SAM Magazine--Savannah, Georgia, May 17, 2004--The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) released the preliminary skier visit numbers for the 2003/2004 season which are projected to be 56.8 million, the third best season on record. The numbers are down 1.3 percent from the 2002/2003 season which set the all-time record of 57.6 million.

The Pacific Northwest posted the best increases of any region with an 8.4 percent jump over last season, which was a particularly poor winter in terms of weather. The Rocky Mountain region gained 0.3 percent, the Midwest and Southeast were each down about 3.5 percent. The Northeast took the biggest hit with an 8.9 percent decrease.

Look for more in-depth coverage of the Kottke National End-of-Season Survey in the July issue of SAM.