NATION Ski resorts get a lift from record-setting numbers

Midwestern resorts had the biggest jump in skier visits.
BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) -- Skiers and snowboarders flocked to resorts in record numbers last season despite a loss of business due to the war and too much spring snow.
Ski resorts nationwide were expected to tally 57.6 million skiers and snowboarders for the season, according to the National Ski Areas Association. If preliminary figures released this month stand, the total will best the record 57.3 million set in 2000-2001.
"Despite a perfect storm of problems, the ski industry is holding its own and is poised for a new era of growth," said Geraldine Link, association director of public policy.
The national association will release final figures later this year.
The numbers
The industry has posted annual skier visit numbers between 52 million and 57 million despite a recession, weather problems and travel cutbacks due to the war in Iraq and terrorism, Link said.
The industry measures skiers in a formula called skier visit, which refers to a skier or snowboarder at a resort for all or part of a day.
Resorts in the nation's No. 1 ski state posted a 4.3 percent increase last season. Colorado's total of 11.6 million skier visits was the fourth best season for the industry but shy of the record 11.9 million set in 1997-98, Colorado Ski Country USA President Rob Perlman said.
The Midwest had the strongest season with 8.3 million snowrider days, an 18.2 percent increase, according to the figures. The Southeast was up 17.02 percent with 5.84 million, followed by the Northeast with 14.2 million, an increase of 16.78 percent.
The Rockies had 18.69 million, a 3.16 percent increase, and the Pacific West was down 12.57 percent with 10.6 million snowrider days.
Colorado
The Colorado season started out with the best early snow ever at some resorts last season. Visitor numbers were up 18.7 percent through December.
As talk of war escalated, skier numbers declined. And a March blizzard closed Interstate 70, the main route to many resorts, during the busy spring break period.
"The momentum we garnered in the early season gave us the jump-start we needed to sustain our business for the remainder of the season," Perlman said.
Dennis McAlpine, managing partner of McAlpine Associates, an independent research firm that tracks the industry, said the Colorado results were better than he expected.
"It was starting to recover, then when we got back into war, it collapsed," he said.
Vail Resorts
Beaver Creek, owned by Vail Resorts, set a record with 718,000 snowrider days, up 9.1 percent from 658,000 the previous year.
"We had a brand new hotel with 260 rooms. That in itself was a big factor," Beaver Creek chief operating officer John Garnsey said.
Vail's four Colorado resorts were up 1.3 percent overall, with Vail leading the way at 1.61 million skier visits.
One out of 10 U.S. snowriders skied at a Vail-owned resort in Colorado or California, Vail Resorts Senior Vice President Bill Jensen said.