Ski season outstanding

After the last lift-ticket sale is recorded, which could be sometime in May, and winter is only a memory, Utah may be able to claim its best ski season ever.

Kip Pitou, president of Ski Utah, said if he were to guess at this point, "I would say our skier days will be somewhere around 3.4 million."

Utah's previous high was 3.28 million posted in 2000-01. Last season 3.14 million tickets were sold.

After this week, however, there will be little help in the numbers game. Six Utah ski areas will close Sunday. Three have already closed. Three more will close April 18. That will leave one — Snowbird — left to stretch out winter.

As typically happens each spring, resorts won't be closing because of low snow pack. There is still 8 feet of snow on some runs. When temperatures warm, however, skiers and snowboarders simply quit sliding. The good weather lures them to other activities, such as golf and yard work and long bike rides.

For the first time, the three Summit County resorts — Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons — will close on the same day — Sunday. Also closing will be Brian Head, Powder Mountain and Snowbasin.

Alta, Solitude and Brighton are expected to close April 18. Snowbird will close for daily operation on May 9, then open weekends through May 31 — if the snow base holds.

Looking back, said Pitou, the 2003-04 season was educational.

"First, we learned we may not be as snow-dependent as we think. Last year was kind of a weak snow season. The Summit County resorts had record seasons, and other resorts came close," he reported.

"Certainly, snow is important. But in this day and age, destination skiers perceive that we will have snow no matter what and book. Snow doesn't seem to be an issue.

"Having early snow does help. It gives us an extra month. But the destination skiers don't come early. Locals do. And what we found this year is that if we have no snow the locals don't ski, and if we have great snow the locals don't ski."

More than 56 percent of all lift tickets are sold to out-of-state guests, and each year that number increases.

This past season snow fell early and with some depth. Alta and Snowbird both went over their annual average of 500 inches. Brighton, which didn't start measuring snowfall until the day it opened, recorded 497 inches, said Dan Malstrom, director of marketing.