STRATTON — The early snowfall last winter was a wake-up call for skiers, and it resulted in a 5% jump in skier visits over last year at Vermont’s resorts.
Skier and snowboarder visits rose 207,000 over the winter of 2017-18, according to the Vermont Ski Areas Association. More than 4.1 million skiers and snowboarders took to the slopes over the winter, the most since the 2014 and 2015 season, the group said.
Although the state’s resorts saw several early openings, the total number of skier and snowboarder visits was just 1% higher than the 10-year average at Vermont ski areas.
That’s because there have been other big snow years in the last decade, said Adam White of the Vermont Ski Areas Association.
Ski areas reported many superlatives at their 50th annual meeting at Jay Peak June 5 and 6. The 64-year-old Mount Snow had its earliest opening ever, and Mad River Glen had its longest season ever, said White.
“That’s important because Mad River Glen has limited snowmaking capabilities,” White said. “That’s indicative of how much natural snow we had.”
Smuggler’s Notch had the most open terrain they’ve ever had for an opening day, White said. Going into December, the state had about 65% of its terrain open when normally only 8% to 10% is open going into the month, White said.
Killington, the state’s largest ski area, opened its lifts on Oct. 19, three weeks ahead of last year’s opening day. Killington always tries to keep some terrain open into June, and often succeeds. Its last day for skiing this season was June 2, giving it a 211-day ski season.
“There was way more coverage than we normally have for our last day,” said Courtney Fiore, the public relations and social media manager at the Killington and Pico resorts. “You didn’t have to take off your skis or boards to get on or off the lift.”
Skiing’s a critical piece of Vermont’s tourism economy. Tourism generates more than $1 billion in wages and $391 million in taxes per year, according to the Scott administration — the largest sector of the economy after manufacturing.
Vermont resorts report that about 80% of their ticket buyers are visiting from out of state. Southern Vermont areas such as Stratton and Mount Snow tend to draw heavily from Boston, New York, and Connecticut; Jay Peak near the northern border sees a lot of skiers from Quebec.
The winter started off with a record-breaking snowfall of nearly 33 inches in November, according to meteorologist Roger Hill. The next highest snowfall total for November was back in 1900, with 24 inches. The average snowfall in November is 6 inches. Temperatures in November were also 5 degrees cooler than normal.
The early season wintry conditions got people in the mood for skiing, said Win Smith, who owns Sugarbush.
“It set the tone for the season,” Smith said Monday. “Cold, early snowmaking temperatures and no major thaw also made for good conditions throughout the season.”
Nature cooperated further by dumping more than 2 feet during the Martin Luther King Day weekend, and 14 inches in time for Presidents Day week.
“A combination of this snowfall, ever-efficient snowmaking and no significant periods of warm weather resulted in very consistent coverage and a higher percentage of terrain open across the state throughout the season,” the Vermont Ski Areas Association said in a statement.
