DURANGO MOUNTAIN RESORT REPORTS INCREASE IN SKIER VISITS

Colorado Ski Country USA Sees Slight Increase, Stabilization

Durango, Colo. – June 17, 2010 – Durango Mountain Resort announced today that it hosted 255,048 skier visits during the 2009-10 ski season. This figure represents an increase of 6.3 percent over the previous year’s total of 239,852 skier visits.
 
Colorado Ski Country USA (CSCUSA) reported at last week’s 47th Annual Meeting that its 22 member resorts hosted an estimated 6.74 million skier visits during the 2009-10 ski season. This represents an increase of 0.4 percent, or approximately 29,000 skier visits, compared to the 2008-09 season.

“Last year was a very good year for us in that we were responsible for more than 50 percent of the increase in skier visits among CSCUSA member resorts,” said Gary Derck, CEO of Durango Mountain Resort. “We were lucky to receive several large, early-season storms, each dropping more than two feet of snow and creating excellent conditions for our holiday guests. Those storms, combined with consistently cold temperatures, set us up for the rest of the season and allowed us to stay open for extended weekends into the month of April.”

New for the 2009-10 season, Purgatory unveiled 125 acres of steep, tree-skiing, increasing the resort’s expert terrain by 30 percent and the total skiable acreage by 10 percent to 1,325 acres. The resort also increased its number of discounted Locals Days (one per month, December through March) and added four discounted College Days (one per month, December through March) and a new Friday Afternoon Club, with discounted half-day lift ticket and lunch packages.

Total Colorado skier visits for the 2009-10 season, including non-member resorts, are once again approaching the 12 million visit threshold, ending the year at 11.86 million. Total Colorado skier visits are up by 0.8 percent compared to last season. On a national level, skier visits overall are up 4.2 percent with the Rocky Mountain region seeing an increase of 3.4 percent.

Skier visits are the metric used to track participation in skiing and snowboarding. A skier visit represents a person participating in the sport of skiing or snowboarding for any part of one day at a mountain resort.