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Show COVER STORY continued from page 9 At some Utah ski resort, lift tickets are not stratospheric: Alta is $28; Brighton ’40s. Robert Redford, who owns Sundance, is for all intent a Utahn and so is Earl Holding who has taken over Snow Basin. And all of those resorts are growing in popularity. As a measuring stick, since ‘Treasure Mountain got the money for its gondola, skier visits have multiplied by 10-fold in Utah. According to Ski Utah statistics, there were about 340,000 skier visits in 1963-764. “Skier visits” or “skier days” are industry terms for the number of lift tickets purchased. A family of five who skied for five days would equal skier visits of 25. Actually 3 million people did not visit Utah's slopes last year but the equivalent of3 million ski passes were purchased. Although the growth is healthy, it represents only about 3 percent per year. Mark Menlove, the president of Ski Utah - the marketing arm of the Utah Ski Association, the trade association for ski resorts, ski equipment manufacturers, ski lodges and retailers - says Utah’s 3 percent growth in the face of a flat industry nation- wide is quite healthy. And Menlove sees Utah skiing continuing to grow at about a 3 percent rate for the next decade. “All our projections are based on a 3 percent growth figure. I don’t see us growing faster than that - that will be the trend.“ Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Utah res- idents accounted for 46 percent of last year’s $31; Solitude $36; Snow Basin Powder Mountain $27. Meanwhile, $27; Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, and Snowbird offer discount coupons and sea- son's passes that put them in the realm with the others for residents. It’s a good thing that Utah’s mountains are used by both locals and tourists, says Menlove. “I'd love to see more Utah residents out on the slopes. But the mix we have is really healthy.” But residents just don’t spend like tourists. It is the tourists who drive the Utah ski indus- any homework at all, you will find ways to buy equipment at discounted rates and largely reduced rates for passes.” By contrast, tourists who fly in from New York or Dallas for 4.6 days of skiing might very well be wealthy. About 33 percent of nonresident skiers have incomes greater than $100,000 a year, according to Ski Utah stats. Only some 28 percent of Utah ski tourists have yearly earnings of less than $28,000. That is something that even the most casual observer might pick up from visiting Park City. High-end restaurants and lodgings, people in expensive clothes and cars try. According to Ski Utah statistics, nonresident skiers during the 1996-97 ski season spent $60 million on lift passes, nearly $18 million on equipment rentals and over $10 cery and convenience stores. Ski tourists spend another $123 million on lodging during the last ski season and another $14 million on “lodging incidentals.” Not only is that healthy for local and state economies, Menlove notes, but it is also good for the resident skiers because resorts are making improvements to attract tourists. “The local people get the benefit of the money the destination skiers bring in.” Utahns who sneak up to Alta or Brighton Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons are, for the most part, under the stewardship of the US Forest Service. Lewis believes the Forest Service need not be a business partner with privately-held ski resorts. “What we're seeing in the last two years that we've never seen before is a partnership with the ski industry on our public terrain. Ski our national forests,’ say brochures put out by the US Forest Service,” Lewis noted. In terms of promoting Utah skiing, the Forest Service has become a key player at the expense of the environment, Lewis contended. “If you look at the quality and carrying capacity of the canyon and the quality of the experience, you have to ask whether or not the industrialization of the canyon benefits the whole year-around community.” million on skiing and snowboarding lessons. According to the survey, ski tourists spent $47 million in restaurants and bars during the 96-97 season and $30 million at gro- Deer Valley, Park City and The Canyons resort, and what occurs on public land. obert Redford’s PProvo Coc aki resort is offering snowboarding this season for the first time. Open since 1969 to skiers, boarderscan now ply the slopes beneath the breathtakin, Mount Timpanogos. _ Hours of operation: Daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Day Pass: $39, child $22. Half day from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.- $ 27. Nigh skiing: 4 p.m.to9 pm. General information: 801-225-4107 _ Ski information: 801-225-4100 _ Toll free: ee Lewis fears that expanding ski areas and parking lots, as well as auto emissions, are harming the environment at a greater degree than skiers might realize. “We always talk about it from the human side but what about the watershed and plant and animal life? The forest is no longer a community of plants, animals and watershed. It’s a commodity.” Beyond the wear and tear of cars and skiers, Lewis faults resorts for changing the landscape to meet the needs of intermediate skiers. Intermediate skiers being the bulk of tourists. “What I find is that the resorts have turned many of their runs into groomed cruisers. They have taken many exciting slopes and with a peanut butter sandwich in their pocket and ski gear left over from college for a $21 define, the tourist traffic. flattened them so skiers don't have to use an discount passes and coupon books at various half-day ticket need not be rich. And Menlove points out that there are plenty of Utah skiing is not only on the map but on the move. edge. Groomed, flat slopes are for tourists.” Lewis and Kelner and an organization to ski resorts. And that puts critics, like Kelner, in the minority. deals on equipment and lift passes for Utahns. “Being a local in this market, if you do If it weren't already, Park City is quickly becoming one of the national centers for ski tourism. Boasting three major ski resorts, Aspen, if not quite as expensive. Add to that the drama of the terrain and deep snow of the Cottonwood Canyon ski resorts and it is which they both belong, called The Citizens Committee to Save Our Canyons, was successful in keeping Olympic events out of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons in 2002. But now those canyons are so crowded on the weekends, says Lewis, that he no longer finds them enjoyable. “I've been cured from going up Little one awesome combination. “We have competitive advantages,” says Lansche. “Accessibility, consistent snow and six or eight very different resorts in close Cottonwood Canyon in the winter, particularly on the weekend,” laments Lewis. And that is why a whole new generation of backcountry skiers and snowboarders are proximity. No other area can boast that. People are finding Utah a refreshing alterna- populating tive (to California or Colorado).” going 3 million visits, according to Ski Utah statistics. Despite rising lift tickets and equipment costs, Utahns have taken advantage of to some degree, The Canyons, Deer Valley and Park City Mountain rt! $ Tare. It's one of a kind, It's the texture a : appeal of a recycled wood cabinet, hand © ; carved and polished . Resort, it is something of an the areas outside ski to bypass the resorts,” says Lewis. sion is a source of major concern to environ- “You have to ask yourself, aren't these people looking for the powder they don’t find at the mental activist and avid skier, Steve Lewis. He is quick, however, to make the distinction between what occurs on private land, such as resorts?” @ Steve Lewis is a Mountain Times. But all the name recognition and expan- regular contributor Galleria Flaral& Design ) 580 Main ¢ Galleria Mall ¢ Park City pcan PAGE 16 © FEBRUARY 1998 resorts. “They are making the decision that they are (ark : City's “Favorite Florist on Historic Main © Guaranteed Fresh Flowers e European Gardens 649- 2600 World Wide Delivery to |