Ski Stats, Resort Attendance & Retail Performance, 2000-09

[billski]

Vermont
"At the Vermont Ski Areas Association's annual meeting, the industry trade group announced that Vermont's ski resorts recorded 4,068,696 skier visits for the 2008-09 season. Last year the state hosted just over 4.35 million, but this season's number is on par with the five-year average"

NH
"New Hampshire ski resorts hosted 2,289,426 alpine skier and snowboarder visits in 2008-09, a slight decline of 3 percent from the record winter of 2007-08, as consistent snowfall and cold temperatures trumped a weak economy. The 2008/09 season was the third-best year since statewide skier visits were first tabulated in 1983-84. To provide more perspective: last season’s visits were 7.3 percent above the average of the past five seasons, and up 8.9 percent over the 10-year average."

NY
"New York State surpassed four million skier visits over the 2008-09 season, a record-breaking number for the state that made it the fourth most popular ski state last winter, behind Colorado, California, and Vermont."

Nationally:
"Based on preliminary estimates, ski areas in the U.S. tallied 57.1 million visits for the 20008/09 season, making it the fifth best season on record. While last year's record of 60.5 million still stands, this year's number, given the circumstances, is still 0.8 percent above the 10-year average of 56.7 million visits."

Nr. of Skiers/Boarders
"According to data in the NSGA Sports Participation survey, there were 6.5 million Americans age 7 or older who skied more than once in 2008, along with 5.9 million snowboarders. Those figures represented increases of 1.9 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively, from 2007. Snowboarding was one of six sports, out of 41, with a growth rate of more than 10 percent."


So this suggests to me that the national average 57.1M visits / (6.5M skiers + 5.9M boarders) =
4.6 visits per person, average. Total skiers and boarders: 12.4, boarders represent 47% of the market.

Regionally

"Northeast was up 5.5 percent from its 10-year average with 13.8 million visits.
Southeast counted 5.62 million, up 3.8 percent from its 10-year average.

Midwest hosted 7.41 million visits, which is 1.1 percent down from its 10-year average;

Rocky Mountain region had 19.79 million, a 1.3 percent increase over its 10-year average;

Pacific West dropped 5.8 percent off its 10-year average with 10.54 million visits."


RETAIL SALES
"Retail sales for the 2008-09 season fell 5 percent, as fear about economic security kept consumers, retailers and suppliers in a cautious mood, according to Snowsports Industries America (SIA). Overall, the season’s sales totaled $2.82 billion, compared to last season’s $2.95 billion. Unit sales declined three percent."

Source:
http://www.saminfo.com

Tuck this all away for the inevitable debates that will arise when the cold air returns...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

not bad..the fact that retail sales were only off 5% is amazing..

 

[speden]

It would be interesting to compare that to new investments this off season. My impression is that despite revenue holding up well during the recession, most ski resorts are investing a lot less this off season, and are mainly doing maintenance rather than big improvements.

 

[highpeaksdrifter]

It's hard to believe that NY had more skier visits then Utah, but then again I guess not since there are so many population centers to draw from and people probably drove more and flew less last season.

 

[deadheadskier]

Regionally

"Northeast was up 5.5 percent from its 10-year average with 13.8 million visits.
Southeast counted 5.62 million, up 3.8 percent from its 10-year average.

Midwest hosted 7.41 million visits, which is 1.1 percent down from its 10-year average;

Rocky Mountain region had 19.79 million, a 1.3 percent increase over its 10-year average;

Pacific West dropped 5.8 percent off its 10-year average with 10.54 million visits."




I would have never guessed that the mid west had that many skier days. I also wonder where the line is drawn for Southeast. I would think PA would have to be in that number. Snowshoe is generally top 5 every year in the east in attendance, but there's not a ton of areas outside of it.

 

[billski]

not bad..the fact that retail sales were only off 5% is amazing..

Gear whores must have been the moderating factor

 

[dmc]

Snowboarding was one of six sports, out of 41, with a growth rate of more than 10 percent.

Once again snowboarding bails out the industry...

 

[billski]

Once again snowboarding bails out the industry...

No argument from me. Happy to be out on the slopes with y'all!

 

[KingM]

And I'm surprised that the SE region has 5.5 million ski visits. Thought there were only a few small mountains down there. Or is West Virginia part of that region?

