SAM Magazine—Natick, Mass., Jan. 5, 2024—Given the unseasonable weather seen across much of North America, most mountain resort operators have not been singing the praises of Mother Nature this winter. Instead, they credited staff, snowmaking, and a little creativity for whatever success they experienced over the Christmas holiday period. Panorama Mountain Resort

December 2023 was one of the warmest on record for the United States, and holiday numbers were down at many areas. Those with powerful snowmaking capacities were grateful for the investment, while those without were left watching the skies in hopes for a turn of events.

WEST

We’ll start with the region enjoying the most robust snowfall this season, Alaska. According to Alyeska GM Duane Stutzman, the resort is on track so far to set new snowfall records this season. Stutzman exercised cautious optimism, noting that Alyeska’s position near sea level would be the ultimate determining factor in a recording breaking season. But with the base sitting at around 168 percent of average for this time of year, the resort is off to a strong start and expects 100 percent of its terrain to be open for the upcoming MLK holiday period. 

Stutzman attributed an early start—17 days ahead of schedule—to the resort’s strong business levels so far. “Our skier visit targets for the early season have been surpassed and have set the tone for the season,” said Stutzman, who is currently forecasting that number to grow enough to beat last season’s record year. The resort’s lesson volume is trending up this year, too, thanks to the Ikon Pass, destination guests, and the introduction of Snow Operating’s Terrain Based Learning, Stutzman added.

Heading south, the Pacific Northwest is experiencing a dismal weather pattern, which is setting records for low snow. Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association president Jordan Elliott said operators coming off a slow holiday season are hoping for a change in weather soon. An incoming system has folks crossing fingers for a turn of events.

While the Canadian West is also experiencing a leaner start to the season compared to last year, when heavy snow closed roads and forced many holiday travelers to stay home, a favorable turn in temps allowed for operators to provide a strong guest experience despite the mild start, according to Christopher Nicolson, president and CEO of the Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA). 

At Panorama Mountain Resort, British Columbia, the resort’s 375 snow guns helped to strengthen the quality of the product delivered to guests, said resort president Steve Paccagnan, adding that the best snowmaking window to-date allowed crews to cover 32 trails—nearly 400 acres—in record time, despite it being 3 degrees warmer than average. 

The warmer temps presented an opportunity as well, said Paccagnan. “With temperatures being more comfortable lately, a lot of people are getting outdoors,” he explained. As part of what he calls weatherproofing (providing alternatives to downhill sliding), “We’ve put a lot of energy into our Nordic network, grooming, and snowshoe and Fat Bike offerings,” said Paccagnan, “so people are really seeing value in that and visiting, which means we’re also seeing ancillary spending at restaurants and retail as well.”  

Sun Peaks, British Columbia, director of marketing Aaron Macdonald also attributed a strong kickoff to the season—the resort opened Nov. 18—to snowmaking. Despite milder temps, Sun Peaks had 100 percent of its lifts and a significant portion of its terrain (109/139 trails) open at press time. 

“Holiday numbers weren’t as high as last year, but all things considered, we did pretty well,” said Macdonald. “We just want to make sure the narrative around the region is that we do have snow at Sun Peaks.” 

CWSAA’s Nicolson noted that guest education is a key tool to bolster visitation when natural snow is lean. “The industry must continue to educate the marketplace that good conditions can result from multiple factors such as snowmaking, snow farming, summer grooming, trail design, aspect, and elevation, and are not solely dependent on deep powder alerts.”

And demand appears to be there. “Interestingly,” he said, “utility usage (e.g., water) in some destinations reached record levels [over the holiday period]. This speaks to the diversification of ski area offerings and the continued demand for mountain destination experiences, which is significant for resort communities and partners such as restaurants, hotels, and activity operators.” 

Early-season storms have yielded mediocre snow totals for California resorts, leaving many to operate with more limited terrain, particularly compared with last year. “Last year, weather affected our resorts’ ability to be open certain days because we had too much snow,” said Ski California president Michael Reitzell. “This year, being open due to weather wasn’t the problem, but the lack of available terrain made for some crowded slopes at resorts once the holiday visitation picked up.” 

Resorts like Mammoth Mountain and Palisades Tahoe currently have just over 50 percent of their lifts open. 

Conditions already appear to be improving post-Holiday. Reitzell reported that a storm this week dropped up to 18 inches of snow on some California resorts, and more is expected for the weekend. The long-range forecast also looks favorable, he added. 

