US ski industry tallies 51 million visits in 2011/12 season, down 15 percent

The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has announced today thatUS ski areas tallied an estimated 51 million skier and snowboarder visits during the 2011/12 season. Thispreliminary report shows a 15 percent decrease from last season. The final Vermont results will be available the first week of June.
According to the preliminary 2011/12 Kottke End of Season Survey, the US ski industry experienced itsmost challenging season since 1991/92, when 50.8 million visits were recorded. In the 1980/81 season the industry experienced a 17.6 percent drop in visits, the biggest year‐over‐year decline on record.
Notably, visits fully recovered the following season with a 22 percentincrease in 1981/82, a reminder that the industry has demonstrated considerable resilience in the past,and that severely difficult seasons have been relatively rare. Other positive indicators, according to the NSAA, show that themild weather patterns experienced this season actually fostered an excellent ski and snowboardlearning environment, as evidenced by increases in lesson participation rates. The survey also showsthat guest service satisfaction levels are at an all time high, and early assessments of season passrenewals for the 2012/13 season are encouraging.
The 2011/12 season was also marked by the lowest national average resort snowfall since1991/92, the second‐lowest snowfall in 21 years of available data. According to the survey, 50 percentof responding ski areas opened late this season, and 48 percent closed early.
Every region experienced adecrease in overall days of operation, with particularly significant declines in the Southeast, down 13.9percent; the Northeast, with more day skiers and thus more weather dependent than the Western resorts, was down 13 percent; the Pacific Southwest was down 11.7 percent; and theMidwest was down 10.6 percent. More modest declines in total days of operation were experienced inthe Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions, with each showing a 0.8 percent decrease.
A finalKottke End of Season Survey will be issued in July. For more information visit NSAA online at nsaa.org.
LAKEWOOD, CO ‘May 7, 2012
THE NATIONAL SKI AREAS ASSOCIATION, LOCATED IN LAKEWOOD, COLO., IS A TRADEASSOCIATION FORMED IN 1962 FOR SKI AREA OWNERS AND OPERATORS NATIONWIDE.