Skier visits in the USA are up from last year. About 11% more skier visits this year compared to last year. This is a good sign as this year certainly was nothing special. Yet, this many not be that great of a sign considering how poor last year was. The increase in skier visits this year is very likely attributable to the fact that most areas got more snow this year (especially the East Coast).
2012/13 WINTER SKIER VISIT STATISTICS for USA:
– 56 million skier visits
– Up 11% from last winter
– Pacific Southwest and Northeast skier visits up 20% from last winter
– 78% of reporting ski areas posted increases in visits this winter
(these numbers are all coming from a preliminary Kottke survey)
“Skier Visits were estimated to be up 2 percent in the early season; up 16 percent during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays; up 7 percent during the January 7 to February 18 period; up 14 percent in the February 19 to March 24 period; and up an impressive 25 percent during the March 26 to closing period.” – Summit County Voice
This is a good sign for the industry. If nothing else, the fact that more snow = more skier visits has been enforced. Here’s to hoping for a big winter in 2013/14.
A final Kottke End of Season Survey will be released in July on the NSAA website.
All this news is pretty depressing. We need to get people skiing again.