Utah ski resorts set another record

Utah's 13 ski resorts say they set a new record for skier visits for the fifth straight year.

The trade group Ski Utah says the resorts logged more than 4.25 million skier visits for the 2007-08 season. That was up 4.3 percent over the previous season's 4.1 million skier visits — a count of one person taking to the slopes for one or part of a day.

Industry leader Colorado had 12.54 million skier visits in 2007-2008. Vermont followed with 4.4 million skier visits. Utah traditionally takes the No. 3 spot. New Hampshire had 2.37 million skier visits, according to industry groups.

Utah's ski season started Nov. 16 and continued until June 15, when Snowbird, the last resort to keep lifts running, tentatively shut them down. Snowbird said it would re-evaluate conditions for this weekend.

A dry fall got the season off to a slow start, but the snow piled up throughout the winter, surpassing 700 inches at some Utah resorts.

"As the snow piled on so did the skiers," said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, which estimates skiers pumped more than $1 billion into the Utah economy.