Vt. skier visits off 11 percent

[ski2die]

Original source: http://www.timesargus.com/article/20120607/BUSINESS03/706079935


Vt. skier visits off 11 percent

Less snowfall and challenging weather conditions translated into nearly 11 percent fewer skier visits this season, the Vermont Ski Areas Association reported Wednesday at its annual meeting held at Jay Peak Resort.

The state’s 18 ski resorts recorded 3,903,171 skier and snowboarder visits during the 2011-12 season - down 10.5 percent from the 4,365,906 visits the previous season, which was the best season since 2004-05.

Although Vermont’s numbers were disappointing, the state fared far better than other ski states. Nationally, skier visits were off 16 percent this season.

“It definitely was a stronger outcome than many expected,” VSAA President Parker Riehle said during a phone interview. “And I would say owing virtually entirely to Vermont’s snow-making capacity, which is so widespread and provided such an incredibly critical buffer to Mother Nature’s low snowfall totals this year.”

Riehle said the state’s 75 percent snow-making capacity enabled resorts to keep a significant amount of terrain open.

He said the state’s 30 cross-country areas had a rougher season since only a few have the capacity to make snow and even then on limited terrain.

“The story of season again is another year of resiliency of the Vermont ski industry,” Riehle said. “We were glad to kind of put this season behind us and we’re looking forward to the 2012-13 season, which we know will be better.”

Based on a 10-year average, he said skier visits were down 5 percent this season.

Despite adverse weather conditions, with temperatures that climbed into the 70s in March, the VSAA said that tourism-related tax revenue during the winter were stronger than expected.

Riehle said rooms and meals, and sales tax revenue were up a combined 2.5 percent over the previous winter.

Although the downhill ski resorts struggled this season, Riehle said he knows of no resorts in dire financial trouble.

At the annual meeting, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott gave the opening remarks with National Ski Areas Association President Michael Berry making the keynote address.

The VSAA presented Olympic gold medalist Kelly Clark with its Industry Achievement Award while Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing Commissioner Megan Smith received the Friend of the Industry Award.

The Career Employee Awards were presented to three longtime ski area employees – Peter Hand, Dave Williamson and Bruce Maxham. Combined, they have more than 120 years of service.

In addition, the following ski areas were honored for environmental excellence, marketing, safety programs and industry achievements:

Sugarbush - Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award with VHB Inc. for the restoration of Rice Brook to high water quality conditions.

Burke — National Ski Areas Association Sustainable Slopes Grant Award for its composting program and wind turbine installation.

Jay Peak — NSAA Marketing Award for Best Direct Marketing Program.

Burke — NSAA Marketing Award for Best Traditional Media.

Killington — NSAA Safety Award for Best Terrain Park Safety Program.

Killington — Finalist for the NSAA Conversion Cup Award for efforts in converting beginners into lifelong skiers.

Stratton — U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association Silver Award for exemplary event organization of the U.S. Freestyle Championships.

Stowe — Educational Excellence Award to Dave Merriam.

bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com

[da Pimp]

Close to eleven percent? I find that real hard to believe. Based on my own observations of every weekend at Killington, I would have believed numbers around 20-25%. My ski club had poor attendance at our lodge every month, we turned back huge numbers of unused bulk tickets for all VT areas, and the slopes and liftlines seemed abnormally slow for the many crummy weekends before Xmas let alone the terrible March/April heat wave. People simply stayed away from the mountain, and the wicked slow access road activity for the last 6-7 weeks of the season was obvious. Areas south of Killington struggled just to get anything skiable before Xmas. Those southern VT early season numbers must have been miniscule.

I would love to see the actual attendances as reported to the VSAA by the mountain marketing snakes. I bet they pulled some BS out of their butts such as using average season pass holder attendance versus actuals recorded, or reservations made instead of the actuals which reflected a ton of cancellations.

I wish it was all true, but it seems so hard to believe. If a snowmaking giant (former snowmaking giant) like Killington seemed so slow, where do the other areas get their attendance numbers that contribute to the claimed 10.5%?

[Highway Star]

Close to eleven percent? I find that real hard to believe. Based on my own observations of every weekend at Killington, I would have believed numbers around 20-25%. My ski club had poor attendance at our lodge every month, we turned back huge numbers of unused bulk tickets for all VT areas, and the slopes and liftlines seemed abnormally slow for the many crummy weekends before Xmas let alone the terrible March/April heat wave. People simply stayed away from the mountain, and the wicked slow access road activity for the last 6-7 weeks of the season was obvious. Areas south of Killington struggled just to get anything skiable before Xmas. Those southern VT early season numbers must have been miniscule.

I would love to see the actual attendances as reported to the VSAA by the mountain marketing snakes. I bet they pulled some BS out of their butts such as using average season pass holder attendance versus actuals recorded, or reservations made instead of the actuals which reflected a ton of cancellations.

I wish it was all true, but it seems so hard to believe. If a snowmaking giant (former snowmaking giant) like Killington seemed so slow, where do the other areas get their attendance numbers that contribute to the claimed 10.5%?

