Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Skier count stays strong

Late March still a question mark for resort

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By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley Resort logged nearly 100,000 skier visits in February.

This season's healthy snowpack, coupled with blue skies and warmer temperatures, resulted in more than 10,000 additional skiers on Bald and Dollar mountains in February than during the same month last year.

Jack Sibbach, director of marketing for Sun Valley Resort, said February's skier count of 98,555 brings the total for this winter up to 286,599, compared to 271,598 for the same period in 2007.

"We're looking really good through March 15," Sibbach said. "However, the rest of the year is poor so far other than the last weekend of March. The downturn in the economy is starting to affect us."

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However, Sibbach said he hopes to see an increase in bookings during spring break in mid-March.

To that end, the company has introduced a spring discount on lift passes, under which college students and faculty can purchase tickets for $29 beginning March 1 until the end of the ski season.

As well, there is a ski-and-stay-free package for kids starting March 2, which entitles children 15 years old and under to a lift ticket with each paid adult tic�et for the same number of days. The package is limited to one child per parent, and visitors must be staying in either a Sun Valley Co. hotel or condo, or another participating property.

Visit www.visitsunvalley.com for details of the packages.