SALT LAKE CITY — We all know it has been warmer than usual this winter. So, does that mean fewer people are hitting the slopes?
FOX 13 News spoke with a couple of Salt Lake City ski and snowboarding rental shops on Sunday to see how business is holding up.
At Canyon Sports, located in downtown Salt Lake City, owner Mark Delfanti says this year looks a little different.
"This year, there was quite a decline from what we’re used to,” Delfanti said while inside the store, which has operated for 30 years.
He says they’re not too worried about sales dropping. Delfanti said customers have been keeping the shop busy renting other gear.
“We’re seeing a lot more bike rentals than we would normally see this time of year,” he said. “We’ve been doing bike rentals almost every day, which is pretty unusual for this early in the spring.”
And Utah is warming up even more next week. Temperatures are expected to hit the 80s, which is unusual for this time of year.
“In general, we’ve been pretty lucky here in Utah to have pretty consistently good or at least decent winters. But every once in a while, you get a bad one,” Delfanti said through a laugh.
The Big Powder Ski Shop, located in Salt Lake's Ballpark neighborhood, has been operating for six years. They're feeling the impact, too.
“It’s certainly down a little from last year," store owner Brett Hamilton said. "There’s just less people all around. Everyone is skiing a little less, seems like the trips are a little shorter.”
Hamilton noted that although he's not seeing as many people come through this year, he’s still hopeful.
“It’s spring break, so people are still gonna come out and go skiing in Utah no matter what,” Hamilton said.
FOX 13 News asked him what percentage his revenue has gone down so far.
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t want to look at that,” he said through a laugh. “I’ll look at that in December. When it’s snowing again, I’ll feel better about it.”