UTAH, SOUTHWEST

Limited terrain did not hold families back from enjoying sunny days and moderate temperatures at Utah ski resorts said Ski Utah president and CEO Nathan Rafferty. In contrast to last year, when record snow closed roads, access to Utah ski areas has not been an issue. Demand remained strong, with only a 10 percent negative variance year-over-year compared to the banner 2022-23 season. More snow is in the forecast and bookings for the rest of the season look promising said Rafferty. 

Christy Germscheid, executive director at Ski New Mexico, said well-timed snowfall the week of December 14 combined with favorable snowmaking temperatures allowed New Mexico ski resorts to put their best foot forward for loyal clientele from surrounding markets like Texas and Oklahoma. 

At Sipapu, N.M., general manager John Paul Bradley reported a strong holiday week. "We anticipated the extended three-week holiday period to be busy, and it certainly was,” said Bradley. “The big hit of snow the week of December 14 boosted our snowpack to where conditions have been good, but we're ready for a refresh with this weekend's upcoming storms, as the crowds have packed the snow down significantly." 

MIDWEST 

Across the Midwest, unseasonably warm stretches wreaked havoc on operations. While the diehards still came out to Trollhaugen, Wis., said marketing director Marsha Hovey, the casual visitors were not at the slopes over the holidays.  Trollhaugen, WI

“Given the weather, visitation is what you would expect when snow is missing from the resort landscape and customers' backyards,” said Hovey. “Our dedicated audience is always here shredding, regardless of conditions, but the first timers and casual visitors have not come out quite yet. It’s hard to battle that simple psychology when guests don’t feel ‘winter’ in the air.”

Torrential rain and high temps forced the ski area to close Dec. 24-26, said Hovey, but dedicated guests showed up in full force once the resort opened again. She attributed that attendance to resort transparency. “Being honest with our customers is key. We wanted to show them the ‘before and after’ so to speak,” she said. “The work that our team did to bring the hills back from that storm was incredible, and our guests were extremely appreciative.”

Looking ahead said Hovey, “We are now finally back to solid snowmaking weather, and adding terrain as fast as we can. Temperatures have dropped, a dusting of ‘real snow’ fell, and it seems like the average skier and snowboarder is now tuned in to winter and back on the slopes after a slow start. We are feeling good about MLK weekend, even though it doesn’t feel like it should be here yet. 

“That was the longest October we ever saw,” she joked. 

Crystal Mountain, Mich., dealt with the same warm stretch so many operators fell victim to this holiday season. Director of communications Brittney Primeau said the greatest challenge to holiday operations came with offering guests the same off-slope activities they’d come to expect from the mountain, like Nordic skiing and snowshoeing. 

A little creativity from Crystal’s golf team successfully addressed the issue. “This year, our golf team got creative and opened a 4-hole, wedge-only golf course on our driving range, which is typically our Nordic center in the winter,” said Primeau. 

Numbers were down over last season, when Crystal hit records for skier visits, but the resort was nearly at capacity for lodging.  

Primeau credits transparency as paramount in restoring consumer confidence to those weary of travel during a rocky season. “The live webcams on the mountain are about as transparent as it gets, and it’s always exciting for people when they see snow on the slopes even when they don’t have it in their backyard. And the snow report is updated first thing in the morning by real people who have been on the mountain, so they are delivering real conditions,” said Primeau, who added that she observed a trend in last-minute bookings from guests calling for conditions updates. 

NORTHEAST

What started out as strong early-season with elevational snowfall in the Northeast quickly turned sour for the holidays. It was as if the Grinch stole Christmas week, with some resorts like Jay Peak, Vt., able to offer robust lift options early in the season, only to fall victim to a heavy rain event and a subsequent thaw. And for some resorts and communities storm damage was so severe it left folks rebuilding everything from homes to road infrastructure.  

Sunday River Resort, MEMaine took the one-two punch of early snow and crippling warm, heavy rain, exceptionally hard. Areas like Sunday River saw significant storm damage after getting pummeled with 5 inches, and while Sunday River was able to reopen thanks to a heroic remediation effort and a robust snowmaking system, the holiday period was marked with construction tape and continued clean up. 

Steve Wright, GM at Jay Peak, said his resort picked up close to 80 inches of natural snow in November alone, and was 100 percent open by the first full weekend of December. “Then, four inches of rain took us down to the proverbial studs.” As a result, skier visits were off as much as 50 percent over FY23. Revenue for the holiday week, on the other hand, was only off by 9 percent. “A testament to the business model,” said Wright.

Melody Nester, assistant director at Ski New Hampshire, reported that while storm damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been around the White Mountains, “The Christmas week was certainly warmer than what you want it to be, and business was down compared to years with more snow. From the skier visit numbers received from Ski NH alpine ski areas, it looks as though ski visits as a whole were down around 38 percent from last year. Business was also down from recent years, but up slightly from 2019.”

