Ski visits down in '06-'07

[ski diva]

Thought this was interesting, from the National Ski Areas Association:

Preliminary Report Indicates Skier Visits Down 6.9 Percent in 2006/07
Most Regions Impacted by Warm Temperatures, Below Average Snowfall.

LAKEWOOD, Colo. – May 7, 2007 – Based on preliminary estimates, ski areas nationwide tallied 54.8 million visits for the 2006/07 season, down 6.9 percent from last season’s recorded-setting 58.9 million visits, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced today at its annual National Convention and Tradeshow held at the La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, Calif.

Over the last 10 seasons (1997/98 – 2006/07), national visitation has averaged 55.54 million visits. The 2006/07 season, at 54.82 million visits, represents a 1.3 percent decrease from this 10-year average. Abnormally warm temperatures and below average snowfall impacted most areas of the country except the Rocky Mountain region. The Southeast and Pacific West each reported visitation declines of about 16.5 percent. The Northeast and Midwest both rebounded significantly in the second half of the season due to strong spring snowfall, with the Northeast reporting an overall decline of 6.7 percent and the Midwest a decline of 5.9 percent. In contrast, the Rocky Mountain region managed an increase in visits, setting a new record of 20.9 million visits, accounting for about 38 percent of the nation’s total visits.

Analysis of reported skier visits by time of season indicates the November/December and Christmas Holiday periods were particularly weak in most regions of the country, with some exceptions. The January through mid-February time frames were also generally below last year’s level, with the Midwest the only exception. Recovery began more broadly in late February, and the late March through end of season time frames showed pockets of strength in several regions.

A skier/snowboarder visit is defined as one person visiting a ski area for all or part of a day or night, and includes full- and half-day, night, complimentary, adult, child, season and other types of tickets. The Kottke End-of-Season Survey visitation data reflect the results of 182 of the nation’s 486 operating ski resorts. The final report will be available in August. For more log on to nsaa.org.

 

[Ski Spirit]

In California I think this was due to snow conditions (or lack of snow).
I remember that most resorts were making snow for December. Some were considering shutting down earlier in the season than normal. It was such a contrast to the year before (lots of great storms, lots of snow!). I'm hoping next season will be a lot better than this past season ...........

 

[ski diva]

The east had a terrible early season. We didn't have any decent natural snow to speak of until late January, and what there was washed out over MLK weekend. Hopefully, next season will be better.

 

[SnowHot]

Ditto Ski Spirit.

Even in the midwest, where we are accustomed to skiing marginal conditions, this past season was worse than we'd experienced in years. My older sister used to ski 10 ish times a year to spend time with her family on the slopes, and she skied far less because the weather didn't warrant a trip home from college to attempt to ski.
Those of us who live close to the slopes skied anyway, and I have to say Kudos to the resort for profound snow making efforts, but in truth............for those who make a trip to our ski vacation destinations, if they don't see snow on their lawn, they don't/can't get excited to make the trip even if the resort has a great base.

The bad news is, the resorts suffered.
The good news...........I rarely saw a lift line.

 

[ski diva]

I agree. Kudos to the resorts! I know many of them had to essentially start from scratch after MLK weekend. It was heartbreaking. At least the late season was really good, but unfortunately, a lot of people had already stopped thinking about skiing and didn't show up. SnowHot is right -- poor conditions are a mixed blessing. They may mean fewer people on the slopes -- which is good for us, but they can also translate into poor financial statements for the resorts. And that's bad news for all of us.

 

[RachelV]

There was some talk about this over on epic, on the thread speculating about Killington season passes for next year. Apparenly Killington was down 19% and Mt. Snow was down 18%. I wonder what the numbers were like for the east coast in general.

 

[RachelV]

Oh, 6.7%. Next time I'll read the whole article.

 

[abc]

Apparenly Killington was down 19% and Mt. Snow was down 18%. I wonder what the numbers were like for the east coast in general.
Oh, 6.7%. Next time I'll read the whole article.

Well, that's interesting putting the two together. If Killington and Mt. Snow are down 18-19% but the whole northeast is only down 6.7%, some resorts are obviously seeing no slow down at all! Where are those resorts?

Or maybe, only the resorts that cater to "less hardcore skiers" are down? Those are the people who are less incline to go skiing when the weather is warm. I always crack up when my friends in the city say "What? Skiing? But there's no snow" (in Central Park) ;)

Given the snow condition at the northeast, if I were to live in DC, I would have also opted to fly out west where there's actually some real snow instead of driving up north where there's a shortage of even the man-made snow.

I bet the local hills do alright. I was skiing in Jan at a hill only 10 min. from home. They only had half of their "terrain" open, which really means 5 out of 10 runs! ;) Big deal, aye?

 

[Native Vail Gal]

My skiing was up by 10%! :D

 

[Jilly]

Hmmm, Last year I had 50 days, this year 47. So I'm down 6%. But I would say that numbers are down in Canada too. Tremblant wasn't busy last year because of the strike. This year, no snow, too high prices equals no visits. I even taught during "Presidents week" because it is usually really busy. They didn't need any help. Over the "holiday weeks" the line-ups weren't bad at all. No worst than busy weekends. Not good and because of that our season passes for next year are up.

