The National Association of Ski Areas trade group announced on May 1, 2019, that skier visits in the U.S. increased by nearly 11% over last season with more than 59 million visits. The growth was most dramatic in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions. Rocky Mountain regions saw skier and snowboarder visits increase by 15.6%. The 2018-19 ski season will go down as fourth best in visitation since 1978. The National Ski Areas Association stated that the Rocky Mountains saw more ski visits than any other region. The visits surpassed 24 million in 2018-19, breaking all previous records.
Visits are determined by purchased lift tickets for any portion of the day. These numbers include season pass holders. Other groups in Summit County, including ski businesses, attributed the increase of visits to the copious snowfall, which was up 31% nationwide from last season. Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, Copper Mountain Resort, Keystone Resort and Breckenridge Ski Resort all located in Summit County were top visited areas due the abundant snowfall.
In the last week, Breckenridge Resort received 2 feet of fresh snow. That put the resort at 428 inches total for the season. The 2018-19 ski season was the third snowiest winter for the Breckenridge Resort. The resort’s Tourism Office stated that the town’s winter occupancy increased by 7% as of April 15, 2019, due to strong snowfall. A record breaking year indeed, for our Rocky Mountain Region.