Good snow, local visitors provide a lift to ski resorts

By Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 13, 2008 at 9:07 p.m.

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Photo by Ken Papaleo © The Rocky

Megan Razcak rides her board on Aspen Mountain in June. Despite rising energy prices and unemployment, ski areas nationwide showed "resilience," a National Ski Areas report said.

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Abundant snowfall can draw skiers to the mountains even during a tough economy, but a new survey also suggests Colorado resorts are more likely to draw local visitors in the face of rising travel costs.

Favorable snow conditions in the latest season helped the industry show "resilience," given soaring energy prices, a mortgage crisis and rising unemployment, according to the Kottke end-of-season report prepared for the National Ski Areas Association.

"This past year, snow trumped the economy," said Nolan Rosall, president of Boulder research firm RRC Associates and an author of the report. "People found ways to continue in the sport because the conditions were so good."

Any deterioration in snow conditions next year would present a big challenge for the industry, however, because rising gasoline prices have made it even more expensive to get to the mountains than it was last season.

Overall data showed a record 2007-2008 - the first to top 60 million skier visits nationally - despite a slow start to winter conditions in Colorado. The late start flattened growth to about 12.51 million visits, making Colorado one of the few states in the nation to report a downturn. Once ski areas opened, business picked up strongly as snowfall began setting monthly records.

The report's findings include some noteworthy trends, including a growing number of skiers who come just for the day:

* Compared with other regions, Rocky Mountain resorts attract a smaller proportion of so-called day skiers - 41 percent of the total. But the trend still shows a steady drop in the proportion of visitors who book longer, more costly trips that require restaurant meals and overnight stays at hotels.

That can be attributed in part to the number of skiers who are sticking closer to home instead of visiting mountains in other parts of the country, the report showed.

* Another survey finding: At the same time, the weak economy likely contributed to a 5.4 percent drop in the number of season passes sold, which declined nationwide and in every region across the U.S.

* Ski areas here and elsewhere have seen an increase in the number of people who bought lift tickets because they lacked season passes. "The data suggests that a more diverse crowd visited the slopes this season, perhaps brought out by the favorable snow," according to the report.

* Snowboarding continued to level off despite earlier predictions that it would overtake skiing as the preferred method of getting down the slopes. The segment represented 31.9 percent of total visits vs. 31 percent last year, following recent years of slow growth.

* Observers point to enhancements in ski equipment as a possible reason for renewed interest in the sport - the industry has posted its seven best seasons in the past eight winters.

* Ski areas also point to stepped-up efforts to reach skiers electronically to alert them to snow conditions and discounts for online bookings, moves that allow them to capitalize on favorable weather more quickly than in the past.

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