Killington was down vs. other areas. Killington is no longer a snowmaking giant and people know it. Killington is also not counting all skier visits, I skied at least 10 days where my pass was not scanned. When a Killington passholder goes and buys a ticket at another area, that visit actually gets counted (by the other area). Killington either set a modern all time low for skier visits or matched '07-'08. I'm guessing around 550-600k.

[Bubba]

Close to eleven percent? I find that real hard to believe. Based on my own observations of every weekend at Killington, I would have believed numbers around 20-25%. My ski club had poor attendance at our lodge every month, we turned back huge numbers of unused bulk tickets for all VT areas, and the slopes and liftlines seemed abnormally slow for the many crummy weekends before Xmas let alone the terrible March/April heat wave. People simply stayed away from the mountain, and the wicked slow access road activity for the last 6-7 weeks of the season was obvious. Areas south of Killington struggled just to get anything skiable before Xmas. Those southern VT early season numbers must have been miniscule.

I would love to see the actual attendances as reported to the VSAA by the mountain marketing snakes. I bet they pulled some BS out of their butts such as using average season pass holder attendance versus actuals recorded, or reservations made instead of the actuals which reflected a ton of cancellations.

I wish it was all true, but it seems so hard to believe. If a snowmaking giant (former snowmaking giant) like Killington seemed so slow, where do the other areas get their attendance numbers that contribute to the claimed 10.5%?

Killington was down vs. other areas. Killington is no longer a snowmaking giant and people know it. Killington is also not counting all skier visits, I skied at least 10 days where my pass was not scanned. When a Killington passholder goes and buys a ticket at another area, that visit actually gets counted (by the other area). Killington either set a modern all time low for skier visits or matched '07-'08. I'm guessing around 550-600k.

I think you're pushing it down too far, at least based on rental results I've seen and/or been told about. Of course, I'm sure there were days when people were here renting condos but didn't buy tickets due to conditions. Once we see sales tax information, we'll have more data to work with but I'm figuring somewhere in the 650 - 700K range.

I have heard, however, that Okemo took a real beating with visits down as much as 20%. Killington certainly wasn't down anywhere near that far, at least (again) based on what I know and saw this season.

[Geoff]

Since Killington doesn't publish skier visits, all we can do is look at state data. The traffic counter on the Access Road gives you a good idea on how many people were around. Sales, meals, lodging, and alcohol give a sense for lift tickets, retail, and the overall tourist business in town.

Here are the results from the traffic counter on the Access Road:
November down 2%
December down 3.1%
January down 3.5%
February down 4.5%
March down 6.7%
April down 8.6%

The Vermont tax data is out through February:

November:
Sales, down 39.5%
Meals, up 20%
Room, down 7.4%
Alcohol, up 5.2%

December:
Sales, down 51.8%
Meals, down 2.9%
Room, down 13.2%
Alcohol, up 7%

January:
Sales, down 17%
Meals, down 8.5%
Room, down 17%
Alcohol, down 9.5%

February:
Sales, down 8.7%
Meals, down 9%
Room, down 18%
Alcohol, down 2%

Bad but still better than that first disaster POWDR year.

[steamboat1]

Close to eleven percent? I find that real hard to believe. Based on my own observations of every weekend at Killington, I would have believed numbers around 20-25%. My ski club had poor attendance at our lodge every month, we turned back huge numbers of unused bulk tickets for all VT areas

My ski club's attendance was down only slightly. We have a lot of organized weekends run by different members that fill the house. We find that this helps out alot. Last year we had just over 500 skier days which we call them at the house, this year was just under 500. During the week when I'm there attendance was down. Usually there are at least a couple of few members there during the week, this year not so much. I had the house to myself more often than not. I couldn't tell you how many bulk tickets were returned since I don't participate purchasing them. Between a season pass for K & other discount coupons for other areas I find it's a better deal. I know that most areas will only accept a small percentage of bulk tickets back for return so many members will probably get burnt. On the plus side our heating costs this season were down about 1/3 because of the mild winter & snow removal costs were almost nothing. It didn't snow much down in Pittsford. Personally my ski days were down about 25% this year which I attribute to the poor natural snow year. The parking lots & lift lines were pretty sparse during the week. They must of made up for it on weekends.

[hillbangin]

Close to eleven percent? I find that real hard to believe. Based on my own observations of every weekend at Killington, I would have believed numbers around 20-25%. My ski club had poor attendance at our lodge every month, we turned back huge numbers of unused bulk tickets for all VT areas, and the slopes and liftlines seemed abnormally slow for the many crummy weekends before Xmas let alone the terrible March/April heat wave. People simply stayed away from the mountain, and the wicked slow access road activity for the last 6-7 weeks of the season was obvious. Areas south of Killington struggled just to get anything skiable before Xmas. Those southern VT early season numbers must have been miniscule.

