Resorts roll out low prices

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

By Ben Cannon

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-As winter storms hammered the local hills with snow last month, ski resort officials were trying to find ways to protect their slopes from getting hammered by the economy.

Skier visits at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort were below average last month, although there is usually a lull between the holidays and the first weeks of February, when skier numbers usually pick up.

But Jackson Hole spokesman Zahan Billimoria said that while skier visits were down in January, resort officials are counting on healthier numbers beginning now in mid-season.

“We relied on airline and lodging indicators to tell us about the budget forecast and it looked pretty good for us,” Billimoria said.

To help boost numbers in this tough economy, resorts across the land are offering deals that, if not unprecedented, haven’t been seen in a long time.

One Jackson Hole package deal available to skiers and riders in neighboring states includes a lift ticket, room and lunch for $99 – only a few dollars more than the usual price of a full-day lift ticket.

The “Ride. Eat. Sleep.” offer puts groups of four in a one-bedroom condo in the Aspens and includes lunch at Nick Wilson’s Cafe at the base of the mountain. That deal, which expires today but may come back later in the season, created a noticeable increase in visitors coming from Utah, Billimoria said, but, for whatever reason, lured few visitors from Idaho.

“The response was huge,” Billimoria said, referring to the deal’s popularity among some Utah skiers and riders.

Jackson Hole and others are increasingly turning their attention to the “value market,” or skiers and riders who plan ski vacations on a tighter budget.

“Guest spending habits have really changed,” Billimoria said. Ski vacationers are increasingly inclined, for example, to buy groceries and make dinner in the condo rather than going to restaurants. One advertisement for the $99 deal informs potential visitors about the “well-stocked” market within walking distance of the Apsens condo.

Resorts are also having to compete for a growing number of skiers and riders who decide last-minute where to go.

“That’s a trend we’ve seen heightened by the new frugality of the new economy,” said Shannon Hamby, a spokesperson for Grand Targhee Resort.

While Grand Targhee does not necessarily compete with Jackson Hole – it attracts a regional crowd, for one, half of which comes from Idaho Falls, Hamby said – the Alta, Wyo. resort has rolled out deals of its own to attract more skiers and riders within driving distance.

A December offer to buy four lift tickets good anytime this season for $120 was so popular that Targhee extended the deal through January. The deal is still around but the price has gone up about $9 per day, to $199.

The resort has also offered buy-in-bulk deals on rooms that can be used throughout the ski season, based on availability.

Resort personnel guard skier numbers as an unofficial industry rule, but Hamby said, “Our overall skier visits this winter are tracking ahead of last year’s skier days and ahead of this year’s budgeted skier days.”

While that statement may be cryptic, the fact that Targhee can get by on visitors from the population base nearby may help that resort weather the ongoing economic maelstrom more nimbly than some of the larger resorts.

And one thing both resorts have going on right now is snow, their respective spokespeople said. The Teton area is among the leaders in snowfall received this year. Jackson Hole has received nearly 10 feet of snow since Jan. 15, according to blogger and Teton Gravity Research co-owner Todd Jones.

So far, that has given the local hills an advantage when it comes to attracting ski vacationers who wait to see which mountain has the best conditions before choosing a destination. This is not true, however, for Jackson’s Snow King, where the snow coverage is anemic in places, particularly near the top of the mountain.
But the word about the terrific conditions at Jackson Hole recently, the result of heavy snowfall with little wind, isn’t just being broadcast by marketing people on resort Web sites and Twitter.

Local ski film companies have been uploading video and photos of skiers and riders enjoying banner conditions in Jackson Hole, in almost real time.

One short video made by KGB Productions and posted to YouTube has been viewed more than 4,400 times since it was posted on Feb. 2.

Showing a handful of top local skiers skiing and landing in deep powder, the video, titled It’s Still Snowing in Jackson Hole, would make some skiers and riders long to visit Jackson Hole soon.

As one viewer commented, “awe man! wish i was was there!” JHW

Photo by CHRISTIE KORIAKIN
Powder days bring out locals, but what about tourists.


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Resorts roll out low prices | Planet JH News Article: General News

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