Colorado ski visits reached an estimated 11,445,000 in 2012/13, up 3.95 percent from the prior winter, according to an estimate released by  Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) at its 50th annual meeting.


Colorado Ski Countrys 21 member resorts hosted an estimated 6.4 million skier visits during the 2012-13 ski season, up 3.8 percent, or approximately 235,000 skier visits, from the previous season. By comparison, Vail Resorts Inc. reported last week that skier visits to its four Colorado resorts – Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone – rose 11.8 percent.  

 

Colorado resorts bested the estimated 1.9 percent uptick in visits in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S., while falling short of the national overall increase of 11 percent.
 
After opening on Oct. 17, 2012, Colorados 2012/13 ski season was slow to get off the ground due to several factors, most notably, variable snow conditions and a few resorts that were late to open.

 

In-state visitors tend to lead the charge in the beginning of the season, but an unusually warm fall kept local skiers and riders from logging in those early ski days, said Melanie Mills, president and CEO of CSCUSA.

Towards the end of the year, ski areas saw a strong holiday period with snow conditions more in line with an average year. December snow storms fueled robust holiday visitation and set up resorts for a positive winter.


It wasnt until mid-December that the snow really started to show up, but it showed up big time and made for a quintessential Colorado winter ski holiday at resorts, Mills continued.
 
Once resorts recovered from an early season snow deficit, conditions greatly improved in January and February and carried the momentum of a rebound season. The major ski weekends, especially Martin Luther King and Presidents Day, were all met with bumps in snow totals which helped drive skier visits and an uptick in revenue.

 

January and February brought closer to average snowfall throughout the state and resorts saw skiers turning out in greater numbers, said Mills.
 
The season finished with a very strong spring as guests who visited resorts were greeted with what Colorado is known for; snow that wouldnt quit, a superior product and top-quality service. Resorts all closed with abundant snowfall on their slopes and some were able to extend their seasons beyond planned closing dates.
 

CSCUSA also reported on the number of skier fatalities. During the 2012/13 season, Colorado saw eight skier fatalities, a sharp downturn from the prior year. A skier fatality is when a skier or snowboarder dies due to trauma related injuries, within the resort boundary, during operating hours, on terrain that is open to the public.

Fatalities


In Colorado last year, a skiers chance of having a fatal accident was about 1.4 in a million. For perspective, the National Safety Council (Injury Facts, 2012 edition) reports that in 2010, 5,200 pedestrians were killed, 2,500 people drowned while swimming in public pools and 800 people died while bicycle riding and the National Weather Service reports that, so far in 2013, seven people have been killed by lightning strikes.
 
We are very pleased with where we ended up for the 2012/13 season and are thrilled to see such a strong recovery trend for both Colorado and the ski nation, commented Mills. This season concluded with momentum in our favor as our resorts continue to set the gold standard in the industry for skier experiences.
 
Skier visits are the metric used to track participation in skiing and snowboarding. A skier visit represents a person participating in the sport of skiing or snowboarding for any part of one day at a mountain resort. These numbers are preliminary results and subject to final adjustments by CSCUSA members. The decision to release individual numbers is up to each individual resort.