Rolling into the holidays, the outlook for the ski season is grim. Resorts in Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming are off to a slow start.
The situation for resorts looks bad right now, but it's not yet a crisis, according to Tom Foley, the director of business intelligence for Outside Interactive and Inntopia.
"A lack of snowfall across the western United States and the fact that only 11% of the runs are open as of November 30, that's a double whammy that makes things very difficult," Foley said.
Traditionally, 35 to 40% of ski trails are open at this time. The limited number of open trails hurt early bookings, which are down 6.9% this year as guests have adopted a "wait and see" attitude.
According to Foley, winter resorts would do well to review rate reductions and include value-added programs like "kids stay free" or "extra night for free" to attract economy and moderate customers. Luxury customers are not typically affected by price variations.
Concerns about inflation, job security, and wages are exacerbating the situation, said Foley. He added that pessimism is spread across all income, age, and political groups.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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