Ski news

Utah ski season begins with tourism industry seeking greater share of winter sport market

SALT LAKE CITY — Chilly temperatures and a few early snowstorms are allowing ski resorts to open earlier than usual this season. Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort was the first in Utah on Nov. 7.

Tourism is increasingly becoming the state’s most important industry, raking in $6 billion a year, with skiers the most lucrative part of that.

Skiers spend 176 percent more than other tourists here, according to the Utah Office of Tourism. The number of skier visits is also steadily increasing, setting record numbers here each of the past five years.

“There are a lot of things that we can’t control, like the economy and weather, but Mother Nature is getting us off to a really nice start,” said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah.

Utah’s main competitor in the winter sports industry is Colorado, which had five ski areas open the weekend Snowbird opened.

One advantage of skiing in Utah touted by the industry is that some resorts are as close as a 30-minute drive from downtown Salt Lake City. By comparison, some of Colorado’s resorts require a two-hour drive from Denver International Airport.

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Magazine recommends Snowkite Summit, Dec. 6-7, in Utah

NEW YORK — It’s a cross between skiing and paragliding, and it requires a kite and a frozen lake or smooth field of powder.

It’s called snowkiting, and the December issue of Men’s Journal magazine says a place called Skyline Drive, 90 minutes south of Salt Lake City near the town of Fairview, Utah, is “poised to become the country’s top snowkiting destination.”

Snowkiters use skis or snowboards and hold on to kites pulled by the wind to glide across snow or ice. Skyline Drive, at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, has flats for beginners and slopes for more advanced snowkiters.

The 2008 Snowkite Summit will be held there Dec. 6-7, with demonstrations, lessons and races. Details at www.snowkitesummit.com/

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Steamboat ski resort gives free lift tickets with three-day bookings

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — The ski resort at Steamboat Springs is offering free lift tickets from opening day on Nov. 26 through Christmas Day if you book a minimum three-night stay.

The offer is good for skiers who book through Steamboat Central Reservations before opening day with a $50 refundable deposit, with the stay completed by Dec. 25. Lift tickets are per person, with a limit of two people per bedroom, and are valid one day less than nights stayed.

Book through 800-922-2722 or online at www.steamboat.com.

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Avoid excess baggage: rent your ski equipment

DENVER — Colorado ski-rental shops are expanding their inventory, making it easier for vacationers to rent equipment amid increasing airline baggage fees, according to The Denver Post.

The spike in inventory at some shops comes as industry experts say bringing all the necessary skiing equipment in a second, oversized bag can cost skiers as much as $250 each way on some airlines — and that’s not counting what it would cost to bring skis for the whole family.

“You can buy a new set of skis for these prices,” Mike Boyd, with Evergreen’s Boyd Group aviation consulting firm, told the newspaper.

Ski shops are banking that the high baggage fees will put their rental equipment in high demand this season.

Winter Park spent $250,000 on new rental gear and Monarch Ski and Snowboard Resort tripled its inventory while others are enticing skiers by offering to deliver ski and snowboard rentals to hotels and condos, the Post reported.

“It has become a better option to rent at the resort than fly with your own,” Tapio Niskanen, national sales manager for rentskis.com, a division of Denver-based Specialty Sports, told the Post.