Contact: Troy Hawks
NSAA Communications
(720) 963-4215
thawks@nsaa.org

Final Report Indicates 55.1 Million Visits in 2006/07

LAKEWOOD, Colo., August 9, 2007– The final 2006/07 Kottke End of Season Survey indicates that the U.S. ski industry recorded 55.1 million visits for the 2006/07 season, up 0.4 percent from the preliminary estimate of 54.82 million, and down 6.5 percent from the record 2005/06 season.

The 2006/07 was indeed a challenging year for the ski industry. Abnormally warm temperatures and below average snowfall impacted most areas of the country, delaying planned openings, interrupting the season with periodic resort closures, and otherwise shortening the effective length of the season significantly in all regions except the Rocky Mountains. Nonetheless, the 2006/07 season was still the sixth best on record. The Southeast and Pacific West experienced declines of 16.3 percent and 14.3 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the Northeast, down 5.6 percent, and Midwest, down 7.5 percent, both rebounded in the second half of the season to avert what would have been far more significant declines. In contrast, the Rocky Mountain region managed a slight increase in visits, up 0.6 percent, setting its third consecutive record, and reaching 20.8 million visits, or about 38 percent of the nation’s total visits.

Over the last ten seasons (1997/98 – 2006/07), the average number of visits recorded nationally was 55.57 million visits. The 2006/07 season, at 55.07 million visits, represents a 0.9 percent decrease from this ten-year average. A skier/snowboarder visit is defined as one person visiting a ski area for all or part of a day or night, and includes full- and half-day, night, complimentary, adult, child, season and other types of tickets. Find more info at nsaa.org.

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 THE NATIONAL SKI AREAS ASSOCIATION, LOCATED IN LAKEWOOD, COLO., IS A TRADE ASSOCIATION FORMED IN 1962 FOR SKI AREA OWNERS AND OPERATORS NATIONWIDE.

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