If there’s snow, they will come

By Ashleigh Livingston
With property values down and unemployment rates up, it may seem an unlikely time to relax and have a little fun. But what do New Yorkers do when they’re strapped for cash and the economy is on a downhill slope? It seems they strap on their ski boots and hit the slopes.
New York state has had more than 4.1 million skier visits this year, according to Scott Brandi, president of Ski Areas of New York Inc., a trade association that represents 40 of New York state’s 48 ski areas.
Brandi said that while national ski areas have been hurt by the recession, New York state ski area sales are up anywhere from 2 to 5 percent, with the Catskill region faring the best because of the abundance of snow it’s received this winter.
For the ski industry, the presence of snow and good ski weather is more of a concern than the status of the economy, explained Ted Blazer, president and CEO of the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which operates Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, N.Y.
“When there is snow, people want to ski,” said Blazer, adding that although Whiteface skier visits are down slightly from last year, he expects that by the end of the ski season those numbers will come out even with or slightly ahead of last year.
Many suspect that the reason statewide ski resorts are faring so well despite the dismal economic outlook is because skiers are skiing closer to home. Chad Orton, e-marketing manager at Tours de Sport, a travel agency that offers discount ski and snowboard vacations at resorts across the country, explained that most people drive to eastern ski resorts, while western resorts generally require air travel, which can get costly.
“[The recession] has been tough on ‘destination’ resorts—places people have to get in a plane to go visit for an extended time, so restaurants and hotels in places like Colorado and Utah have been hurting. You’re seeing healthy skier-visit numbers at eastern resorts--places people can drive to for a relatively cheap ski fix,” said Joe Cutts, eastern editor of Ski Magazine, in an e-mail.
In addition to the close proximity of ski resorts for New Yorkers, Brandi credited the integrity of the skiers themselves as being part of the reason the state’s resorts are faring so well.
“Our skiers are passionate,” he said. “They are still going to ski; they are just going to stay closer to home.”
One such skier is Stacy Sweet of Chazy, N.Y., who said she typically skis about six to ten times a year at Titus Mountain in Malone, N.Y., and that the state of the economy has not affected the amount or frequency of her ski visits.
“Skiing is a great outdoor activity in the winter, when there’s not much else to do around here,” said Sweet. “I love it. I’d give up shopping before I’d give up skiing.”
For those skiers who need a little more motivation than just some snow and a mountain to get them on the slopes, Blazer suspects that the recent Olympic games may be just the inspiration they need. He added that the large amount of press that Lake Placid, N.Y., has received due to the games can only help to attract skiers to the nearby Whiteface Mountain.
But while regional ski resorts appear to be enduring the nation’s economic recession quite nicely, not every aspect of the ski industry has been so lucky.
“It’s been a tough time for manufacturers and retailers, who are selling fewer skis than normal,” said Cutts.
Although skiers are still skiing, many aren’t spending extra money on new equipment or the latest in designer ski wear.
But new skis or not, it seems that New Yorkers haven’t let the economy keep them off the mountains. And although temperatures are warming up and spring is in the air, Brandi said the ski season is not over yet.
“Last year [Ski Areas of New York Inc.] had a bad March because of weather, this year we are postured to have one of the best Marches ever,” said Brandi.