Good to see, Yahoo's most e-mailed story today is about skiing!
From todays Chicago Tribune
By Bonnie Miller Rubin Tribune staff reporter Fri Jun 24, 9:40 AM ET
There aren't too many places where you can celebrate the 4th of July weekend by hitting the slopes, but Utah is one of them, thanks to a record amount of snowfall.
Typically, skiing and snowboarding ends by mid-to-late April. One area, the Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, often stretches it to late May. But on Thursday, Snowbird announced it will be open weekends until Independence Day. That has happened only once before, in 1995.
"This is awesome," said Greg Sperry, a 33-year-old snowboarder from Salt Lake City. "If anyone would have told me I would be here skiing in summer, I wouldn't have believed it. It's like a bonus round."
July will mark the ninth consecutive month of skiing at the resort, located about a half-hour south of Salt Lake City. A combination of early and consistent snowfall, a lack of powder in the Northwest and a residual tourism bounce from the 2002
Winter Olympics have combined to make this the longest and busiest season in Utah history. Attendance is up 12 percent over last season's record of 3.4 million, according to Nathan Rafferty, a spokesman for Ski Utah, a marketing association that promotes the state's skiing industry.
"It's just one of those seasons where all the pieces fell into place," Rafferty said. "You would have to go to Mt. Hood, which is on a glacier, or Saasfee in Switzerland to be skiing this late in the year."
The season got off to a rousing start on Nov. 5, when Snowbird had its earliest opening ever. The most recent dump--a half-foot--fell June 12. In between, storms regularly blanketed the Wasatch Range, and a chilly spring has insulated the snow that was already on the ground, maintaining the base. From start to finish, the mountain received 633 inches--a whopping 52 feet of snow.
The result? A scene that is eerily out of sync with the calendar: jammed parking lots, long lines for food and a bustling singles scene.
"I was here on Memorial Day . . . and I plan to celebrate July 4th here, too, " said Julie Williams, 25, of Los Angeles, relaxing before she took the tram up to the top of Hidden Peak, which is 11,000 feet high.
"This is where all the guys are . . . which is why I took up snowboarding. You can't ask for much better odds than this."
The prices aren't bad, either. During peak season, the average price of a room is $339 and a lift ticket is about $60. After April 1, the tab drops to $95 per night for both lodging and skiing.
"I am playing golf in the morning and getting my powder fix in the afternoon, " Williams said. "I'm giddy."
So are Utah tourism officials.
Even without the extra weeks, business was looking bullish for the state's $770 million ski industry. More flights into Salt Lake City from major cities and an $18 million allocation from the legislature for overall tourism, including ads that were beamed on giant screens in New York's Times Square, have also helped notch a banner year, according to officials.
Even avalanches that killed eight people--another annual record which chamber of commerce folks rarely mention--didn't melt business.
By mid-May, Utah's 13 resorts sold almost 4 million lift tickets. But the Beehive State still has a way to go before it catches up with Colorado, where 11.2 million day passes are sold. Skiing magazine gave the nod for the best snow to Utah, but it lacks the plush resorts and star wattage of places like Aspen and Vail.
According to Rafferty, it's hard to compare numbers with its neighbor because Colorado has more than twice as many ski areas.
"But I think our numbers are going up faster than theirs," he said. "A lot of people are trying us because we're so close to an international airport, which makes it real easy to fly in and ski on the same day."
Of course, skiing when the temperatures are in the 90s is a freak occurrence. So, to keep the cash registers ringing during the slow months, Utah's ski resorts have worked to bolster summer business, adding golf courses, horseback riding, even bungee jumping. In Park City, all three resorts--Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort--offer lift service for mountain bikers and hikers. This month, Park City is hosting two national-level cycling events. And the Olympic Park facility there continues to draw crowds.
But Sperry, who snowboards about 150 days a year, is there for one reason only--to eke out as many runs as possible.
"Who knows when this will happen again?" he asked. "You've got to take advantage of good weather while it's here."
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brubin@tribune.com
