Ski-Blog.com

April 10, 2007

Statistics on Utah Skier Visits

I have added a new page with detailed statistics of Utah skier visits from the state's Demographic and Economic Analysis Department. Check out the new page and info. Here is the chart:

Some interesting info, but Skier Visits have increased dramatically since 2001.

Utah still lags far behind Colorado as a national ski destination, but the state has a ton to offer. I rec'd an e-mail today that said the following:

I was lucky enough to ski Breck in January and Snowbasin in March. What are your thoughts on Snowbasin? Skiied it on a Wednesday and Thursday. No lift lines and the two gondolas were awesome. Different atmosphere than Breck.

Check the stats for Snowbasin:

• Vertical rise: 2,959 ft (902 m)
• Average yearly snowfall: 400 in (10 m)
• Total lifts: 12
  • 1 Tram
  • 2 Gondolas (high speed detachable)
  • 1 Quad chair (high speed detachable)
  • 4 Triple chair
  • 1 Double chair
  • 1 Magic carpet
  • 2 Hand rope tows
• Total lift capacity: 14,650 people per hour
• Skiable area: 2,650 acres

Compare this to Breck that receives roughly five times the number of skier visits on the same acreage. Here are Breck's comparable stats:

• Vertical rise: 3,398 feet (1,036 m)
• Average Annual Snowfall: 300 in
• Total Lifts: 29
  • 2 high-speed 6-passenger SuperChairs
  • 7 high-speed quad lifts
  • 1 triple lift
  • 6 double lifts
  • 1 8-passenger gondola
  • 4 surface lifts
  • 8 carpet lifts
• Total lift capacity: 37,880 people per hour
• Skiable Area: 2358 acres

Utah is nearly untouched. Colorado gets 12M + skier visits per year to Utah's 4M. Alta-Snowbird is absolutely massive and Snowbasin, Solitude, Brighton, and the West Side resorts getting half as much traffic as Park City.

Long story short--Utah has far fewer people than Colorado and the resorts are much less crowded. Down side is that the nightlife is lacking (save Park City) and the beer flows like water--but it has the same alcohol content and tastes like water too. Utah has a very different feel than Colorado, but as far as pure skiing, I prefer Utah. No, I take that back--I prefer Alta, and it happens Alta is in Utah. I have yet to try Snowbasin, but plan to early next year. Just been spending almost every day at Brian Head this season.

Posted by Justin at 03:44 PM

April 08, 2007

The Year That Was in Utah

The SLC Tribune has an article on the year that was in Utah:

"We got some good early snow," he said.

But starting in November, a high pressure ridge parked itself over the West until about February.

That weather pattern acted as a bubble, forcing snowstorms to other areas, he said.

Utah's loss was Canada's gain, as many storms shifted to the north, McInerney explained.

Meager snowpacks, which reached about 50 percent of average in northern Utah, are not only bad news for skiing, but they also spell trouble for the Salt Lake Valley's water resources in the summer.

This season sucked in a bad way for me. Early snow, but no mid season snow at all. I finally had my place done and Brian Head got 225" of snow (and a huge chunk of that came in March). Normal snowfall is over 400".

But take what you get and thank the Ski Gods for the wonderful sport. It still was a ski season and the laws of averages mean that sooner or later we will have another 600" winter like two years ago.

Posted by Justin at 11:21 PM | Comments (1)

September 30, 2006

Several Colorado and Utah Counties have Highest Life Expectancy in the US

This article from the Vail Daily discusses a new Harverd study about life expectancy in the US:

It’s a classic chicken-and-egg question: Do people in Colorado have behaviors that make them healthier, or is it because living in Colorado makes them healthier. ... Is it somehow healthier to live in Eagle County? That’s what a new study from Harvard University seems to say.

