Late snow boosts Las Vegas ski resort

Temperatures may bump against 80 across the Las Vegas Valley this weekend, but it's not too late to go skiing.

A battery of recent winter storms has dumped fresh powder on Mount Charleston's Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort. That weather, combined with new marketing initiatives, has rescued the resort from a subpar season. In fact, if the snowfall keeps up -- and the National Weather Service says there's a 40 percent chance of precipitation on the mountain Sunday night and a 60 percent chance Monday -- the resort may stay open past its scheduled April 8 close, said Kevin Stickelman, president and general manager.

"We expect our business to be up for the remainder of the season, just due to the snow we had recently and looking at reservations we have on the books," Stickelman said. "It's been a successful year for us."

It wasn't looking that way a couple of months ago.

The resort's season started strong at Thanksgiving, with snowfall 80 percent above normal through Dec. 20. But from Dec. 20 through the end of January, the resort saw nary a flurry.

"It was abysmal," Stickelman said.

Daily destination-guest ticket sales, or sales to guests from outside Southern Nevada, are down about 8 percent year over year this season, a slump Stickelman traces to poor midwinter skiing conditions.

Since mid-February, though, the snow has piled up, with a current base of 43 inches and season-long snowfall set to come in just under its usual 140 inches. Business has picked up as a result.

The story's similar at Brian Head Resort in southwest Utah.

Dry days earlier in the season mean the resort's snowfall was about half of what it usually is -- 227 inches through Thursday, compared with a yearly average of 400 inches, said Jon Christoffersen, the resort's marketing, sales and public relations manager. The snow shortfall meant below-average ski days until recent storms. With a Thursday base of about 50 inches, "business is good, as we have great snow and nice temperatures now," Christoffersen said.

Thanks to the bump in business, Brian Head will stay open a week later than originally scheduled, with a new closing date of April 15.

Ski resorts in the Pacific Northwest have seen the same pattern.

At Mount Bachelor, an eastern Oregon resort owned by Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard parent Powdr Corp., snow came late, with business finally picking up in March, Stickelman said.

Midwinter's scant snowfall has made things tough at ski resorts across the West.

At Lake Tahoe, where Powdr operates Boreal Mountain Resort, business is down 10 percent to 20 percent across the board as a result of below-average snowfall, Stickelman said.

But since last week, several back-to-back storms left up to nine feet of fresh snow on Lake Tahoe's higher-elevation slopes, said Eric Doyne, a spokesman for seven Lake Tahoe resorts, including Mount Rose, Heavenly and Squaw Valley. The systems made for the best conditions of the season, Doyne said, and skiers flocked to the area to take advantage. And while some resorts plan to close as expected on April 15, several others have extended their season or delayed announcing closing dates due to the recent snow.

"Overall, our big winter storms came a little later this year, but brought what people have come to expect from Tahoe: storms dumping snow so deep that it's measured in feet rather than inches," Doyne said.

Resorts around Salt Lake City and nearby Park City have fared better, but are still down for the season, he said. At Powdr's Park City Mountain Resort, business is off about 5 percent season-over-season.

In Colorado, where Powdr operates Copper Mountain near Denver, overall ski-resort visits are down 15 percent statewide, Stickelman said.

Back at Mount Charleston, two new initiatives also helped the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort dodge prevailing trends and see increased business despite lower snow fall.

Snow Day, aimed at getting local kids excited about outdoor winter recreation, encourages field trips to the resort, where students enjoy skiing or snowboarding lessons, winter first-aid classes, a U.S. Forest Service-led introduction to the mountain's winter ecology and lunch with hot cocoa.

The resort also launched a midweek pass geared toward locals who work weekends in tourism. Through the program, a season pass cost $450, compared with the standard $650. Stickelman said the midweek pass brought "explosive sales" early in the year.

Put it all together, and the resort should end the season with overall sales up about 5 percent year over year, Stickelman said.

And for the first time in five years, the resort will hop in the summer as well.

The resort is bringing back its summer concert series, suspended while the facilities received upgrades to power and water infrastructure. Resort officials have started booking weddings again, too.

Work also continues on the resort's $35 million, 10-year master plan, which will boost lifts from four to 10 and trails from 16 to 50. Lodge space will expand as well, from 7,500 square-feet to 60,000 square-feet. The improvements will help the resort accommodate up to 400,000 visits a year, up from fewer than 150,000 visits now, Stickelman said. The jobs base will grow from 10 year-round workers today to 40. Seasonal jobs will surge from 200 now to 400.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.