Ski Industry Is Having Best Season in Years

G R E A T  B A R R I N G T O N, Mass., Jan. 11, 2001 -- The lines are long, the snow is deep, the winter has been cold, and Aynar Aas could not be happier.

"It's been very, very nice. This is the best opening I've seen in a long time," says the ski resort veteran who wears a weathered grin.

For 37 years, Aas has worked the mountain at Ski Butternut, near Great Barrington, Mass. "We opened early and have good conditions," says Aas, who today runs the mid-sized resort's rental operations. "We almost ran out of rental equipment four days in a row, which is the greatest problem to have."

From California to Maine, the U.S. ski industry is having its best season in at least four years. Some resorts are doing record business.

"The sound you hear from the mountains is the collective sigh of … finally," says Greg Trinket, Senior Editor of Ski Magazine in Boulder, Colo. "After a couple of rather thin snow winters the snow has been deep so far and the smiles are really wide."

And the busiest days of the year are still to come: the Martin Luther King holiday, and President's Day weekend.

Have Snow, Will Ski

With mild weather during much of the past decade, many ski resorts have scrambled to improve snowmaking and grooming, doing the best they can when nature doesn't co-operate.

"Over the last three years we have added 130 snow-making tower guns," says Butternut executive Matt Sawyer.

But the snow is much deeper this winter than in years past, and already the slopes are crowded.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula had nearly 90 inches of snow in December, more than double the normal amount. Nub's Nob in Michigan ceased snow-making in early January — the earliest date in 30 years — and Smugglers Notch in Vermont has 191 inches of snow, compared with 69 inches at this time last year.

The abundance of snow has brought out the skiers. The number of skiers at Gore Mountain in New York was up 50 percent from last year during the Christmas-to-New Year holiday week. In Vail, Colo., the slopes were so packed with tourists on New Year's Eve that the police had be called in to handle the crowds.

Interest Grows With Snowboarding and New Skis

While cold weather and plenty of snow are the biggest reasons for success, several recent trends have helped. Snowboarding is cool with kids and shorter, shaped skis have cut the learning curve for beginners.

At Butternut, the number of snowboarders has nearly doubled since 1995.The response from 15-year-old Phil Turney of Rye, N.Y., is typical: "It's fun. It looks cool also," he says. "Most of time I like to get speed and carve around."

New parabolic skis are also a hit among parents of teenagers, who find the new equipment to be far less awkward to use than the old sticks, which were long and straight. The changes are dramatic. Today's mass-market skis are hourglass shaped: wider at the top and the tail, which makes turns much easier. Modern skis are 10-20 centimeters shorter than most brands sold 10 years ago.

"What happened to the golf and tennis industries about a decade ago has helped the ski industry today," says Ski Magazine's Trinker. "The oversized tennis racket and golf club is now the shaped ski."

"Now almost anyone can ski," says Aas. "Short skis, groomed slopes, and everybody has chair lifts, which we didn't used to have years ago."

Ski Butternut and most other resorts also have promoted skiing as a family sport — even for young families. "Ski-wee" programs let parents drop off their kids for up to six hours a day. Children as young as 4 learn the basics in small classes with instructors.

"It's been great for our family," says Laura Gavey, a mother of four young children from Fairfield, Conn. With other activities, she says "half the family ends up watching one person participate in a sport. Whereas with this, the whole family does it together, and it's something we all really enjoy."

Pointers for Staying Safe

To be sure, downhill skiing has its downsides. Among the things to keep in mind before hitting the slopes:

High cost — Despite rental programs and beginner packages, one day at a mid-priced ski mountain can easily cost a family of four $200.

Early wake-up calls — The slopes are best in the morning because later they get icy on busy days.

All that equipment — Modern materials and better boots keep you warm on the coldest days, but there is so much stuff to remember.

Danger — While skiing and snowboarding are safer than many imagine, there is always concern about sprains and fractures. Children especially are urged to wear helmets.

But for many skiers young and old, the beauty of the snow, the tingle of fresh, cold air on the skin, and the unbridled goofiness of slip-sliding down a hill are worth it all.

"Skiing makes me feel like a kid again," says one middle-aged dad. "My wife and children are so much better at this than I am, and we can all laugh about that — even me!"