Conway, N.H.—At Ski New Hampshire’s Annual Conference and Trade Show this past Tuesday, the statewide ski industry association shared highlights about the 2018/19 ski season at its annual business meeting and highlighted that NH skier visits were up over 100,000 visits over last year.

According to Ski NH’s President Jessyca Keeler, overall total winter visits (including alpine skiing, cross country skiing and tubing visits) during the 2018-19 season were up year-over-year by 5%; alpine skier visits alone were also up 5% from 2017-18. Cross country skiing was up 2% over last year and snow tubing posted a significant increase of 17% compared to 2018. This year’s total ski area visits and alpine-only visits were about even with the 10-year average; cross country visits fell behind the 10-year average by 9%. Tubing visits again showed the most growth with a 5% increase over the 10-year average.

Despite a solid season, Keeler noted that there were a couple key factors that explain why the season didn’t post an even stronger performance. “Over the last couple of years we’ve seen several ski areas adopt RFID or other scanning technologies that accurately count every single skier, particularly season pass holders. Without those technologies, various factors are used to estimate the number of times a person skied during the season. As those types of technologies are adopted, ski areas nearly always see drops in total counts. The fact that we’re up over last year’s numbers is a testament to the season being strong,” said Keeler.

Snowfall was another key factor in the season’s overall performance. While the season started with significant snowfall, leading some areas to open early and many ski areas to post strong early season visitation numbers, that snowfall was often confined to just the mountainous regions of the state. November and December were strong in terms of natural snowfall and skier visits, but over the course of the season the frequency of storms tended to decrease, and there was little snow in southern regions of New Hampshire and the greater Boston region. Nonetheless, persistent cold temperatures allowed ski areas to make snow throughout the season, which resulted in ski areas staying open until their expected closing dates or longer.

Ski New Hampshire is the statewide association representing 32 alpine and cross-country resorts in New Hampshire. For more information on ski areas, trail conditions, vacation planning, and updated winter events at Ski New Hampshire resorts, visit SkiNH.com. For statewide travel info, go to VisitNH.gov.

Contact:

Shannon Dunfey-Ball, Marketing & Communications Manager

603.745.9396x205 | Shannon@SkiNH.com

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