Skift Take
There is only so much that ski resorts can control. But they are hoping for a lot of white stuff after a down season in 2011-2012.
Skiers and snowboarders who endured the stingy snowfall of last season are hoping for better things this year.
So are the resorts that saw skier visits -- and revenue -- drop off in 2011-12, one year after most western resorts in the United States reported record- or near-record snowfall.
"That made it tough, having a bad snow year right after such a great one," said Craig Bannister, spokesman for Colorado Ski Country, a trade association that represents 22 ski areas in Colorado, including large ones like Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Crested Butte.
So what's the best-case scenario?
"We've talked to a number of meteorologists who think it's going to be an el Nino year, and the late season is going to be very good," Bannister said. "Come January, February, March, it looks like we will get plenty of snow."
Then, Bannister hedged. A little. Being a snow-predictor in Colorado "is very difficult," he said. Two feet of powder might fall at one resort, while a neighboring mountain 15 miles away gets little more than a dusting.
The resorts have no control over how much snow falls, so they spend the offseason making improvements and upgrades in areas they can control. With revenue and skier days down last ye
