Utah continues to set records

The 2005-06 Utah ski season was a record in a number of areas.

Leading into this season, this could be looked at in a couple of different ways, said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah.

"We have a lot of momentum going into this year, or it puts a lot of pressure on us to do better," he told a gathering of resort officials and media early Tuesday.

Last ski season was, in fact, the third year in a row Utah has entertained a record number of skiers. The final count in 2005-06 was 4,062,188. Skier counts on the national level also hit an all-time high — 58.8 million.

Utah drew 7 percent of the national total. Colorado, which records more than 12 million skier days, accounted for 20 percent of the total.

It was also noted that in four of the past five years, Utah has recorded above average snowfall, and for the past two years has accumulated more than 600 total inches. The long-term average at Utah resorts at the highest elevations is 500 inches.

Rafferty also went over some of the figures from a skier survey taken last year. The skier survey is conducted every three years.

The latest findings show skiing contributed $692 million to the Utah economy in 2005-06, which is up from $650 million in 2002-03. The amount attributed to out-of-state skiers was $563 million.

The average daily expenditure of out-of-state skiers also rose. In 2005-06, visiting skiers spent $269 per day. Three years ago the figure was $251.

"One of the biggest surprises to us," said Rafferty, "involved local skiers. Our findings last year were opposite of what we found three years ago. In 2002-03, locals accounted for 45 percent of the skier days. In the latest survey, locals accounted for 56 percent.

"Having 600 inches of snow certainly helped get the locals out. An increase in the population was part of it and also all of the great programs we have available now for the locals."

Another area that was encouraging was that 57 percent of the respondents said they planned to return and ski in Utah sometime in the next two years. Three years ago, 51 percent said they planned to return.

The two main reasons out-of-state skiers gave for coming to ski in Utah remained the same — access and snow conditions.

Rafferty said early signs all point to "another great year."

The increase in tourism funding — $2.5 million for winter promotion — will make it possible for Utah to reach deeper into the outside skiing market.

This funding also made it possible for Utah to be a major sponsor of the Warren Miller ski movie tour, which involves 400 shows in 189 different markets in 35 different states.