I would love to see the actual attendances as reported to the VSAA by the mountain marketing snakes. I bet they pulled some BS out of their butts such as using average season pass holder attendance versus actuals recorded, or reservations made instead of the actuals which reflected a ton of cancellations.

I wish it was all true, but it seems so hard to believe. If a snowmaking giant (former snowmaking giant) like Killington seemed so slow, where do the other areas get their attendance numbers that contribute to the claimed 10.5%?

I wonder if places like K, Bush, Jay, Stowe do better because you've got a more 'dedicated' season pass crowd following - places like Okeblow, Stratton, and Snow must get killed in down snow years becuase it's more 'weekend warriors' - not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Stormchaser]

My ski days down 25-30% at K this season...pathetic winter.

[Geoff]

I wonder if places like K, Bush, Jay, Stowe do better because you've got a more 'dedicated' season pass crowd following - places like Okeblow, Stratton, and Snow must get killed in down snow years becuase it's more 'weekend warriors' - not that there's anything wrong with that.

I doubt the ratio of season passes to total skier visits is all that different between ski resorts.

[DrJeff]

Close to eleven percent? I find that real hard to believe. Based on my own observations of every weekend at Killington, I would have believed numbers around 20-25%. My ski club had poor attendance at our lodge every month, we turned back huge numbers of unused bulk tickets for all VT areas, and the slopes and liftlines seemed abnormally slow for the many crummy weekends before Xmas let alone the terrible March/April heat wave. People simply stayed away from the mountain, and the wicked slow access road activity for the last 6-7 weeks of the season was obvious. Areas south of Killington struggled just to get anything skiable before Xmas. Those southern VT early season numbers must have been miniscule.

I would love to see the actual attendances as reported to the VSAA by the mountain marketing snakes. I bet they pulled some BS out of their butts such as using average season pass holder attendance versus actuals recorded, or reservations made instead of the actuals which reflected a ton of cancellations.

I wish it was all true, but it seems so hard to believe. If a snowmaking giant (former snowmaking giant) like Killington seemed so slow, where do the other areas get their attendance numbers that contribute to the claimed 10.5%?

I wonder if places like K, Bush, Jay, Stowe do better because you've got a more 'dedicated' season pass crowd following - places like Okeblow, Stratton, and Snow must get killed in down snow years becuase it's more 'weekend warriors' - not that there's anything wrong with that.

Mount Snow was off a bit last season for sure. But the new Bluebird Express 6 pack did help draw people if for no other reason than to check it out. Hardly a day weekend day went by at Mount Snow through the early part of March when I didn't ride atleast once a day with someone who was on their 1st ride on it. Sometimes "novelty" items such as water parks and 6 pack bubble chairs can be enough to turn what could be an awful year into just an off year

[RENO]

Since Killington doesn't publish skier visits, all we can do is look at state data. The traffic counter on the Access Road gives you a good idea on how many people were around. Sales, meals, lodging, and alcohol give a sense for lift tickets, retail, and the overall tourist business in town.

Here are the results from the traffic counter on the Access Road:
November down 2%
December down 3.1%
January down 3.5%
February down 4.5%
March down 6.7%
April down 8.6%

The Vermont tax data is out through February:

November:
Sales, down 39.5%
Meals, up 20%
Room, down 7.4%
Alcohol, up 5.2%

December:
Sales, down 51.8%
Meals, down 2.9%
Room, down 13.2%
Alcohol, up 7%

January:
Sales, down 17%
Meals, down 8.5%
Room, down 17%
Alcohol, down 9.5%

February:
Sales, down 8.7%
Meals, down 9%
Room, down 18%
Alcohol, down 2%

Bad but still better than that first disaster POWDR year.

I've asked this before and haven't gotten an answer: Where exactly is this traffic counter located on the access road? Does it take into account the traffic coming up East Mountain Road and West Hill Road?

[Geoff]

I've asked this before and haven't gotten an answer: Where exactly is this traffic counter located on the access road? Does it take into account the traffic coming up East Mountain Road and West Hill Road?

It's 0.4 miles up the hill. There are no traffic counters on West Hill Road or East Mountain Road. The total number really doesn't matter. What matters is the overall trend from year to year. You'd expect West Hill Road and East Mountain Road traffic to be fairly proportional to the main Access Road.

[Bubba]

From SnoCountry...

"Stenger noted this past winter was one of the most challenging in generations, but the continuing improvements and diverse offerings at the resort have been effective, paying off with visitors numbers being up this year despite the weather."

[pepperdawg]

I've asked this before and haven't gotten an answer: Where exactly is this traffic counter located on the access road? Does it take into account the traffic coming up East Mountain Road and West Hill Road?

It's 0.4 miles up the hill. There are no traffic counters on West Hill Road or East Mountain Road. The total number really doesn't matter. What matters is the overall trend from year to year. You'd expect West Hill Road and East Mountain Road traffic to be fairly proportional to the main Access Road.

Thx Geoff

[BoozeTan]

I only got in 25 days this past winter..down from my usual 35- 45 days

I cut my December trip short and scrapped my March trip all together....