“I think people are looking for a distraction from the war, the soft economy, anthrax, Enron and a stream of negative stories, and looking for opportunities to recreate and head for the mountains,” said Scott Kaden, president of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association.
“The supposition that people would stay close to home this year is really paying off for us,” says Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Association.
While the season will not be a record breaker by any stretch anywhere in the country, almost everyone was happy to date, considering the odds. Even Colorado resorts, where low snowfall had cut business by 13 percent through December, were pleased, knowing it could have been much worse.
The East
In the East, ski resorts opened at least a month late with most not able to fire up their snow guns until just days before Christmas. And even then, many were hampered by water shortages due to an unusually dry fall.
“We couldn’t make snow until December 20 and the water drought limited the hours we could make snow,” said Steven Showalter, president of the Southeastern Ski Areas Association. “We were lucky to get open by Christmas.”
Showalter estimated business was off anywhere from 10 to 25 percent through December. By January, areas had recovered enough to post very strong MLK holiday results.
“It’s not going to stack up with last year, but so far we’re a little ahead of 1999-00, which was our best revenue year up to that point,” Showalter said. “We should have a good year—just not exceptional.”
Nick-of-time deliveries of cold weather and snowfall also salvaged Christmas week in the Northeast.
“Ski areas that were able to get 50 percent or more of their terrain open did well,” said Greg Sweetser, executive director of Ski Maine. “Less than 50 percent, it was a tough sell.” An MLK weekend equal to or better than last year’s record-breaker “bodes well for the season,” Sweetser added.
The story was much the same in New Hampshire and Vermont: limited terrain and smaller crowds over Christmas; a healthy rebound by MLK. New Hampshire resorts, which had record season pass sales and advance ticket purchases last fall, were particularly sanguine at the end of December despite a 15 to 30 percent drop in business over last year. “We know those tickets are out there,” said Alice Pearce, executive director of Ski New Hampshire.
Sure enough, by MLK many resorts were reporting record crowds. Sunapee had its busiest day ever on the Sunday. Pat’s Peak was also close to a sellout on Sunday, as was Gunstock. Attitash had its best day in two years on Sunday and Cannon set tubing records all weekend.
In Vermont, Jay Peak, with more than eight feet of snow, Okemo, Stowe and Killington all set records or near-records over the MLK holiday.
“I just hope we can keep the momentum going,” said David Dillon, executive director of the Vermont Ski Areas Association.
Farther south in Massachusetts, Jiminy Peak and Brodie Mountain also posted record numbers for MLK.
The West
In the West, great snow has helped overcome the negative effects of the Winter Olympics in Utah and the nation’s highest unemployment rates in Washington and Oregon. California, where precipitation was 50 percent above normal through mid-January, also got off to a great start.
“We were concerned going into the season because of the high unemployment rate in Washington and Oregon,” Kaden said. “But operators are very pleased with the year they’ve had so far. We missed Thanksgiving Day, but have had great snow since the Friday afterwards. People are really responding.”
In California, great early season snow, particularly in the South, also helped resorts off to fast starts. Through MLK, Mountain High already had 260,000 skier visits. And in Utah, which was bracing for an off year because of the Olympics, “business has been better than we expected,” said Nathan Rafferty, communications director at Utah Ski and Snowboard Association. “When you get 250 inches of snow before Christmas, not even the Olympics can slow you down.”
Sparse snow, on the other hand, and the after-effects of the September terrorist attacks have definitely slowed down Colorado where business was off 13 percent through December. Every segment of the market was down, although not as much as market research conducted after September 11 had predicted.
“We’re actually quite pleased with our numbers for the first period,” said David Perry, president and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA. “The situation could have been much worse.”
The Midwest
In the Midwest, mild weather prevented most areas from opening until December 26. For the holiday week, Chris Stoddard, president of the Midwest Ski Areas Association, estimated business was down about 20 percent from last year’s best-in-a-decade season. At some southern resorts, particularly in Iowa where it has been too mild for snowmaking, numbers were down even more. MLK was also warmer and slower than last year, but “it wasn’t a disaster,” Stoddard said. “Against a 10-year average, I guess we’ll be down some, but not dramatically.”
When the season is finally over, it’s going to be interesting to see how it all played out: the negative forces of 9/11, recession and for some, the Olympics versus the timeless positive of good snow conditions. The betting, as always, favors the latter as the key.