 

[RachelV]

Well, that's interesting putting the two together. If Killington and Mt. Snow are down 18-19% but the whole northeast is only down 6.7%, some resorts are obviously seeing no slow down at all! Where are those resorts?

That same thread mentioned that Okemo was up, but they didn't say how much. I also don't know where they're getting these numbers from. The consensus seemed to be that skier visits were down in general, and that the general frustration with ASC-owned resorts (too crowded, poorly maintained, not enough snowmaking) caused them to be hit even harder as people who normally skiied them went elsewhere (like Okemo).

There was a lot of Killington-hating going on in that thread, so don't know how accurate it is, but pretty interesting nonetheless.

 

[altagirl]

I didn't keep close track, but my spring skiing days were way down. I don't mind bad conditions early season, but by spring if the biking is better than the skiing, I'm going biking. We didn't even go to closing weekend, which is the first time we've ever skipped that. But conditions just weren't good - closing weekend is a big party that's best when it's sunny and spring-like, and we had icy conditions and it was gray and snowing just enough to be yuck. We had planned to spend the early part of the weekend in Moab and head home in time to ski in the afternoon on Sunday. But we had so much fun in Moab I bailed on the ski plans and did an extra ride instead.

When I first moved out here, we never skipped a weekend day and got in as many weekdays as possible. Part of it is getting spoiled and part of it is that the bad conditions just beat up my body. My knees are just not going to put up with skiing coral reef anymore.

 

[abc]

My knees are just not going to put up with skiing coral reef anymore.

You ARE spoiled! Your Rockie coral reef is our eastern pack pwoder!

The first time I went out west, 20 years ago, I heard someone on the chair complaining about the "ice". We all cracked up! They don't know what ice really is. ;)

How do we eastern skiers' middle age body handle those conditions? We go west! ;)

I'm being serious. I avoid the eastern ice as much as I can and do most of my resort skiing out of the region (west, Canada, Europe). The only skiing I do locally in the northeast are mostly x-c and back country.

 

[pinto]

You ARE spoiled! Your Rockie coral reef is our eastern pack pwoder!

The first time I went out west, 20 years ago, I heard someone on the chair complaining about the "ice". We all cracked up! They don't know what ice really is. ;)...

I agree with you that we Westerners tend to think hardpack is sheer ice, but isn't coral reef pretty much the same everywhere? Tracked-up slush that froze really fast, making an almost impassable surface of deep ruts and chunks. It's awful, until it warms up again.

 

[abc]

but isn't coral reef pretty much the same everywhere? .

I wouldn't know. For all the trip I took out west, I've never encounter coral reef!

OK, I did, in Tahoe and the European Alps. Somehow, I missed all of them in the Rockies. More over, back then, my ski was optimized for ice and hardpack, it shred the coral reefs right into bits!

 

[RachelV]

Yeah, you know, I had never seen coral reef until we went out west. On the east coast we just don't get that much snow that often, and when we do, it gets ALL tracked out, not partically tracked out.

 

[altagirl]

Part of it is the skis. I grew up skiing in Michigan on 99% manmade snow. So I'm pretty familiar with skiing ice, but back then I had skis for those conditions and tuned them for it. Now? There's no reason. I just avoid ice and don't have to bother with the skinny skis (which wouldn't be fun on the stuff I actually want to ski on) and don't have to bother tuning my skis much either. ;)

It's interesting how what I like to ski changes with what's available on a regular basis. I used to really like skiing ice - and bumps. Now I don't ski either when I can avoid them. This season when we had such horrible snowpack, we had a line through the trees, over a rock, around another tree... it wore in like a bobsled course just so we could all avoid the bump fields and icy groomers. Or we'd hike and pick our way across bare rock to get out to something smooth.

This winter, my groomer skis got a lot more use than usual, that's for sure. Also along the spoiled theme though - I won't ski groomers when it's crowded. That seems way more dangerous to me than any technical terrain with rocks and trees. The trees stay put at least. And they won't sue me if I run into them either! ;) (Not that I've run into anyone, but I've had enough close calls to be nervous...)

 

[abc]

Also along the spoiled theme though - I won't ski groomers when it's crowded. That seems way more dangerous to me than any technical terrain with rocks and trees. The trees stay put at least. And they won't sue me if I run into them either! (Not that I've run into anyone, but I've had enough close calls to be nervous...)

Hey, you speak my mind!!! (but I never thought *I* am spoiled, by what? )

I, too, refused to ski the groomers when it's really crowded (read: no skiing X'mas/New Year in NE). Same reason and psychology: too many close calls for comfort! That's why I'm so much into bumps! Bumps are rarely crowded. And even more rare are there out-of-control, should-know-better yahoos on the bump runs, only the hardcord (and the hardcore in training ;) )!

And yes, bumps also don't move, and don't sue either! ;)

And just to get back to the title of this thread. I probably did my share of contributing to the "skier visit down" because I limited my skiing to ONLY days when there was a good base (can't have bumps when there's no enough coverage), which this season translated to: I didn't start till Februry! :(