 

[billski]

And I'm surprised that the SE region has 5.5 million ski visits. Thought there were only a few small mountains down there. Or is West Virginia part of that region?

Statistics are never what they seem, especially coming out of the mouths of marketing associations. One chairlift ride might count, snow or no snow.....

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

I think it would have been another record year if the snow hadn't quit at the end of February.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I think it would have been another record year if the snow hadn't quit at the end of February.

Huh??? It snowed in December and January....where were you??

 

[billski]

Huh??? It snowed in December and January....where were you??

The problem is that most of the money doesn't ski/board in December....

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

SIA is famous for putting a super happy spin on everything it puts out. The 5% decrease in retail...that includes the numbers for specialty, chain, and internet sales...take the online sales out of it and the picture for your local ski shop is no where near as rosy. The biggest indicator is how retailers have shopped for next year...pre-season alpine hardgoods orders are down 25% in 05 there were ~830K pair of skis sold in the US, for 0809 that number dropped to 624K. The industy is hoping like hell that all of the retailers are under bought for 0910 and they'll need to come back to the well with re-orders.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Wow..that's not very many pairs of skis purchased....no wonder I still see every pair of skis I've ever owned every season at Blue. Blue mountain the true mountain had a record season due to a cold and snowy winter..we had natural snow on the ground for almost a month straight and the local ski shops were uber busy. Despite some rain, crowds were epic during the Christmas to New Years week..I really think they did so well because people didn't want to/have the money to spend on major travel last season but still needed to ski. The stats are cool to see..

 

[Geoff]

Gear whores must have been the moderating factor

Lift ticket and season pass sales are the dominant part of "retail sales" in resort towns. The ski shops contribute a relatively minor slice.

If you look at the Vermont numbers, "retail" was down 5% to 10% in most of the resort towns. Lodging was down more... 10% to 25%. Stowe didn't go down at all due to the new hotel. I imagine the other places in town followed the trend. Meals were down 10% to 20%.

Vermont had a good snow year. I'm trying to imagine what a bad snow year would look like.

 

[Geoff]

Huh??? It snowed in December and January....where were you??

He said "if the snow hadn't quit at the end of February". I think Killington only got about 20" in March. It was warm and dry most of the month. I think I had 15 tailgate BBQ days in March.

 

[dmc]

Lift ticket and season pass sales are the dominant part of "retail sales" in resort towns. The ski shops contribute a relatively minor slice.

If you look at the Vermont numbers, "retail" was down 5% to 10% in most of the resort towns. Lodging was down more... 10% to 25%. Stowe didn't go down at all due to the new hotel. I imagine the other places in town followed the trend. Meals were down 10% to 20%.

Vermont had a good snow year. I'm trying to imagine what a bad snow year would look like.

Is it possibly the economy?
We all thought that since gas prices sucked and the economy sucked people would drive less and possibly head to the Catskills and the Pocs...
Could this be the proof?

 

[KingM]

Lodging was down more... 10% to 25%.

Vermont had a good snow year. I'm trying to imagine what a bad snow year would look like.

To be honest, I didn't see much impact from the economy. We had a better than average year up until March, when no new snow fell. March was down enough to bring the entire winter into the average range over the six years we've been here. And the previous winter was a really good winter for us, so the fact that it was down about 15% is not that surprising anyway.

So it seemed like it was still all about the snow.

 

[millerm277]

SIA is famous for putting a super happy spin on everything it puts out. The 5% decrease in retail...that includes the numbers for specialty, chain, and internet sales...take the online sales out of it and the picture for your local ski shop is no where near as rosy. The biggest indicator is how retailers have shopped for next year...pre-season alpine hardgoods orders are down 25% in 05 there were ~830K pair of skis sold in the US, for 0809 that number dropped to 624K. The industy is hoping like hell that all of the retailers are under bought for 0910 and they'll need to come back to the well with re-orders.

Odd thought, but....I wonder if this is entirely due to the economy or not. While most people here do, the majority of "normal" people that own skis, take 10, or 15 years to wear them out. But, in the past few years, almost everyone has replaced their skis, probably a good portion of them before they're worn out, due to the benefits of shaped skis over straight ones. However, now that is pretty much over with it would seem based on how few straight skis are left on the slopes, and there isn't much in radical change in skis going on to spur purchases like the move away from straight skis. Just a thought of course....