After suffering a slow start to the month of February, Sun Valley Resort saw its skier numbers rebound significantly over the Presidents' Day holiday weekend.
And despite the continued prevalence of dry weather in the inland Northwest, resort officials are predicting that skiing-related business will be strong over the next five weeks.
"It's been a very good weekend," said Jack Sibbach, Sun Valley director of marketing and public relations, after learning that the resort had recorded its second-busiest day of the ski season on Monday, Feb. 21.
Sun Valley recorded 5,980 skier and snowboarder visits on Monday, second this season only to Dec. 28, 2004, when 6,778 skier visits were tallied.
On Saturday, the resort recorded 4,658 skier visits. On Sunday, despite variable weather conditions that included fog, snow and freezing rain, the resort tallied 5,633 skier visits.
The strong numbers over the weekend helped Sun Valley rebound from a slow period that dominated the first 18 days of February.
Through Feb. 21, the resort has recorded approximately 246,000 skier visits during the 2004-2005 ski season, behind approximately 259,000 at the same time last year.
However, Sibbach said, two factors are now working in favor of the resort and other businesses that rely on an influx of tourists during the winter months.
Presidents' Day weekend came earlier in the month last year, he noted, skewing the to-date skier-number figures in favor of that year.
"We hope to make up that difference soon," he said.
More importantly, Sibbach said, reservations for lodging at the resort "look very good over the next five weeks."
In January and early February, Sun Valley battled perceptions across the Northwest that a lack of snow was making for poor skiing at all regional resorts. Many Western resorts have suffered from a lack of snow but Sun Valley has been able to advertise very good skiing throughout most of 2005.
Sibbach said Bald Mountain's snow base—which measures 63 inches at the summit—will hold up through the scheduled end of the ski season if unusually warm weather does not prevail in March and early April.
"If that happens, we shouldn't have any problem," he said. "As long as it stays cold enough at night that we can make snow."
Holiday crowds flocked to Bald Mountain over Presidents' Day weekend, particularly on Monday, when Sun Valley Resort recorded its second-busiest day of the 2004-2005 ski season. Photo by Willy Cook
