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Non-Tech : Vail Resorts MTN -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: long-gone who wrote (11)	11/25/2002 5:32:06 PM
From: ~digs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13

Ski Season Races to Rousing Start Nov 25, 2:32 PM (ET) ; By ROBERT WELLER VAIL, Colo. (AP) - A year after warm weather and the terrorist attacks reduced business at ski resorts, Vail enjoyed its biggest opening day in its 40-year history. Other ski resorts around the country are also off to a good start. Vail, the nation's most popular ski resort, drew some 11,000 people when it opened for the season Nov. 16, shattering the old record of 4,000, set in 1996, the resort said. About 8 feet of snow had fallen in the previous three weeks, creating a base of 36 inches at the middle of the mountain on opening day. "This is as good as it gets," snowboarder Tom Apollo of San Diego said last week. "I never saw so much snow so early in the Alps," said Vail's Daniel Bouvier, a native of France's alpine Grenoble region. All those opening-day skiers meant a boom for Vail businesses such as Bouvier's gourmet deli Les Delices de France. "I could not ski. I was too busy," he said. Last year saw the warmest November in the Colorado Rockies since 1979, and the snow shortage forced the cancellation of several World Cup events - the first cancellations ever in the United States because of warmth or lack of snow. Less than three months from the start of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, there was no snow at Utah ski areas. The change in weather has helped draw this year's big crowds. "Over the last several years, many resorts haven't had good early snowfall, so when it does come there is a pent-up demand," said Kristin Rust of Colorado Ski Country USA. In addition, Vail and many other Colorado resorts have been offering discounted season passes. Colorado isn't alone in enjoying the rebound. "We're off to a great start this year. With a little help from Mother Nature, this season has the potential to be one of the best on record," said Ski Utah President Kip Pitou. Utah resorts said reservations are up 25 percent to 84 percent from the record 2000-01 season, and all of them planned to be open by Thanksgiving. In the Northeast, Vermont's big Killington ski area has been open since Oct. 25, and on Monday it had a base of 16 to 40 inches of snow. "Last year Thanksgiving was a bust. It was warm, we had no natural snow and we couldn't even make snow," said David Dillon, president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association. Nationally, ski resort business last year was down 5.1 percent from the record 57.3 million skier days in 2000-01. A skier day represents the purchase and use of a lift ticket by a skier or snowboarder. Just three weeks before its opening this year, Vail had announced it was eliminating the job of president and combining some other jobs to cut costs because of the sagging economy and the possibility of war. Then the snow started falling, and Vail chief executive Bill Jensen found himself scrambling to get enough employees to open. "We had to figure out who was here," Jensen said. "To go from nothing to full on February conditions is unreal," said Steve Sheridan, owner of Performance Sports, a ski shop in Vail. apnews.myway.com