Eagle and six other counties located along the Continental Divide in Colorado lead the nation in longest average life expectancy — 81.3 years. Four of these seven counties — Clear Creek, Grand, Eagle, and Summit — have ski areas, with Loveland in Clear Creek and Winter Park and SolVista in Grand.
...
Rounding out the nation’s top-40 places for life expectancies are:

• Five more counties from mountainous areas of southwest Colorado: San Miguel, Ouray, Mineral, Hinsdale, Gunnison, and Archuleta);

• Five from Utah — Morgan, Summit, Washington, Cache, Cache and Rich — all but one in mountainous areas.

Chicken or Egg... Tough call. I guess it doesn't matter the exact causes from my point of view. When it comes to better schools, you don't need to know why the schools are better to want to live in the District and send your kids there. When it comes to healthier places to live, if that is something you value, that is somewhere that you consider living.

Better schools draw better students. Better life expectancies draw like minded people and become self fulfilling.

Posted by Justin at 06:22 PM

September 11, 2006

WWBD--What Would Bode Do

From the What Would Bode Do section of the news, Utah Lawmaker Michael Morlet talks about banning alcohol at ski resorts:

(KCPW News) State Representative Michael Morley says he's dropping his plans to crack down on alcohol at ski resorts. This week, the management of Brian Head Resort sent a letter to Morley responding to his complaints and those raised by a resort visitor.

"If they will follow up on the things they've committed to here, I'm probably gonna back off," says Morley.

The Spanish Fork lawmaker Morley sparked a panic in the resort community last week when he threatened to run a bill that would nearly ban alcohol at ski resorts.

In a letter, Brian Head's general manager vowed to ban all open containers from ski lifts and better train lift operators to handle signs of intoxication. Resorts have the ability to revoke lift passes and call the police in some cases.

Morley says his threat had the desired effect, and he no longer believes the state needs to pass new laws. Ski Utah director Nathan Rafferty says all of Utah's resorts are committed to enforcing rules similar to those mentioned in Brian Head's letter.

First off, alcohol and skiing is retarded. I am not much of a drinker at all, so I just cannot see the logic behind skiing drunk. Or having open containers on the lifts. You are out in freezing temperatures, and if you are like us, off piste hitting powder. Imagine making a mistake and getting injured. You want to be in control. Now I guess skiing groomers where ski patrol can come over and give you the "sled of shame" ride down makes it less dangerous, but let's face facts--skiing is dangerous. I wear a helmet and don't understand people that think it is completely safe. It is not.

But then again people think boating while drunk is a good idea too. Until someone drowns. Same with skiing. You get hit or wreck or freeze to death or get frost bite because you are toasted and then it isn't fun and games anymore. What I am wondering is why the resort isn't already cracking down on open containers and busting people for skiing drunk or being impaired. I want ski patrol to be keeping people safe, not focusing on busting people poaching lift tickets or using someone else's season passes (inside reference that some readers of the site may find humorous).

Posted by Justin at 01:20 PM

April 13, 2006

Utah May Set Record for Skier Visits

Utah may have set a new record in skier visits, passing 2004-05.

It's not for a lack of snow or winterlike conditions that have Utah ski resorts preparing to close. The snowstorm last Saturday was definitely winterlike in nature — cold and snowy. And, with only one exception, Utah resorts are holding a snow base well over the century mark.

But, as always happens, skiers believe it's time to move on and so resorts, with one exception, will be closed by midmonth.

Three resorts — Sundance, Wolf Mountain and Beaver Mountain — have already closed. Scheduled to close on Easter Sunday, April 16, are Brian Head, Brighton, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, Powder Mountain and Solitude. Alta will close the following day, April 17, which will leave, again as always, Snowbird, which has set a closing date of May 14 for daily operations and May 29 for weekend skiing.

At this point, said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, "We don't know final numbers, but I'm confident we will come close and could even exceed last year's record. The one measure we have at this point is the number of hits on our Web site, which are up 25 percent over last year."

What this means is Utah could come close to the 4 million skier-day mark. Last year's record was 3.8 million skier days.

