Lakewood, CO (Thursday, May 20, 2004) - The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) announced yesterday preliminary numbers of skier/snowboarder visits at U.S. ski resorts for the 2003-04 season and results show that, with a preliminary estimate of 56.8 million visits, this is expected to be the third best season on record. The numbers are based on the Kottke National End of Season Survey, prepared for NSAA by RRC Associates, a Boulder, Colo.-based research firm. The report was delivered at NSAA's National Convention in Savannah.

"Despite an unsettled economic and international political situation, the U.S. ski resort industry was able to post its third best season ever, demonstrating the resilience of the industry and the enduring appeal of skiing and snowboarding," said NSAA president Michael Berry. "These strong season-end figures illustrate that the industry is seeing impacts from the focus on new participants, as detailed in NSAA's Model for Growth."

A skier/snowboarder visit is defined as one person visiting a ski area for all or any part of a day or night one time. The ski industry has performed strongly in the past four seasons, including the record 57.6 million visits last season, the second-best 57.3 million visit 2000-01 season and the relatively strong 54.4 million 2001-02 season, which came despite September 11th, economic recession, and poor snow conditions.

The 2003-04 season was very close to last year's record-setting year by a number of measures. One example is the number of resorts reporting gains or losses versus a year ago. Of the 223 areas reporting figures for both years, 46 percent reported gains, and two areas remained about even. When evaluated relative to longer-term averages, most regions performed well.

No region was below its recent ten-year average, and the Southeast and Midwest were 15.6 and 10.5 percent over their respective ten-year averages. The Pacific West region was up 8.6 percent from its ten-season average. The Rocky Mountain region was up 1.0 percent and the Northeast gained 0.1 percent.

While no region set a record for skier visits this season, the Pacific region was up 8.4 percent in 2003-04. The strength in the Pacific West, particularly the Pacific Northwest, was primarily due to substantially improved snowfall.

Snowboarding continued to grow as a proportion of total visits, accounting for 30.8 percent of total visits, up from 30 percent. Meanwhile season pass sales continued their steady growth in all regions. Nationally, sales have increased by 38 percent since 2000-01 to an average this year of 5,885 passes sold per resort. Given the continued season pass deals marketed this spring at resorts around the country, it is anticipated that this pattern of growth will continue for at least the next year and quite likely for several more years after that.

The Kottke End of Season Survey tracks key barometers of the snowsports resort industry. Data reflected in the preliminary results reflects participation of 228 of the nation's 492 operating ski resorts. These 228 resorts accounted for approximately 45.9 million skier visits this season. Adjusted final Kottke numbers will be released by NSAA in July.