Is the ski resort model dead?

[soulskier]

China will have their own World Class ski areas

You're the geographer; I suggest you research weather a bit. Northern China/Manchuria is cold but bone dry in the winter. They are building ski areas there, but they have 100% snowmaking dependence. I don't know if they are considering developing the "real mountains" in the West in Tibet or the Tian Shens. I suspect winter weather is severe enough in those places (plus they are 5 hour flights from anywhere) to make that a questionable proposition.

The Chinese middle/upper class is already 400M. A tiny fraction of that can have an impact, just as the Brazilian affluent class is a key revenue source in Chilean and Argentinian ski areas.

Latin America......the proportion of those going to ski in NA.

If you had ever skied Vail during Easter week you wouldn't be asking that question.

Correct, the Tian Shan mountains are a spot you will ski area/resort developed in the future.

[Marc_C]

...mountains are a spot you will ski area/resort developed in the future.

Eh?
Are you drunk posting tonight?

[Geoff]

The Chinese middle/upper class is already 400M. A tiny fraction of that can have an impact, just as the Brazilian affluent class is a key revenue source in Chilean and Argentinian ski areas.

By any conventional definition of "middle class", China has nowhere near 400 million people in their middle/upper class. In the US, it starts at about $35,000. The Chinese number to get 400 million is sub-$10,000. You're not going on ski trips with that income level.

[Geoff]

...mountains are a spot you will ski area/resort developed in the future.

Eh?
Are you drunk posting tonight?

That's about as remote as you can get in China. You're almost in Kazakhstan. There's nothing there. No transporation infrastructure. Drunk posting indeed. I'll have some of that, too.

[Tony Crocker]

I'll concede the overstatement on China. Probably only the top 10% is middle class or richer by first world standards. That's still 130 million.

That's about as remote as you can get in China.

Yes and no. This lake at 6,100 feet was less than 2 hours drive from Urumqi (population 2.5 million), capital of Xinjiang.

Not to say that local population out there could support skiing, but there are regular flights from the big Chinese cities.

The eastern part of the Tien Shans are every bit as remote from population centers as Geoff says.


The snow seen in these August pictures is at 15,000+ feet. I have no idea how much it snows at 6,000.

[soulskier]

I thought this post was relevant to this thread. Happy 2012 everyone!

Mt Abram Showing that Sustainable Ski Business Ideology Does Work: Owner Matt Hancock Explains How

http://www.mrablog.com/mt-abram-showing ... lains-how/