ASPEN – —Aspen Skiing Co. considers the 2011-12 season a success even though skier visits fell 1.8 percent from the prior winter.
“Given the state of the industry, given the state of the state, given the state of the region, we’re pretty happy with the way it came out,” Skico spokesman Jeff Hanle said. The company would have preferred continued growth, but given the snow conditions, the modest loss doesn’t seem so bad, he said.
Skico’s visits grew 1.7 percent in 2010-11 over the prior season, but the post-recession momentum couldn’t be maintained.
Nationally, skier visits were down 15 percent, according to a preliminary report released earlier this month by the National Ski Areas Association, a trade group for the ski industry. There were an estimated 51 million skier and snowboarder visits to the country’s ski areas. That is the lowest since the 1991-92 winter. In 2010-11, there were a record 60.54 million visits, according to NSAA.
Colorado Ski Country USA, a state trade association that doesn’t include Vail Resorts’ four ski areas in Colorado, reported its members’ numbers were down 7.4 percent through February. Season-ending statistics won’t be out until June.
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