Aspen Skiing Co.’s lift ticket sales were up 2 percent over the holidays

compared to last year, but business is down 10 percent for the season

through Sunday, David Perry, senior vice president-mountain division, said

Monday.

“The holiday period was a very strong one for business,” Perry said. “Skier

days could have been higher with a break in the weather.”

Temperatures and wind chills made for brutally cold mornings during most of

the stretch between Dec. 22 and Jan. 6. That kept all but the hard core

skiers off the slopes some days, as shop keepers and restaurateurs in Aspen

and Snowmass Village can attest.

Nevertheless, Perry said the Skico was pleased with the performance over the

two-week holiday period. Last year was strong, despite numerous flight

cancellations because of poor weather in Denver. Poor weather again this

year forced cancellations or diversions of numerous flights into Aspen, but

at least customers were able to make it into the state, then take ground

transportation to the resorts.

This year during the holidays, the Skico logged about 5,000 more skier

visits — the industry standard for measurement. A skier visit is the

purchase of a full- or half-day lift ticket.

The busiest day on the slopes was Saturday, Dec. 29, when about 19,700

skiers and riders visited the Skico’s four areas, Perry said. The following

day was nearly that busy. Skico likely would have challenged its record for

busiest single day with more than 20,000 visits if the weather was warm and

sunny.

Perry said the company was able to increase holiday business, in large part,

because of the great conditions. Snowmass Ski Area received record snowfall

in December and Aspen Mountain was close to a record. The Skico took

advantage of the conditions by dubbing the month DeepCember in marketing

efforts. Aspen-Snowmass benefited because some key competitors didn’t enjoy

as much snow earlier in December, Perry said.

Business also boomed over the holidays simply because of the time of year.

“Christmas and Christmas and Aspen-Snowmass will fill up for the holidays,”

Perry said.

For the season so far, the numbers aren’t as rosy. The lack of snow in

November sabotaged business from Thanksgiving through the first three weeks

of December. The irony, of course, is that the poor conditions in November

hurt business in December even though Aspen-Snowmass enjoyed one of its

snowiest months ever.

Perry said he suspects the ski industry throughout the West experienced a

tough start to the season with the warm, dry conditions. Colorado Ski

Country USA, a state association, will release by mid-January the cumulative

skier visits for its members through Dec. 31.

The good news for the Skico is it typically logs only about 20 percent of

its skier visits by Jan. 6, so there is plenty of time to make up the 10

percent deficit.

“You don’t recover from a slow-start hangover immediately,” Perry said.

“That’s a hangover that lasts for weeks.”

The extent of the hangover remains to be seen.

January looks “on par” with past seasons, Perry said, and early February is

“quite good.” Business leaders are concerned about the current outlook for

late February into the first week of March.

Perry said the Skico and its marketing partners — the lodging industry,

Aspen Chamber Resort Association and the town of Snowmass Village — have put

their efforts into “overdrive” to increase business for that period.

scondon@aspentimes.com