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Thanksgiving Skiing? A Turkey Or, A Gravy Boat For Mountain Resorts?
By Roger Leo
November 17, 2008
Thanksgiving can be a symbol of the annual start of skiing and snowboarding as well as a strong revenue producer, but only if the snow is good enough to entice customers to the slopes. But, it can be a lean meal for the mountain resort industry without the snow.
Adriana Blake of Taos Ski Valley, N.M., told The Industry Report, "The Thanksgiving weekend is an actual revenue producer. Then we do three weeks where essentially we're open for locals and employee training.
"If we do get open, the skiing is pretty good. Starting the first of December, it's just dead. We do a ton of employee training during that period: instructors, food services, lift, everything," Blake said.
Adrianna's grandfather, Ernie Blake, founded Taos 55 years ago, and died in 1989. The area is the biggest resort in New Mexico, with 110 runs on 1,200 acres. It is still family-owned and operated. She said Taos has average skier visits of 240,000.
"Last year we did 218,000. We opened late, and were coming off a hideously bad season. When you're coming off a bad season, it takes two seasons to recover. From the sales so far this season, it looks like we're on a high.
"Our biggest revenue generators are the week after Christmas, and two weeks in March which are spring break for schools in Texas and Oklahoma," Blake said. "Opening on Thanksgiving is our goal. We don't know what to do if we don't open. What do you mean we have to spend time with our families?," she laughs.
J.J. Toland of Sugarbush, Vt., said Thanksgiving is a big day for local skiers, but not for destination travelers.
"You don't have a lot of people. The hotel's not going to be 100 percent, but we do have people come up. The hotel will do a big dinner. My whole family's coming - parents, siblings, everyone. We do get a crowd, but it's just not like Christmas," Toland said.
"For locals, it's a great way to start Thanksgiving day. Come up to the hill, take a couple of runs with family, go home and gorge yourself," Toland said. "In terms of revenue and numbers of skiers, it doesn't hold a candle to Christmas, MLK weekend, or February school vacation.
"That said, Thanksgiving is when the world starts to seem like winter. Nights are cold, snow has fallen, things are starting to freeze up. Last year, we had a powder Thanksgiving, and I worked up a ravenous appetite after carving through new snow," Toland said. Sugarbush aims to open the Saturday before Thanksgiving each year.
Karl Stone of Ski New Hampshire said Thanksgiving is the symbolic start of the New England ski season.
"Many people who own second homes have that long weekend to come up and get things in order for the winter, test new equipment, and get good and sore for the first time," he said.
"Revenue depends on the winter. Some years we have had some good natural snowfall and this will drive good crowds to the slopes, making it profitable," Stone said.
He told the IR Thanksgiving is particularly weather dependent. "If we start getting natural snow down South and up here, it will be great. Factor in not too many areas open for Thanksgiving, so ones that are have less competition from many of the smaller areas which helps make it worth their while," Stone said.
Ski resorts and nearby inns and lodges are doing their best to lure guests for turkey in the mountains, however. A Web sampling pulls up a wide range of packages. Alta Lodge, Utah, for example, offers a $1,063 per person (d.o.) package with four lodging nights, full breakfasts, four-course dinners, including the traditional Thanksgiving feast prepared by Chef Paul Raddon, and three days of Alta skiing or riding.
Sun Valley, Idaho's, packages with all the trimmings start at $302 per person; Caberfae Peaks, in Cadillac, Mich., offers a hot deal ranging from $70 (quad occupancy) to $179 (single) for two nights and three ski days. Kids are $49; free under eight years old. Waterville Valley, N.H., Thanksgiving packages start at $350 (one-bedroom) including two nights, T-Day dinner at the Diamond's Edge restaurant in the square, $30 in Town Square bucks to spend, and a one-day lift pass. Packages at the Deerfield Valley Inn at Mt. Snow, Vt., run from $440 to $780.
Here's an inviting one: The Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt., has a "Bountiful Harvest Thanksgiving Package" with two nights (deluxe room), four-course nightly dinner, full country breakfasts, and a Thanksgiving gift, starting at $392.50 pp. The gift should be the opportunity to spend the holiday listening to the sound of music and gliding around one of the most comfortable resorts in North America.
What It Means: Some revenue, some stuffing, some fun, and some anticipation. All of us at Mountain News and The Industry Report hope Thanksgiving is your harbinger of a bountiful winter feast.
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