New Hampshire resorts have relied heavily on snowmaking so far this season, including Jackson XC, N.H. Executive director Ellen Chandler reported that business levels were about 20 percent of what they would be in a really good year, but 100 percent better than that would be in a typical bad year. “If we had not had snowmaking, there would’ve been almost no revenue at all,” said Chandler. 

Nate Harvey of Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center, N.H., said, “With little to no natural snow, of course our ticket sales for skiing and snowshoeing for vacation week are close to the worst in history.” He said the good news, though, was that lessons were relatively strong given the climate, tubing was open all week, fat bike rentals were decent, and seats on the SnowCoach (a 4-track vehicle that offers winter excursion up Mt. Washington) were generally sold out. 

Cranmore Mountain Resort, NHCranmore Mountain Resort, N.H. saw a decrease in business overall over last year but said business increased YOY in areas like tubing and the Mountain Adventure Park. “Ski resorts like ours are adjusting and enhancing snowmaking and other systems and strategies to not have to rely on Mother Nature to be open," said Ben Wilcox, president of the resort. "30 years ago, we probably would've been closed, but with snowmaking, we can be open." 

“It was a rough Christmas vacation week,” said Tom Day, president and GM of Gunstock Mountain Resort, N.H. Skier visits were down about 40 percent compared to last year at the start of the holiday period but recovered in the second half. 

Crotched Mountain, N.H., GM Susan Donnelly credited her team for a successful holiday period despite the weather. “Their commitment has been the driving force behind our success this past holiday week,” she said. “The team has done a great job maintaining the snow through the rain and moderate temps we’ve had.”

Attitash, NHThe sentiment was echoed by Attitash and Wildcat GMs Brandon Schwartz and JD Crichton, respectively. 

Mount Sunapee, N.H., GM Peter Disch noted that in addition to snowmaking, a full slate of off-snow activities helped bolster the holiday. “At Mount Sunapee, we have adapted our business in order to provide guests with an exceptional experience, no matter what kind of winter we’re having.” 

The lackluster story was similar in Quebec, where, said the Association des Stations de Ski du Québec’s (AASQ) Sophie Leblanc-Leroux, the holiday week brought warm temps and rain, significantly diminishing the robust snowpack from earlier in the month.  

Leblanc-Leroux said the hardest hit resorts were those without snowmaking capabilities (there are still 16 areas in Quebec that rely solely on natural snow to operate). Those with snowmaking were able to open 30-40 percent of their terrain during the holidays, while those without snowmaking “are still not open today,” she said. 

Visitation for the holiday period was also down across the region. “In Quebec, what makes it a little hard for us is the ‘green grass syndrome,’” said Leblanc-Leroux, “because people in urban areas see grass in their backyard so they think that they can't go skiing.” But, she added, “The season still has 100 days left, so we are hopeful it will be as good as last year, which was our best season of the last 16 years.”

MID-ATLANTIC, SOUTHEAST 

According to Hugh Reynolds, chief marketing officer at SNOW Partners, the holiday season could be referred to as, “A tale of two ski areas. The best of times and the worst of times.” Reynolds said visits at Mountain Creek, N.J., were down 50 percent from last year for the holiday period, but said pre-sold visits were strong, despite last year’s challenging winter. “This year was our third best pre-sold year in the resort's history,” said Reynolds. 

At indoor ski area Big SNOW, N.J., the story was much different. “Big SNOW had our best holiday week ever,” said Reynolds, “up 40 percent over the prior year.” 

“Fingers crossed for continued cold and this weekend storm to deliver,” he added.

Resorts in the Southeast are reporting strong demand from opening day, around Nov. 28 for Sugar Mountain, N.C., which is slightly later than its 2022-2023 season start, through the period to date.  

Sugar Mountain, NCKimberly Jochl, Sugar Mountain VP and president of the North Carolina Ski Areas Association, said that despite “torrential and pounding rain for the two days of Christmas,” which slowed traffic slightly, “demand ricocheted as soon as the weather departed.” 

A strong base in the region meant conditions generally held up well, and “further on the up side,” said Jochl, “the rain replenished the snowmaking water supply.” All in all, four of six North Carolina ski areas are operating with 60-80 percent of their terrain open and a 30–70-inch base.  

Resorts in the region are also feeling optimistic about the MLK weekend, she added, as cold temperatures and snow are forecasted for the long range. 

That’s in line with the overall sentiment operators shared with SAM that time will provide opportunities for recuperation and resorts will bounce back with resilience.