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Despite some ups and downs in the Midwest, the ski industry roared back in 2017 with a coast-to-coast above average year. Nearly everyone got in the act.

“We sent out more powder alerts than ever before,” says Sarah Wojcik, marketing director at Ski Vermont. “We had lots and lots of snow everywhere,” states Mike Reitzell, president of the California Ski Industry Association.

Of course, skiers follow snow. And that led to a solid, mostly average or above average year. But after last winter’s disaster in the East, and four years of drought in the Far West before that, average is a welcome change. Here is a quick rundown of the 2016-17 season:

EAST
Believe it or not, as bad as 2015-16 was, Snowshoe, W.Va., received 34 inches less snow this past winter. The difference? More consistent snowmaking temps this past season. Snowshoe never had to close, it hit all the holidays, and ended the season with a bang, thanks to a big mid-March snowstorm.

“Most people would call this a down year if talking only in terms of snow,” says Shawn Cassell, PR specialist. “But in terms of getting open and staying open, it was a successful year. We really flexed our snowmaking muscle.” Joe Stevens at the West Virginia Ski Areas Association sums it up: “It was a heckuva roller coaster.”

It was the same farther south. “Up, down, but better than last year,” says Talia Freeman, marketing director at Beech Mountain, N.C. Despite a dramatic warm-up during the last week in February, Beech never closed. “I’m really proud of our snowmakers and groomers,” Freeman says. After the big mid-March snowstorm, Beech had one of its best March weeks ever. “Overall, it’s been a great year,” she concludes.

It was also great farther north, thanks to a March that roared in with cold temps and the biggest dump of the season, reversing a late February meltdown and fears of an early end.

“It was very frustrating,” says Tom Meyers, marketing director at Wachusett, Mass. “It had been a very solid season up until [the February warm-up]. We hit all the holidays, Christmas, MLK, the beginning of President’s week. We were concerned we would go out too quickly.”

But when the temperatures dropped from 70-plus degrees to below freezing in early March, Wachusett called back its snowmakers. “We’ve never made snow in March before,” Meyers says. Snowmaking, combined with a 16-inch snowstorm March 14, resulted in “four or five of the best days of the season,” Meyers says. “We’re feeling pretty good the way things ended up.”

All over the East, resorts turned on their snow guns in March, postponing an end that was coming all too soon. In New York, 17 areas had already closed or were about to close at the end of February.

“It was looking like a sad end,” admits Ski Areas of New York president Scott Brandi. “Then salvation.” Spring snows revived the season. “If we get into April, it’ll be an above average year, probably around four million [visits].” Even southern New York areas, such as Thunder Ridge and Mount Peter, were open more than 100 days.

Community areas in Maine also had a great year. Camden Snow Bowl closed in February and reopened in March. Lost Valley and Mt. Abram extended their seasons, Titcomb was “crushing” it with racing, and Shawnee Peak had huge crowds for its pond skim. “It won’t be a record, but will be above average,” says Greg Sweetser, executive director at Ski Maine, predicting 3.1 million visits.

Vermont was also looking at average or above visits, around 4.1 million, Wojcik predicts. It looks like an average or above season in New Hampshire, as well, says Jessyca Keeler, executive director at SkiNH. “It was kind of a roller coaster, but we got snow when we needed it,” she says.

WEST
In the west, snow was plentiful, especially the entire state of California. Last season, SoCal areas remained in drought.

“This year, the drought was over everywhere,” Reitzell says. “Some areas are approaching 700 inches of snow. January was the all-time biggest snow month ever.” Many resorts extended their seasons: Mt. Rose to Memorial Day; Mammoth, Squaw and Alpine Meadows to July 4. “Visits and revenues will be above average,” Reitzell says, despite road and resort closures in January due to the weather.

Ditto in the Pacific Northwest, says PNSAA president John Gifford, where snowfall and visits were running above average. “Last year was very strong, and we were running ahead of that at the end of February,” Gifford says. “It’ll be a top-five season.”

In Colorado, great snow offset a warm November. December and January snowpack were 120 and 125 percent above average, respectively. “For snow, it’s been a good year,” says Chris Linsmayer, communications director at Colorado Ski Country USA. Visits, too. Through the end of February, visits were up 8 percent over the five-year YTD average, and off just 2 percent from last season’s record total.

In Utah, “Everything was strong,” says Paul Marshall, communications director at Ski Utah. “Lodging, visits, holiday weeks. Looks like it could be a record-breaker. Last year was a record-breaker. We like to ride that train.”

MIDWEST
The train never left the station in the Midwest, where untimely thaws and other difficult weather brought another down ski season. “Last year, on average, areas were down about 12 percent in the Midwest,” says Amy Reents, president of MSAA. “I would guess a lot of regions will be comparable to last year, maybe a little better. Nothing fantastic.”

Reents says the real story in the Midwest was the resilience of operators and their commitment to customers. “It would have been easy for a lot of areas to call it over and be done President’s week,” she says. “Many made snow in March. That’s not typical in the Midwest. Most usually stop making snow in January or early February. They really tried to give customers a longer season and quality product. They dug deeper to do that. There was a real determination not to give in.”

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
There were other noteworthy aspects of the 2016-17 season:

Ski train: The Winter Park Express, which ran from Denver to Winter Park from 1947 to 2009, returned to sellout crowds. “People never had to set foot in a car,” Linsmayer says. “It was a total success, a sellout almost every weekend. It was great for Winter Park, for Denver, and skiing generally.”

Stowe, Vt.: The iconic Vermont resort joined the Vail family and Epic Pass, touching off a pass war in the East. One of the oldest ski resorts in the country, Stowe ended its historic season by hosting the Ski Hall of Fame induction ceremony in April.

Babies and twin tips: Maine has some of the oldest demographics in the country, which is why Sweetser was so happy to see lots of little kids out skiing this season: “It’s great to see people are having babies and that they are skiing.” Sweetser also noted the kids seemed to prefer skis to snowboards. Little kids were also on the rise in New York, where Brandi says participation in the 3rd and 4th grade passport program doubled.

Lessons: Lessons were up in many regions. “Ski school and rentals were very strong” in the Pacific Northwest, Gifford says. One-day learn-to packages were way up at Wachusett, and Meyers saw a big increase of upgrades to three-day packages. Ditto in Vermont, where the state’s first full season of its “Take 3” $129 learn-to package was very successful, Wojcik says.

Webcams: Webcams were critical in getting the word out about snow and snowmaking. “Fifteen minutes down the hill can be a completely different weather pattern,” says Freeman at Beech. “It’s hard to make our market down-country understand we have a good product. Webcams are the most popular feature on our website, and help keep people engaged. Ten years ago, without webcams, we would not have had such a good season with the weather we had.”