Industry News
According to Ski Utah, the 15 ski resorts across Utah recorded an estimated 7.1 million visitations, smashing the prior record by 22%. The previous record, set the year before, was 5.9 million visitations — which the ‘22-’23 season added an additional 1.2 million to. It is important to note that visitations are the total number of attendees throughout each day of the season, and one visitor can account for anywhere between 1 and — especially this season — over a hundred visitations.
So why did this year blow the record out of the water? Plain and simple, it nuked all season long. It’s no secret that the 2022-’23 season was record-breaking; 12 of Utah’s 15 resorts recorded their highest accumulation ever, and many recorded their latest closing date in history. Alta even recorded 903 inches of accumulation which is an average of 5.1 inches per day. The combination of a longer season and more snow days brought the masses out all season.
Utah has had a trend of increased visitations, setting records in four of the last five seasons (except for ‘19-’20 due to COVID), but this year was exceptional. In addition to visitations increasing, fear from sub-par previous seasons played a role as well. Several of Utah’s last winters saw early storms dry up and leave seemingly endless dry spells — so this year, the Utah residents were frantic, skiing every storm as if it were the last.
Fortunately, this year was no bust— Utah Ski reported 44 powder days this season, more than double the average at 19. This never-ending snow allowed panicked skiers to farm deep turns all season long and Utah as a state to stomp their previous record of visitations.