That being the case, the 2005-06 season will match closely the 2004-05 season in skier numbers and snowfall.

Posted by Justin at 10:42 AM

February 24, 2006

It Was the Best of Times... Worst of Times

The following article is from the Arizona Republic dated today.

Utah is poised to set its third consecutive record by exceeding last season's 3.9 million skier visits, Ski Utah spokeswoman Hilary Reiter said.

Snowfall along the Wasatch Range - home to 11 resorts including Snowbird, Park City and Alta - has been about 157 percent more than the total in an average season.

Utah is loving life. How about Colorado?

In Colorado, so much snow has fallen that many mountain towns have piled it high on street corners and in parking lots. Aspen has had more than 21 feet of snow, with many longtime residents saying it's the best they have ever seen, Aspen Skiing Co. spokeswoman Kristen Rust said.

Colorado resort managers are hopeful they will set a record for skier visits this year. The previous record of 11.98 million was set in the 1997-98 season; last year, the total was 11.81 million. From October to December, the resorts reported 3.1 million skier visits, said Rob Perlman, president of the trade group Colorado Ski Country USA.

What about Snowbowl, Arizona that has been battling to get snowmaking capability added so that they can have a consistent season?

Meanwhile, folks at the Arizona Snowbowl near Flagstaff - in the midst of a drought - continue to wait for enough snow to open, a year after posting a season record 460 inches. Since October, they have seen about 20 inches of snow, resort spokesman David Smith said.

The delay has cost millions of dollars in revenue, "and you can put that in capital letters if you want," he said.

"It's extremely frustrating to sit around and look at the slopes and see dry grass where typically they should be covered in white," he said. "The hope is still there that we'll still be able to have a good season, at least the latter half."

20 Bleepin' Inches? 20? Come on people. I don't know what Arizona did to deserve another Fire Season like 2003, but this is gonna be a bad one. There is no snow at all. We are going to be engulfed by flames shortly. I mean like Arizona needs massive fires to add to the already heated nature of our state.

We need rain in a bad way. The high country needs some snow. We are past due.

Posted by Justin at 01:28 PM | Comments (1)

January 14, 2006

Major Storm Moving Across Utah Tonight

A major storm is coming tonight and I am lucky enough to be at Brian Head. They are expecting as much as 2-3 feet at Alta/Snowbird, but considerably less down south where I am.

In other news, my Granite Countertops are in and I have a sink now. We had been brushing our teeth, doing our dishes, and getting our water to make coffee from the bathtub. I am going to publish a bunch of pics later today, but suffice it to say, PIMPED is the only way to describe the place.

So here's hoping that tommorow, the powder is at least ankle deep and that I stop to use the new sink to fill the coffee pot and brush my teeth before getting too excited and hitting the slopes.

Posted by Justin at 10:33 AM

November 02, 2005

Northern Rockies to get more snow over next three days

The Northern Rockies are getting their fair share of snow due to the Jet Stream flowing further north and a high pressure system over the four corners region. This means snow for Alta, Park City, etc., but nada for Brian Head. Snow for Summit County, but none for Wolf Creek.

From the National Weather Service Forecast for Alta:

Tonight: Cloudy...windy. Snow likely after midnight. Accumulation around 1 inch. Lows at 8000 feet around 30. Southwest winds 25-35 mph. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Thursday: Snow in the morning...then snow showers likely in the afternoon. Colder. Accumulation 3-6 inches. Highs at 8000 feet in the lower 30s.

Thursday night: A chance of snow showers in the evening...then snow likely after midnight. Cloudy...colder. Accumulation 2 inches. Lows at 8000 feet near 20. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Chance of around a foot of accumulation of the next 2 days.

Why do I feel like one of those cheesy Junior Weather reporters that show up on the local news? My life right now is resigned to watching weather reports and scouring E-bay to by a "weather machine". BTW, my early season trip to Wolf Creek has been postponed until further notice... until further snowfall is probably more accurate.

Posted by Justin at 10:51 PM