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Industry Alert: Holiday Period Very, Very Good, But Not Without Some Sadness

By Craig Altschul
January 02, 2008

The rest of the holiday news is all good. California's mountain resorts got an early Christmas present when a series of storms deposited up to four feet of snow in the Sierra just before the holiday period.

"All that beautiful snow came right on time for the holidays, so it was very timely," said Rachael Woods of Alpine Meadows at Lake Tahoe. "We were able to get the majority of our lifts and a ton of terrain open."

The public responded to nature's largesse, perhaps not in record numbers, but enough so that the resorts are feeling good about the season. "We were much busier than last Christmas," said Woods, "because we have more lifts open. Guests have hit the jackpot. Everything's looking good and we're very excited about that."

Heavenly's Russ Pecoraro echoed the busy theme. "We're seeing a lot of people around here," he said. "After the storms came through, the weather became really great between Christmas and New Year's. We've had some great crowds."

The jolly feeling even extended to California's more southern mountains. "We're doing really well," said Mountain High's John McColley above the L.A. basin. "We've doubled the number of visits from last year." McColley said the combination of natural snow and a beefed-up snowmaking system have worked wonders at the Los Angeles commuter resort.

"We have great conditions, a ton of lifts operating, so we can accommodate more guests," he said. "We're rocking and rolling through the New Year."

Jumping to the Midwest, Shanty Creek's Steve Kershner said, "It's the best holiday season we've seen in years. With the new ownership, the weather, the snow conditions, it couldn't be better. We're booked solid over the New Year holidays, and that's the first time in quite a few winters that has happened. The crowds are good, and the slopes are in great condition."

Lutsen, Minnesota's Jim Vick said he has never seen a better holiday period. "We've had good snowfall and the weather for snowsports has been optimal over the holidays. The final numbers aren't in, but I'm sure we'll be establishing some new records. It's also nice to have snow in your marketplace. With snowfall in the Twin Cities, it puts everybody in the mood. The North Shore has never been busier over the holidays. It's also helping us for the longer term, too. Bookings are up throughout the whole season."

The whole month of December was good at Wisconsin's Granite Peak. Bookings at the area motels in Wausau have been especially strong. "We set a new daily record on Thursday, broke that on Friday, and are breaking it again now," says Vicki Bauman. "What a difference a year can make. It was raining and 40 degrees this time last year.”

Meanwhile in Illinois, Chestnut Mountain's Stewart Stoffregan said the hotel is filled and the crowds have been great, falling just short of record numbers. "It's one of the busiest holiday periods I can recall in a long time."

Utah resorts got off to a slow start at the beginning of Christmas week but finished like a true thoroughbred. This weekend between Christmas and New Year's was described as "insane."

"Park City Mountain Resort definitely picked up as the week progressed, but that is due to where Christmas fell this season," reported PCMR's Paula Fabel. "It didn't hurt to see 25 inches of snow fall in 72 hours. Once word got out, the guests came out."

The echo ought to rattle the Wasatch for months. "We've had an increased call volume and we are booking very strong for March," said Fabel. "Easter falls in March this season, which is really beneficial. Additionally, April is looking good due to spring breaks taking place in California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona schools."

Even the avalanche tragedy didn't slow business at The Canyons. "It turned out to be holiday business as usual," said the resort's Libby Dowd. "We had our busiest day in our history on Saturday (Dec. 29)."

New England skiers were most certainly drawn by the Currier and Ives images that make the region so very special when the snows come on schedule.

Sunapee's Jay Gamble wanted to know, "why doesn't it do this every year?" He most certainly wasn't talking about the bull wheel mishap that shook up the staff and guests.

"The holiday is going to end up one of the three best in the last 10 years. We're up 195 percent over the same period last year, not counting season pass visits. We've had great skiing weather and great snow, and it just keeps snowing. We're up over 60 inches for the month here." Presidential politics could wait a week.

Eric Friedman of Mad River in Fayston, Vt., said "it was one of the best Christmas weeks we've ever had, more snow on top of more snow on top of more snow, crowds bigger and happier each day. It could not have been better. We've been 100 percent since we opened on Dec. 6. This vacation week we had 8,000 skier visits, not including season passes. We're a small area, and that's huge."

Friedman says the fabled Green Mountain ski area is 50 percent ahead of last year in gross revenues, with the vast majority of that coming from preseason sales of season passes. "This time last year, we were under 500 skiers total for the season. We finally opened last year on Dec. 30, with just the practice slope. It was horrendous.

"We have three ropes on this mountain where we don't let people ski because there are dangerous cliffs. Two of them are open now. You can ski Liftline top to bottom, under the single chair, which is just unheard of," he said.

Irene Donnell of Bretton Woods Mountain Resort in Bretton Woods, N.H., checked in to say, "It was the best December we've ever had, and one of the best Christmas vacation weeks as well. So much depends on what day Christmas falls on, and this wasn't as long as some of the vacation weeks, but it's in the top five.

"Business was consistent. Every day was busy, we continued to get more snow, and we had all the other activities like sleigh rides, dogsledding, snowshoeing, and nordic, too - we're just off the charts from last year."

Bill Swain of Sugarloaf/USA in Carrabasset Valley, Maine, saw nothing but good news. "This year was obviously better than last in virtually every respect because of the conditions. But last year is not indicative of what's normal – that was kind of the anomaly year. This year, we had 70 inches of snow in December and that speaks volumes about the conditions we have. Combined with temperatures that let us make snow, it's the one-two punch for great conditions.

"Anecdotally, we had a few days this vacation week when cars were parked along the access road quite a ways down, and that's a good sign for business because it means all the parking lots are full. It wouldn't surprise me if we hit 5,000 to 7,000 skiers on the busy days, but the longest lift line I heard of was 12 minutes, and that was in the morning before skiers moved around the mountain. Even by noontime Monday, the line was down to under a minute at virtually every lift on the mountain."

Colorado ski resorts were blanketed with more than a foot of fresh snow as the New Year dawned and the same exclamation points echoed all across the state. That was good news for skiers and riders who had no plans to return to Denver or to fly home for to celebrate the ball drop. Some 3,000 people were stranded in Red Cross shelters and officials closed I-70, the main drag from Denver to many resorts, New Year's Eve.

So, with a few sad blemishes, it was a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May the force be with you.

(Contributors to this article include The Industry Report and OnTheSnow.com regional editors Jill Adler, Dan Giesin, Roger Leo, Miquel Strother, and Mike Terrell.)

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