Early-season skier visits to Colorado’s high country surged from the end of October through Dec. 31, but room bookings through the rest of the season are lagging.
Visits to 21 Colorado Ski country member resorts were up 10 percent compared with the same period last season, pacing 13 percent ahead of the five-year average, the trade association reported Tuesday.
For comparison, visits in the first part of the banner 2013-14 ski season, which saw a record 12.6 million skier visits, were about 6.7 percent ahead of the five-year average.
The spike was fueled by strong snowfall and the buzz from the season’s super El Niño weather pattern, which, so far, has delivered bountiful snowfall for most of the state, Ski Country president Melanie Mills said.
“Before ski season even started, there was a lot of talk about this being a Godzilla El Niño year and what that would look like for Colorado,” Mills said in a statement. “As resorts opened and ski season got underway, many skiers and snowboarders, particularly our savvy in-state riders, took advantage of some of the best early-season conditions we’ve had in recent memory.”
Big snowstorms in November and December typically drive ski resort bookings. But reservations were lagging through November after three years of monthly year-over-year increases in bookings and revenue at western ski resorts, according to Denver-based DestiMetrics, which analyzes lodging reports from 19 mountain communities in six western U.S. states.
The number of rooms booked from November through April in the West was up less than 1 percent from the previous year, a sharp decline from the double-digit increases seen in the last few years, according to DestiMetrics’ end-of-November analysis.
Bookings for both January and February were down as of the end of November, according to the lodging research group.
“With one of the strongest Novembers we’ve ever reported and the reality of El Niño starting to deliver at most of our participating western destinations, anticipated bookings into December and the peak months of January and February should be showing strength,” DestiMetrics director Ralf Garrison said. “Instead, the data is showing softness and several anomalies and patterns that are inconsistent with recent history, leaving some of our resorts scratching their heads.”
Sales tax reports from mountain communities — which reflect visitor spending and reveal a deeper impact than skier visits — are not compiled yet for November or December. But through October, most resort communities, such as Aspen, Vail, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Telluride, Steamboat Springs and Winter Park, logged sales tax revenues well ahead of the previous year.
In the southern portion of the state, where El Niño has delivered strong early-season snow, resorts are busy. Silverton Mountain is selling out early-season guided weekends for the first time ever. Purgatory is seeing record visits and revenues. Monarch ski area owner Bob Nicolls said his Chaffee County ski area is seeing highest-ever visits, revenues and net income.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or @jasonblevins
