Weather extremes—-record snowfall in the Pacific Northwest and Colorado and the warmest December and early January on record in the East-–wreaked havoc on the start of the 2006-07 ski season. Business was off as much as 80 percent through MLK weekend in the East, where some areas couldn’t even open for Christmas.

“You can’t lose Christmas and MLK and pull it out,” says Bruce McCloy, marketing director at Sunapee, N.H. “We’re off a lot.” How much off? New Hampshire resorts were off 40 to 60 percent through MLK. Vermont resorts were 45 percent behind.

Nearly everywhere the news was grim. Blue Mountain, the largest resort in Ontario, laid off 1,300 workers and shut its doors in early January, the first time the 65-year-old resort has ever had to close in the middle of the season.

Meanwhile, Colorado, the Pacific Northwest and western Canada set records for both snowfall and visitors through MLK. Utah visits were also up for the fourth year in a row despite less than average snowfall, and California had to wait until mid-February for its first big dump.

Here’s a look at how areas are responding to their good or bad fortunes:


East
When the thermometer hits 73 degrees the first Saturday in January and it rains, “not all the marketing in the world can turn things around,” says McCloy.

Nevertheless, nobody was throwing in the towel. “My strategy is to try to show people what we have,” McCloy says. “We shoot a brand new 30- and 15-second TV commercial every week showing our conditions. Instead of brand marketing we show people what we have.”

Extra money at Sunapee is going for snowmaking. The area leased more air compressors and is using Snowmax for the first time.

Snowmaking is critical. While community areas were shut down, Sunday River, Me., was able to make enough snow to host four days of men’s Norams during the early January warm spell.

In response to the weather, Mount Snow, Vt., began a “Your backyard, our backyard” photo contest on its website. The contest compares photos people send in of their backyards (brown mud, green grass) with a photo the same day from Mount Snow.

“Even though the weather has been warm, we still do have snow,” says Heather Atwell, communications director at the Vermont Ski Areas Association. “Every year we have to remind our audience that the weather is not reflective of what we’ve got on the slopes.” To drive home that message VSAA is shooting new TV ads from different areas each week.

“The feedback we’re getting is that there’s pent up demand,” Atwell says. “Skiers are surprised the skiing’s as good as it’s been.”

Demand is there. With only 20 percent of its terrain open, Sunapee parked cars into the third parking lot over Christmas. Bretton Woods, N.H., had its third-best Christmas ever, and hosted 8,000 over MLK. Camelback, Pa., only 30 percent open, had to turn people away over Christmas, maxing out at 4,200. “People were coming out; they wanted to ski,” says Craig Low, Camelback marketing director.

Even so, Camelback’s business was down 50 percent for the week, and 80 percent over MLK. In response, Camelback began offering four midweek day tickets for $123 online.

In New Hampshire, the governor got involved, skiing and filming a PSA boosting the sport. The state tourism office is also kicking in extra money for radio and TV spots. “The state was considering another promotion before the February vacation,” says Karl Stone, marketing director at Ski NH. “We’re also looking at another effort before March and April.”

Crystal Mountain, Mich., is responding to the poor start with new promos and cost cutting. “We’re off across the board—lodging, rentals, everything, not just tickets,” says Joan O’Neill, communications director. “But we have a big summer business and are confident we can make a lot of it up.”

“From a business standpoint we’re trying to be proactive,” O’Neill says. “We’re also watching expenses, which has done some good things like forcing us to look at our collateral.”

Location and snowmaking were everything in the Midwest. In general, the upper peninsula of Michigan fared best—Indianhead had a record December and Christmas. Minnesota also did fairly well. But farther south into Iowa, Illinois, Ohio and central and southern Michigan, many areas were closed for Christmas. One exception was Chestnut Mountain, Ill., which has made a huge snowmaking commitment.


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Snowmaking also helped Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, Calif., to their best starts ever. “Even though it’s been dry, it’s been extremely cold,” says Chris Riddle, marketing director. “We are 99 percent open on manmade snow, and having a very good season.”

Elsewhere the season was a bit slower. After two record snow years, both snow and visitors were about 30 percent off through MLK at Mammoth. The area is responding by making snow, running all three terrain parks, discounting tickets midweek and promoting other activities at the resort, says Dana Vander Houwen, communications manager. (At presstime, a three-foot dump finally came.)

Statewide, Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Association, says nobody is too worried yet over the slow start. “Last year we got wiped out by 10 feet of snow over Christmas and had a very weak January and still ended up with our second best year in history. It’s not over ’til it’s over.” But it is over at June Mountain; the area closed January 29 for the season.

In the Pacific Northwest, “We have the best snow in the northern hemisphere,” says Scott Kaden, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association. “While we sympathize with the rest of the country, we’re really enjoying the weather here.” Mt. Baker, Wash., which set a record for snowfall in 1998-99 (1,140 inches), was just five percent off that year’s pace as of January 17. Kaden says ski visits for the region were also on record pace.

Despite about half as much snow as the last couple of years, Utah resorts were up as much as 20 percent over the holidays, and appear on track for their fourth straight record year. Like the Northwest, Hilary Reiter, communications director at Ski Utah, says the state was taking advantage of the snow drought elsewhere, running more ads than usual in eastern markets.

Colorado, which posted its third straight record first quarter (October through December), is also targeting snow-starved Europe and eastern Canada and the U.S. For the last three or four years, the state ski association has held back about 10 percent of its budget for weather-related January promotions.

“There are two times you can drive business,” says Sue Baldwin, VP for international marketing at Colorado Ski Country USA. “One is early. You also have an opportunity domestically and internationally to drive business in January.