Winter 2008-2009: fewer lift tickets sold?

An article in the current Newsweek (12/1/08), "Heading for a Wipeout" predicts a huge impact on skiing due to (most) airlines charging extra for skis. (Praise to Southwest for hauling our skis free!). 45% of skiers who stay overnight at big resorts fly in. With United charging $130 to check two bags round trip, multiplied by 4 for a family, this is an additional $520 for a trip over last year.

More people are renting skis according to the article which has and will further exacerbate the decade long decline in ski equipment sales.

An article in the current Newsweek (12/1/08), "Heading for a Wipeout" predicts a huge impact on skiing due to (most) airlines charging extra for skis. (Praise to Southwest for hauling our skis free!). 45% of skiers who stay overnight at big resorts fly in. With United charging $130 to check two bags round trip, multiplied by 4 for a family, this is an additional $520 for a trip over last year.

More people are renting skis according to the article which has and will further exacerbate the decade long decline in ski equipment sales.

Something I have heard is that some "east coasters" were looking into shipping their skis for their Canadian skiing holidays...which they already booked from this past summer.

::sigh::

I'm standing by my comments. 

Yeah, I was just commenting on our own little microcosm at Alpental.

For our part, if Winter travel outside of our region is a consideration at all this season, it will likely not involve flying.

The new issue of Ski Magazine (December 2008), in an article entitled "Fueling Change", the former editor of Ski, John Fry, provides some insight about skiing and the "wobbly economy":

"While recessions and bear markets are linked to drops in consumer spending, skiing historically correlates weakly with economic cycles. The reason is twofold. Skiers are largely drawn from the upper economic ranks of society, so their spending habits are less affected by the market. Secondly, skiing is more closely tied to snowfall than to the economy. Typically, if it snows, people ski. If it doesn't, they don't."

We'll see...

While I agree with his quote about 70%... there is also the "entry level" person who will forgo the cost of lift tickets.  The "entry level" person I typically see is the average joe.  And I have seen more skiing by the average joe in the past 10 years leading me to believe the resorts have more reliance on the average joe than they used to have.

Well, Tamarack in Idaho has closed . (see above).

"...it achieved only 27,000 skier visits through the end of January this winter...."

"A victim of slumping real estate sales," they might have had a better shot at survival had they concentrated primarily on skiing instead of building and selling houses.

Tamarack is one of those places I really wouldn't plan on skiing,ever,but now that it's closed .............I'm very tempted to go check it out with my tour gear.A little snow goes a long way when there's no lift.Next year I think we will see a lot of Deep discounting,and if a few more "resorts" close TAY will have to set up a new forum ...."Backcountry / formerly lift-served skiing" ........I look forward to it.