A lack of snow finally caught up with mountain resorts in January, according to the most recent data from Mountain Travel Research Program, or MTRiP.
MTRiP data show occupancy at ski resort properties declined 3.7 percent in January from year earlier levels, while the pace for reservations taken during the month for the January through June plunged nearly 24 percent.
“Despite the drop off in bookings, our data noted that as of Jan. 31, on-the-books occupancy for February is only down 1.9 percent.,” said Ralf Garrison, director of MTRiP, which derives its data from a sample of 265 property management companies in 15 mountain destination communities, representing 24,000 rooms across Colorado, Utah, California and Oregon. “Positive snow equity from last year and encouraging changes in weather patterns is helping and there is still enough time to cash in on pent up skier demand if the snow keeps coming,” he added.
Reservations for spring skiing could rebound in coming weeks, as skiers respond to snowstorms that dropped 23 to 37 inches of snow at resorts in Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Wisconsin from Wednesday through Friday. Breckinridge, CO received 19 inches of fresh powder during that span, although that may do more to stimulate day trips by local skiers than overnight hotel stays.
Despite the paucity of snow in the early winer, occupancy at the resorts tracked by MTRiP was still up 1.3 percent from August, 2011 through the end of January, 2012 compared to the same time period last year.
