1-866-882-3776, the fax is (519) 886-7678 and the website is www.tubeproinc.com.
ColorID, LLC has announced a new direct relationship with HID Corporation to better serve its customers’ proximity and smart card requirements.
Gen-X Sports has taken over responsibility for the Sims line of snowboard merchandise worldwide for the next 10 years, with an option to renew.
