Colorado Expects Skier Numbers To Be About The Same As Last Winter
Colorado expects the number of skier visits this season to be about the same as last winter (06-07) after an unusual six months that saw very poor snow cover and warm temperatures in November leading to a poor Thanksgiving period, followed by huge snowfalls which led to race cancellations in Aspen due to too much snow on the course. These heavy snowfalls continued through in to Spring leading to, overall, well above average snowfall for the winter as a whole, with Steamboat reporting its greatest ever snowfall total last week. Most resorts are closing as usual during the next fortnight despite the huge snow bases, although others including Loveland and Arapahoe Basin will probably be open well in to May and possibly beyond.
Preliminary reports from the Colorado ski resort’s association, which represents 26 of the state’s resorts (virtually all of them) indicates visit numbers were down by about nine percent up to New Year but recovered well in January and February to be only one percent behind the 2006-7 total at the end of the month. More heavy snow in March and the early Easter may well mean that the state’s total catches up on last winter by the end of the season.
Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc
