2017-18 Season Beats Five Year Average by A Nose
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Photo Credit Top Row (L-R): Scott DW Smith, Purgatory Resort; Dustin Schaefer, Loveland Ski Area
Click here for high res photos: http://bit.ly/CSCUSA17-18
Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) announced today at its 55th Annual Meeting in downtown Denver skier visits at its now 24-member ski resorts tallied 7.1 million during the 2017-18 winter season. This year’s total is just slightly ahead of the five-year average. Visits finished only 2 percent lower than in 2016-17.
“These end of season numbers are impressive when looking back over the entire season,” Colorado Ski Country USA President and CEO Melanie Mills said. “We faced historically low snowfall in the early part of the season and resort operations crews deserve credit for their tireless work to get slopes open and operating during an extended period of early-season conditions.”
Mother Nature delivered timely storms during the December holiday period and significant snow totals in advance of both Martin Luther King and President’s Day weekends before the weather system settled into a more consistent snowy pattern in mid-February. March was a busy month across the state with spring breakers travelling from near and far to enjoy deep snow totals and warm bluebird days with resorts seeing strong monthly visitation totals. Many resorts experienced their best snow conditions in late March and early April and welcomed guests over the well-timed Easter holiday.
“Timely storms before the busy holiday weekends marked the middle of the season before the snow switch turned fully to on in February,” continued Mills. “There was exuberant pent up demand and skiers and snowboarders flocked to the slopes in the latter half of the season, allowing resorts to finish on a strong note.”
“This year’s season won’t be remembered as the state’s snowiest, but it is a testament to the resiliency of Colorado’s ski industry and our employees’ commitment to providing the highest guest service and best overall ski experience that keeps visitors coming back to Colorado Ski Country resorts every year,” Mills concluded. “We are looking forward to an exciting summer season with events, festivals and increased on-mountain options for guests as well as significant investment across the state before next winter season including new lifts, a new mountain coaster, new restaurants and other improvements.”
Additional highlights from the 2017-18 season included successful Olympic qualifiers at Copper Mountain and Aspen Snowmass in the leadup to the 2018 PyeongChang Games. CSCUSA also welcomed two new members, Echo Mountain outside of Idaho Springs and Kendall Mountain in Silverton, CO. Both ski areas are on the popular 5th and 6th grade Passport Program and Gems Card.
Skier visits are the metric used to track participation in skiing and snowboarding. A skier visit represents a person participating in the sport of skiing or snowboarding for any part of one day at a mountain resort. These numbers are preliminary results and subject to final adjustment by CSCUSA members.
CSCUSA will also announce its statewide award winners during the Double Diamond Awards ceremony later this evening at The Kitchen in downtown Denver. A release with photos will be distributed tomorrow.
