For 50 years, Jack Boettcher has skied the slopes from Snowmass to Vail to Steamboat Springs. These days, he counts among his favorite haunts some smaller resorts that offer plenty of well-groomed intermediate runs - the "blues."
"I kind of like the family atmosphere and the price is right," said Boettcher, 76, who lives in the Denver area. "My leisure time has always been in the mountains. I don't think I will ever give it up."
Smaller ski areas in the United States are seeing brisk business by catering to area residents, families, and first-time skiers and snowboarders. Many don't offer the challenging, varied terrain and amenities found at destination resorts, but they are typically cheaper and not as crowded. That means shorter lift lines and more runs in a day.
"I think the biggest change that I've seen in the last decade is the revival of the small and medium-sized ski areas around the country," said Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association in suburban Lakewood, Colorado "I think actually they are doing very well now, better than probably any time in the last 20 or 25 years."
As the season gets under way, ski industry officials are optimistic, noting strong reservations to date and a new crop of youngsters interested in the sport.
The industry has forecast between 57 million and 58 million skier visits this season - a measure equal to one person buying a full day's lift ticket. The record stands at 57.3 million skier visits in the 2002-2003 season.
In the past five years, the number of ski resorts nationwide has hovered around 500, down from a high of 727 in 1984, the NSAA said. Most are owned by families or private corporations. It is a $4 billion ($3 billion) to $4.5 billion ($3.4 billion) industry, including everything from lift tickets to hamburgers and real estate.
"Most of the industry is doing real well but the one thing we remind ourselves all the time is that we depend on the weather, pure and simple," Berry said.
For smaller resorts, the biggest challenges are watching the bottom line while finding ways to improve and prosper, such as adding faster chairlifts, snowmaking technology and summer activities to build a year-round business.
"Our business has definitely changed since the '90s," said general manager Tom Jankovsky of Sunlight Mountain Resort, about 160 miles (260 kilometers) west of Denver, just down the road from Aspen.
"All the smaller resorts have had to grow up more. We're not as mom and pop as we used to be," he said.
Sunlight offers 500 skiable acres (200 skiable hectares) - with runs from beginning to double-black diamonds - for a full-price lift ticket of $36 ($27). That compares with $74 ($56) at Aspen/Snowmass, which has about 5,000 skiable acres (2,000 skiable hectares) on four mountains.
"The people that are flying into Aspen, that's not our clientele," Jankovsky said. "We're just a different brand of resort."
About 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Boston is Wachusett Mountain, serving a varied clientele, including about 11,000 school children, night skiers and members of a recreational racing league.
The children range in age from fifth grade to high school, with after-school programs offered in about 350 area schools.
"They're the 12-year-old kids that are going eventually to become our ski instructors and the parents that take their kids skiing here," said general manager David Crowley, whose family owns the resort. "We've seen the cycle."
The resort has 100 skiable acres (40 skiable hectares) and sells a full-day lift ticket for $36 ($27). Crowley said they continue to reinvest in infrastructure.
"It's just like any good business survives. You don't overspend," he said. "The key is we don't rely too much on any one group for an inordinate amount of revenue."
As gamblers test their luck, a tiny, 39-year-old resort attracts senior citizens, college students and tourists in the mountains about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the Las Vegas Strip.
The Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, purchased last year by Park City, Utah-based Powdr Corp., has 60 skiable acres (24 skiable hectares) with three double chair lifts and an old-style lodge. A full-price lift ticket is $33 ($25).
"It's kind of like old-style skiing," base operations manager Craig Baldwin said. "It's like the ski area that time forgot."
The new owners have bolstered the snowmaking system to four times the previous water capacity and made other improvements in the offseason, he said.
Like Boettcher, Gail Tracey, 53, of Lakewood has spent decades skiing Colorado's slopes. She recognizes smaller areas lack some of the more challenging terrain and have limited choices in restaurants and other amenities.
"It's a family experience without spending an arm and a leg," said Tracey, president of the Slalom Gates Ski Club in Denver.
Boettcher skied about 13 days last year and is looking forward to his first trip this season.
"I enjoy being with younger people, I really do," he said. "I'm always the old geezer, but so what?"
On the Net:
Sunlight Mountain Resort: http://www.sunlightmtn.com
Aspen/Snowmass: http://www.aspensnowmass.com
Wachusett Ski Resort: http://www.wachusett.com
Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort: http://www.skilasvegas.com/
