[jaywbigred]

Originally Posted by riverc0il

You had me until the gas prices issue. That extra 10-15 cents a gallon certainly adds up to.... a buck or two more when most people are spending over $200 for a weekend. Even for a one person day trip, that is a drop in the bucket.

I very much disagree.

Originally Posted by ski_resort_observer

The cost of gas and insurance has skyrocketed in the last few years, many resorts make money on the weekends/holidays but give it back during the week. IMHO if the trend continues I suspect some resorts might close during the week to survive.

Very good point.

Originally Posted by bobbutts

need a small army of staff and a large amount of expensive energy + the energy to stockpile snow.

Another very good point.

Originally Posted by happyjack

i think the economy is gonna play havoc with many expensive recreation activities. golf has already seen a notable decline since it's peak 4-5 years ago. i'm already seeing lots of ads from the $80-$100 daily fees courses offering discounted seasonal memberships.

Exactly!

Nerd time?
Issue: Skier visits being "down" in mid-to-late March, resulting in early closings in late March and early April.

Possible causes proposed:
1) The mental state of non-fanatic skiers, whose minds turn towards non-skiing activities as the temp. slowly rises. Examples given: golf, tennis, biking, yard work, boating.
2) The forced state upon fanatic skiers whose life situation prevents them from skiing late in the season even when they want to. Examples given: kids who play spring sports, spouses whose patience for skiing fanaticism wains, people who are limited by geography, people who rely on local mountains for lift served.
3) The Economic issues facing ski resorts. Examples: Ski resorts are expensive to operate, "give back" money made during winter/weekends during the spring/weekdays, have high energy costs, have high liability costs (insurance), and suffer from a departing/expensive workforce during the spring.
4) Economic hardships faced by individual skiers. Examples: the price of gas, the price of on-mountain food, the price of a day ticket, the price of lodging.

Analysis: I think that issue is one that begs a macro perspective. When we talk about skier visits being "down" and resorts closing "early," we are talking in relative perspectives to prior years, and to other resorts (presumably). This means that to understand what is going on, we have to look at past years' successes, the benchmarks to which this year is not living up, i.e. the given presumption that ski resorts made money at some point (the 80s and 90s, periods of relative economic prosperity, i guess?). I think overall in this thread, Causes #3 and #4, above, have been vastly under-cited. Our economy, comparitive to the last 30+ years (arguably) is a mess. Absolute gas prices (i.e., those adjusted for inflation) are at record highs, and though this might make a tank of gas only a "few bucks more expensive" than in the past, this is viewpoint wearing blinders. Our economy, especially mountain economies in isolated areas, often away from ports and trains, rely highly on truck traffic for many goods and products. Rising energy prices faced by manufacturers, distributors and providers of services (including ski resorts) are often passed on to the consumer (both non-skier and skier). This makes everything more expensive, and so the natural tendency is for the public to cut leisure spending so that they can pay for the things that really matter; If youre in danger of defaulting on your mortgage (and we are in a housing crisis, remember), your April ski trip is not going to occur this year. Though obviously it is fair to blame a service provider for price gauging, or a fickle, frightened consumer for overreaction (non-spending, non-investing, run-on-banks type behaviour), I think blaming mountains (for passing on costs, like all service providers in all industries have done) and blaming individuals facing personal economic hardships (for not coming out late in the season) are both immature.

Possible solutions:
1) Earn your turns. Simple enough.
2) "Stop complaining." We had a great snow year. This thread is, afterall, at least partially, a complaint that crowds are too small. This means more mountain for us (at least for the time being, until close)!
3) Support local economies near ski resorts by buying local products. Basically, spend money.
4) Pray for economic stability and prosperity in the future. When the economy is prospering, the (ever-elusive) "Average-skier" has more free time and more disposable income, in theory. Combine that with a decent snow year, and I am sure you would see a return to later-spring skiing in the northeast.