Report: 150 ski areas on verge of closing
By Ski Area Management
DENVER — There’s stoke, and then there is the opposite of stoke. When Bill Jensen, former CEO of Intrawest, told a crowd of nearly 400 ski industry executives that from his view, 150 ski areas were in “the sunset of their existence” and an additional 150 ski areas could also be out of business within the decade, it became an immediate water-cooler topic.
Jensen was speaking as part of the Assembly 2015, a one-day forum that took place on the first day of the SIA Snow Show at the Colorado Convention Center.
In his presentation, Jensen laid out a hierarchical pyramid of U.S. ski areas (left nameless), with the most viable ski areas at the top, that he labeled, “Ubers” and “Alphas”. He estimates that there are 45 ski areas in those categories, while 125 resorts are “status quo” and 150 more were breaking even. The remaining 150 he called “Sunsets”, and predicted they would eventually fade out of the business.
Jeff Harbaugh of Jeff Harbaugh & Associates, a consultant to the action sports, outdoor and youth culture attended the above presentation and noted that much of the discussion focused on the critical millennial group but wondered “why there were no Millennials on the panel.”
Harbaugh went on to say there was acknowledgement on the panel that “family incomes of $100,000 is sort of the floor below which we can’t hope to attract people.” But, he observed, that acknowledgement comes with a further acknowledgement that “we’re increasingly dependent on the millennials who don’t have anywhere near that income, and may not in the foreseeable future.”
Sounds like more than the 150 ski areas that will close won’t be the only ones affected. Ticket prices cannot continue to go up without it affecting every ski area. I’d say we’re at the tipping point. They admit they need the millennials and concede they don’t make enough money to keep up with the costs of snow sports. Something’s gotta give and I predict we’ll be seeing lots of package deals and reduced prices in the future, in order to keep the crowds coming.
If the drought continues, even all the money Vail has won’t keep Heavenly or especially Kirkwood open. Better get building those mt bike trails !
Could $100 season passes be in the not too distant future? That could make the $40 hamburgers someday a little more palatable.
I think that in the long run, Kirkwood is more viable than Heavenly as a ski area, due mostly to a higher elevation and better natural snow.
The ‘Wood does have access and other problems that keeps crowds down.
But heavenly is closer to Casinos etc which adds income.
Steven is right. The drought will dictate the survival of snow sports regionally. Even if we get enough natural snow to offer great skiing we will lack the customer base to support the resorts because of the economy; lack of jobs and higher prices created by the drought are inevitable.
http://www.uci.ch/cyclingforall/making-ski-resorts-fit-for-mountain-biking-way-deal-with-climate-change/