Top Five Fridays: May 24, 2024
Lead Image: As it enters its final weekend of winter operations, coverage at Mammoth Mountain is looking fantastic. Image: Mammoth Mountain on Facebook
#1: What’s Happening Where? Checking in With Operational Statuses of Ski Resorts Across the World:
Spring skiing is still going strong at Arapahoe Basin, who plans to be amongst the last operating ski resorts in North America this year, with skiing planned until at least June 9th. Image: Arapahoe Basin on Facebok
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the May 24, 2024 edition! As luck would have it, it’s a ski resort themed week, as each and every one of our highlights is centered around the topic. The good news though, is that each highlight is pretty different, all of them are interesting, and none of them are of the “such and such resort is getting a new lodge,” variety. You’ll see what we mean as you read through this week’s highlights, but before we get into the thick of it, we want to start by sharing operational updates from around the world.
First things first, just about an hour and a half south of us, in Killington, VT, the resort continues to offer skiing and snowboarding for those brave enough for the Superstar mogul challenge. The resort is also opening its mountain bike park this weekend. As such, it’s potentially the only weekend of the year where guests can bike, ski/board, and golf all on the same day. For us East Coasters, this is probably our last chance to conveniently ski this season, so if you’re still feeling the itch, we suggest getting yourself to Killington ASAP.
Elsewhere in the U.S., we also caught a number of closing date announcements from the handful of ski areas still open. In Utah, Snowbird announced that they will be closing after this weekend, due at least in part to the need to begin offseason construction projects. In Colorado, Winter Park has announced they’ll also be closing after this weekend, while Arapahoe Basin has plans to run lifts for at least two more weeks, with a potential closing date of June 9th. As for California, both Palisades Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain also currently plan to close after this weekend. In Oregon, Mt. Bachelor will close on Sunday, while Timberline plans to stay open as long as it possibly can. Finally, and most surprisingly, Arizona Snowbowl also remains open this weekend, with plans to open for one more day on June 1st, making it the latest operating day in Arizona’s history, and making them one of just a few resorts operating into June this year. In other words, what this all adds up to is this: ski season in North America is finally just about to wrap up, with nearly every ski resort planning on closing after this weekend.
That said, for those of you who aren’t willing to wait several months before skiing again, it should be noted that ski season is just getting started at resorts in the southern hemisphere. Directly to our South, in Chile and Argentina, a number of ski areas have opened for the season earlier than usual, thanks to solid early season snow. An incomplete list of ski resorts that are currently open at least on weekends includes: Nevados de Chillan, Ski Corralco, Antuco, and Cerro Catedral. Perhaps even more exciting though, is that the region is also in the midst of a massive snow storm, with popular destinations like Valle Nevado, Ski Portillo, and Las Leñas all expected to receive multiple feet of snow. If you’re set on getting some skiing in this summer, early signs indicate that South America might be setting up for yet another epic season. Of course if you’re not feeling a trip to South America, your other option would be the ski fields of Australia and New Zealand, where the season is also just getting underway. While there aren’t any massive storms to report quite yet, we have received word that Thredbo has fired up over 150 snow guns as they prepare to get their season underway in just a couple of months. So, there you have it! While things are starting to settle down here in North America, they’re just getting started in other parts of the world, meaning you can keep your ski dreams alive, so long as you’re willing to travel.
#2: Despite a Slow Start, U.S. Ski Resorts Saw 60.7 Million Skier Visits This Year:
Despite growing uncertainties regarding winter weather, the ski & snowboard lifestyle continues to be a popular draw for those seeking winter recreation. Image: Vail Mountain on Facebook
In other ski resort news, this week just so happens to be the annual “skier visitation report” week! Loyal readers of Top Five Fridays probably know that every year, right around this time, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) releases their annual report sharing skier visitation data across the United States. While a number of external factors need to be considered, such as weather patterns and pandemics, each year’s figures give us the general pulse of the ski industry as multi-year trends emerge. So, keeping that in mind, how did we do in the 2023-2024 season?
As it turns out, pretty good! The unofficial headline this year was, “Fifth Best Season on Record, Despite Slow Start.” Thinking back, you’ll likely recall that most of the United States was in a bit of a snow drought to start the year, leading to a decrease in visits. That’s a stat that’s backed up by Vail’s earnings report from Q2, which also reported a decrease in visits through January. Still, despite the slow start to the season, U.S. ski resorts still racked up 60.4 million skier visits. To help put that into perspective, last year set a new record for skier visits with 65.3 million, thanks in large part to record setting snow storms across a wide portion of the west. The year prior, the 2021-2022 season, was also record setting at the time, with 60.7 million visits. In other words, each of the last three seasons have been in the top five “busiest” ski seasons on record, with two of them setting records.
So what’s the takeaway here? Well, it’s pretty straightforward actually: despite weather resulting in a slow start, ski resorts still managed to rack up 60.4 million visits, which is only .3 million behind the second busiest season. What that number tells us is that despite growing uncertainty around winter weather, the sports of skiing and snowboarding remain more popular than ever. Beyond the high level “total skier visits” statistic, the report from the NSAA also breaks down tons of other niche stats, such as the ratio of visits to extra large ski areas compared to small ski areas, regional breakdowns, and season pass usage compared to daily lift tickets. All in all, it’s worth taking a look at in full if you’re interested in learning more about the numbers behind the ski industry, or are interested in comparing this year to previous seasons. You can check out this year’s report here, as well as the historical data for all ski seasons on record, right here.
