Top Five Fridays - June 23, 2017 // Ski Industry News
#1: Fire Blazing by Brian Head Ski Area in Utah:
A fire blazes just beyond Brian Head Ski Area. Image: Brian Head's Town Facebook Page
Let's get the bad news out of the way first this week. In Southern Utah, there's a ski area called Brain Head that receives approximately 400" of snow every year, and hosts a slew of summertime activities like mountain biking, hiking, and events. Currently, there's a fire raging in the Dixie National Forest, just beyond the resort's boundaries. At present, the fire is continuing to grow, and has thus far consumed 17,294 acres (as of June 22nd), while being only 5% contained. As a result, over 750 people have been evacuated from the town of Brian Head as they anxiously wait for the fire to be subdued, and hope that their homes and camps are unharmed. There is a splash of good news in this story though: the fire appears to be heading away from Brain Head ski area, and representatives of the resort are confident that the resort will go unharmed and be able to resume summer activities as soon as it's safe to return to the area. To read more on this story, check out this article from KSL, and keep an eye on the Brian Head Facebook page as they continue to keep everyone updated.
#2: 2018 Winter Olympic Updates:
Now, on to 2018 Winter Olympic news, where we've got two stories emerging this week. First up: the U.S. Ski and U.S. Snowboard teams have decided to join forces under one brand identity. Under a new, combined "U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team" moniker, the skiers and snowboarders representing America in the next Winter Olympics will now be closer than ever. Previously, the two teams were entirely separate in their efforts, meaning they required different training, travel, lodging, etc. Now, with this new update, the two teams will live and work as one, encouraging more unity between the sports and a stronger combined representation at the Olympic games. From a purely amateur perspective, it's pretty cool to see this happening as it shows just how far the two sports have come once their early days of feuding.
Next up from Pyeongchang: South Korea's minister of sports Do Jong-hwan, has asked North Korea to co-host the Winter Olympic events. It's a move that's widely seen as a peace offering, as South Korea hopes to ease tensions in the area by getting North Korea involved in a global leisure activity. Plus, Jong-hwan points out, North Korea's new Masikryong Ski Area could potentially serve as an Olympic venue. Can you imagine that? Athletes from all over the world converging in North Korea of all places. Currently, the idea is just that as North Korea has yet to respond to the invitation and the move would have to be approved by the International Olympic Committee. For more on this, check out a full writeup from Grind TV.
#3: Skiing: All But Gone by 2090?
An actual image of Stowe, VT from 2090. Just kidding. But that's probably what it'll look like anyways.
Typically, we try not to cover articles or stories from other journalists. This week though, an article popped up on Powder Magazine's website that was too big of an idea to ignore. According to an article by Julie Brown that recaps a recent scientific study, climate change scientists have come to the conclusion that skiing as we know it has something of an expiration date. In the study that's largely referenced in the article, scientists ran 300,000 years of "climate model simulations", and used the information to project the effects on both season length and ticket prices. The results are grim: in the year 2090, just about every ski area will be unable to operate as they currently do, due to much shorter seasons. Put more concretely, a chart included in the article suggests that just 10% of all resorts will be able to open by the Christmas Holiday (compared to approximately 65% currently). This would put many ski areas, particularly the small feeder hills who rely on natural snow and local support though the holiday, at a huge economic loss. There's a lot to unpack in the article, and we could write about it at length here, but it's probably best to take the information straight from the horses mouth. To find out more, you can read this excellent article by Julie Brown here.
#4: The Ski Business is Booming in the 801 and the 802:
A Shot from Snowbird Ski Resort in Early June. Their Closing Day Was on June 11th. Image: Matt Crawley via Snowbird's Facebook Page
We'll follow up that dread piece with a bit of news that's likely to make your mind bottle. Despite the gloomy long term forecast for ski areas, both Utah and Vermont reported increases in skier visits this past season. Over in Utah, the state basked in snowfall all winter long and hosted 4.58 million skier days at their resorts. That number is a 2.58% increase over last year's record setting total of 4.46 million skier days. Compared to the 5-year average of 4.23 million, this year's figures were up 8.35%. Translated into non-statistician nerd speak, that's a huge increase.
Here in Vermont, things weren't as positive, but the numbers still show a positive recovery after a terrible 2015-2016 season. This year, there were 3.9 million skier visits compared to last year's 3.2 million. That's good for a 22% increase, and exactly what the Vermont economy needed. Still, this year's numbers are down from the incredible record setting season of 2014-2015 which saw 4.7 million skier days at Vermont resorts. To nerd out on more statistics like these, you can learn more about Vermont's skier traffic here, or more about Utah and the United States on the whole here.
#5: And Now, Your Edits of the Week:
Teton Valley Ski Area History:
Nat Geo's Subtle Reminder That Big Mountain Skiing is Nuts: