SALT LAKE CITY — In what should come as no surprise, record-breaking snowfall brought a record-breaking number of skiers to Utah slopes this past season.
Ski Utah reports the 7.1 million skier visits to the state in 2022-23 were up 22% over the previous record set a year earlier. The big numbers are a reflection of resorts opening earlier and staying open much later due to the never-ending winter.
The ski industry contributes to Utah’s economy in a huge way; this year, visitors spent more than $2.5 billion here, said Alison Palmintere, Director of Communications.
“The pandemic definitely opened up doors as far as people skiing and off-peak hours, with more people working from home and being able to take those conference calls from the slopes," she said. "It definitely opened up more opportunity for people to ski during the week.”
Nearly all of Utah's 15 ski resorts broke snowfall records, while the three that came up short still had their snowiest seasons in years. With 903 inches, Alta Ski Area recorded the most snowfall ever at a Utah resort.
Utah skiers also enjoyed an incredible amount of powder days, which are those with over 12 inches of snow in a 24-hour period. While the yearly average is 19 powder days per season, the state had a whopping 44 from 2022 to 2023.
“The skiing was just that good,” said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah.
The epic numbers from this season will continue to increase in the days ahead as Snowbird has announced it will reopen for Father's Day Weekend in a few weeks.
With their snowiest winter ever, extending and adding bonus weekends, Sundance Mountain Resort's skier visits were up 30 percent this season, said Tracy Christensen, Ski Patroller and Summer Safety Manager.
“We opened new terrain this year," he said. "We built some new lifts, so it was really a pretty outstanding and very amazing year for us.”
Most of Utah’s resorts, like Sundance, have stopped running the lifts and are transitioning into summer operations, but one Utah resort is still planning on extending its record-breaking season into the summer; Snowbird plans to open during Father's Day weekend on June 17 and 18.
