In early July, Chris Hale, VP of sales and marketing at Shanty Creek, Mich., sent an e-mail blast to his mailing list. “We’re still in the mid 70s up here,” Hale wrote.

“Down there,” where much of the rest of the nation was baking in 90-plus degree heat, vacationers needed little urging to head for the hills. And it wasn’t just cool temps drawing them. Thanks to big investments in water parks, zipline tours and dozens of other attractions, America’s winter playgrounds enjoyed one of their best summers ever.

This was welcome news after two summers of lousy weather and even worse economic news. Even groups, a major casualty of the recession, began returning to the mountains this summer to meet and greet and beat the heat.

“We’re very optimistic,” says Jack Sibbach, director of sales and marketing at Sun Valley, which despite its storied ski heritage, does 70 percent of its business in the summer. “Summer bookings are really good, especially compared to last year. Even our meeting and convention business is coming back a little.”

“Everything’s up,” agrees Erin Ernst, PR manager at Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands, Mich. “Call volume, reservations, packages, all of our amenities, the water park, golf. We’re seeing more travelers through our area, both day and longer visitors.”

At Loon, N.H., which added a zipline across the Pemigewasset River, summer business was up more than 50 percent. Hunter Mt., N.Y., which hosts several major festivals throughout the summer, sold 24 percent more tickets than last summer for its April fest, and set a fifth straight attendance record at its May fest.

“The New York thruway is definitely more packed than we’ve seen it the last two years,” says Brian Czarnecki, director of sales and marketing. “Even midweek. People are definitely staying closer to home and drive-to destinations. At least that’s what we’re seeing in the Northeast.”

The Midwest and West were seeing the same thing. “People haven’t given up the idea of vacationing,” says Hale at Shanty Creek. “They’re just staying closer to home, and instead of 4-5 days, are staying only 2-3 days.”

“We’re an hour from Portland, which is helping us,” says Hans Wieper, operations manager at Mt. Hood Skibowl, Ore., which was on track for its best summer ever. “People are staying closer to home.”

Timberline Lodge, also 60 miles from Portland, double benefitted from the bad economy: More day visitors, and $4.2 million in stimulus money to upgrade the federally-owned lodge. “We’re having a remarkably good season,” says Jon Tullis, director of public affairs. “We have a full hill of skiers and snowboarders and lots and lots of tourists down at the lodge. Instead of going farther away, people are staying closer to home, but still skiing and vacationing.”


New Attractions
Staycations and great weather were not the only reasons for the excellent summer. Ski resorts continued to invest in their summer operations. Ziplines were the most popular new attraction.

Jiminy Peak, Mass., added five in its new Aerial Adventure Park, which opened June 19. “Our Mountain Adventure Park [Alpine coaster, kids zone] is not so much for skiers,” says Katie Fogel, assistant director of marketing. “The new aerial park has a more adventurous feel and appeals to skiers as well as others. We’ve had great feedback.”

Loon’s new zipline brings “critical mass” to the area’s summer Adventure Center. “We now have a good, solid selection of activities for the whole family and all ages which is resulting in families spending more time here,” says Molly Mahar, marketing director. Other attractions include gondola rides, summit glacial caves, mountain biking, climbing wall, bungee trampoline, and horseback riding. “With people spending more time at the resort, incidental spending, F&B, retail, etc., is also up,” Mahar notes.

Hunter added both zipline (over the trees) and canopy (under the treetops) tours, and in October, the area will open the highest (600 feet) and longest (3,500 feet) zipline in North America. “There will be six tandem lines so you can go with a friend. It will not be for the faint of heart. We feel if we build the biggest, people will come,” says Czarnecki. Hunter’s other ziplines and canopy tours have been filled to capacity every weekend and most Fridays, and “holding their own midweek,” he adds. “It’s an entirely new product, and we’re very happy with its success so far.”

Spirit Mountain, Minn., is also happy with its new product, an Alpine coaster—the only one in the Midwest. Since opening July 1, response has been “phenomenal,” Briana Johnson from marketing says. “Numbers and revenue are far above our expectations and budget. I think people are really excited to try something new. Even rainy days, we’ve had lines.”

At the other end of the new product spectrum, Keystone, Colo., offered snow (yes, snow) tubing until July 10. “It was a banner year for us,” says Justine Chellel in the Keystone communications department. “Snow tubing in summer is really new and exciting. People loved it.”


Splish, Splash
“We are a very weather-driven business,” notes Alice Heinrich, sales and marketing manager at Mountain Creek, New Jersey’s largest water park. “If it’s hot, people come. If not, they don’t come.” After last year’s rainiest summer ever, this year’s record heat put Mountain Creek on pace for record visits. Other water parks at Camelbeach, Pa., and Boyne, Mich., were enjoying similar seasons.

“It’s very hard to compare this summer to recent years because the weather was so dreadful the last two summers,” says Christian Dufour, communications manager at Mont Ste-Sauveur, the largest water park in Quebec. “All parks in the province are doing well. Great weather is countering the economy.”


Tradition
It’s also been a great summer for golf at ski areas. There was very little winter kill, lots of great weather, long seasons.

Sugarloaf, Maine, opened the back nine of its high-end course May 1-2, the last two days of its ski operations. It held the line on golf and stay packages, but lowered green fees and membership rates. “Our memberships are way up,” says Ethan Austin, communications manager. “I don’t think it’s a record. Some of those years in the late ’90s, early 2000s were huge. But we’re on pace for a very good year, particularly after the last two.”

Boyne, with eight courses and a reputation for unlimited golf, restructured some of its packages, including its economy “room and a round” package. “All of our golf packages are up quite significantly,” Ernst says.

Ditto at other ski resort golf courses. “The weather has been very favorable, especially on the weekends, which is critical for golf,” notes Jeff Wise, communications director at Stowe, Vt., which has two 18-hole courses.

This summer also marked the slow return of group business to many ski resorts, particularly weddings, family and other social groups. “After our corporate group business was hit last year by the economy, we shifted our focus to go after family reunions, weddings and other groups of that type to bridge the gap,” says Fogel at Jiminy Peak.

Other areas reported similar shifts. “We hardly saw any corporate groups last year due to the economy,” says Wieper at Mt. Hood, which can handle picnics for up to 6,000 people. “All groups are on the upswing, especially family groups and weddings. Corporate business is not at the levels of a few years ago, but coming back slowly.”

Weddings and social groups were also helping to fill the corporate gap at Shanty Creek. “We just hosted 600 motorcyclists who all happen to ride the same bike,” Hale says. “It was the first time they’ve been here. They’ve already signed a contract to come back next year.” Corporate groups remain sparse, but associations are picking up some of the slack.

Meetings and conventions were also picking up at Sun Valley. “We’ve got a lot of good meetings coming up, not only the number of meetings, but the number of people attending them,” Sibbach says.