#3: Colorado Supreme Court Ruling Attempts to Draw the Line on Liability:
A view from Crested Butte, where the resort was on the defending end of a lawsuit that has ultimately clarified the extent of a resort’s liability. Image: Crested Butte on Facebook
Next up this week is a bit of legal drama involving the Colorado Supreme Court, Vail Resorts, and a girl named Annie who became paralyzed after falling off a chairlift. To fully understand this case, the ruling, and its implications, it helps to know the backstory. Two seasons ago, back on March 16, 2022, a girl named Annie attempted to get on a chairlift called the Paradise Express at Crested Butte. As she was attempting to get onto the lift, Annie didn’t quite make it on, and ended up holding onto the lift in an attempt not to fall off. As this was happening, Annie’s father, Michael, as well as additional onlookers, began yelling for the lift to be stopped. The lift operators either didn’t hear the calls or chose to ignore them and the lift kept running. Ultimately, Annie fell from the lift, landing directly on her back, becoming paralyzed. Somehow, the lift still kept running and Annie’s dad had to ride it all the way to the top before he could ski down to meet up with his daughter. As a result of that incident, Michael and Annie filed a lawsuit against Crested Butte, citing gross negligence.
This lawsuit once again brought the question of sk area liability into court. In recent years, there have been a number of similar cases introduced in different states, all with different outcomes. In Oregon for example, Mt. Bachelor faced a $49 million wrongful death lawsuit back in 2022, while the Mt. Hood Ski Bowl settled a $10.5 million lawsuit that ultimately resulted in the closure of its mountain bike park. In both cases, the reach of liability waivers was called into question.
This week, the Colorado Supreme Court contributed to the conversation in ruling that Annie and Michael Miller are justified in their claims of negligence. At the center of the argument is the idea that while liability waivers clear the ski area of injury or death incurred while visiting the resort, the resort itself must also be operating within the law. In other words, if a death or injury is incurred as the result of the ski resort not operating within the bounds of the law, the liability waiver does not protect them. Specifically in this case, the Millers argued that the lift operator’s not responding to the incident by stopping the lift was a violation of the Colorado’s Ski Safety Act and the Passenger Tramway Safety Act. While that ruling does leave a bit of wiggle room when determining whether or not the resort broke the law in any given situation, it does bring a bit of clarity to the concept of liability waivers. In short, the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling suggests that we can view them as, “if it’s the guest or nature’s fault, it’s covered by the waiver. If the incident is the fault of operations at the resort, the resort is liable.” In our minds, this seems like a fair and sensible outcome. In the eyes of safety advocates, this is being seen as a huge win for consumer safety. To learn more about this story, check out the report from the Denver Post.
#4: Peter Landsman Has Seen Every Chairlift in North America Except One. The Colorado Sun Shares His Story:
A look at the long defunct triple chair at Montana’s Marshall Mountain - one of the 2,976 chairlifts documented on Liftblog.com.
Finally, we’re rounding things out this week with a cool story coming to us by way of the Colorado Sun that shares the story and insights of one Peter Landsman, “the resort industry’s chairlift savant.” In our years of ski news coverage here, we’ve utilized the website liftblog.com on a few occasions, for various reasons. While we always thought it was a cool site, we never put much thought into who or how it was created or managed. As it turns out, that incredible database of knowledge is the production of just one man: Peter Landsman.
This week, the Colorado Sun published a Q&A with Landsman, who claims the honor of being the only person to have visited 3,000 different chairlifts at all of the 750 ski resorts in North America (except for one, which he hopes to visit next month). It’s an impressive stat, and one that becomes borderline mind blowing when you take into account the fact that Landsman is just 34 years old, and works as a full time lift operator at Jackson Hole. Despite starting his “mission” at the ripe old age of 9, Landsman still found himself on airplanes for 22 weeks straight this past winter as his list of resorts and lifts left to visit took him into remote corners of Canada. As a result of his endeavors, Landsman has accumulated a pretty unique perspective on the ski industry as his travels have taken him to ski resorts of all sizes and in all regions of North America. In fact, it could be argued that Landsman has the most perspective on the industry as he’s gone to more resorts than any other individual alive. It’s a fact that quickly becomes obvious in the Colorado Sun Q&A as he readily shares in depth knowledge of how Canada’s ski industry compares to the U.S., as well as specific histories of chairlifts across North America.
As for his website, liftblog.com, Landsman’s database of every single chairlift in North America is downright fascinating if you’re a ski geek like us. On this website, you can look up every lift at literally any ski hill in North America, see photos of it, and learn a number of stats like manufacturer, installation date, whether it’s operational, ride time, and more. For example, want to know how many chairs are on the triple chair at Montana’s Marshall Mountain, which has been closed since 2004? The answer is 81. It’s truly an impressive database, and one that’s given Landsman a uniquely deep knowledge of a certain niche of the ski industry. To check out the lift stats at your favorite resort, head over to liftblog.com. To learn more about Landsman’s fascinating story and insights, give the Colorado Sun article a read.