After a disastrous season, ski areas pray for snow … and they may get it, if you believe the forecasts

New Mexico Business Journal, Nov, 1996 by Pamela Salmon

If the ski areas or their employees depended on seasons like the last one, they'd be mighty lean, as any skier who looked with trepidation at the Taos Ski Valley billboard on westbound I-40 near the Hilton Hotel in Albuquerque could attest. The billboard, which for the last several years has posted the mid-mountain settled snow depth at New Mexico's most celebrated area, rarely registered any higher than a paltry 60 inches. In outstanding years, the number stays well over 100 inches.

Yet Taos was one of the more fortunate areas. Skiers at Sandia Peak, which is manicured with the utmost of care, found a few flakes of snow among the blades of grass. Even those didn't last very long, though. Sandia's upper mountain opened for a lamentable 18 days and the lower mountain beckoned weakly for a grand total of 43 days.

If it were not for snowmaking equipment at these and most of New Mexico's other downhill ski areas, the season might have been a total bust. Taos offers snowmaking on 95 percent of its beginner and intermediate terrain. Most of Sandia Peak's beginner area also benefits from snowmaking. Santa Fe has installed snow-making on 30 percent of its slopes. At Ski Apache near Ruidoso, the lower one-third of the mountain is enhanced by snow-making. That capability kept Ski Apache in the black despite the bleak season, said Riker Davis, director of the area's marketing, retail and rental services. Ski Apache vies with Santa Fe for the second busiest ski area in the state (Taos is No. 1).

Still, there's no substitute for the real thing. Where the snow goes, there go the skiers, their money and their multiplier effect, said Ski New Mexico's executive director Tom McCampbell, who measures the success of a season by the number of its skier days, defined as one skier skiing one day. Last winter, the state's areas reported 805,530 skier days, a dramatic contrast to the state's best season ever in 1992-93 in which 1,375,589 skier days were recorded.

Using the Anderson Schools of Management's weighted figure for dollars spent per skier per day ($91.22) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's multiplier of 2.57 for overall economic impact, the 1995-96 ski season resulted in an estimated $189 million of economic impact to the state, compared to $497 million for the 1992-93 season.

Regardless, the ski season that limped along is a memory. It gave area operators extra time to focus on beginner skiers and prepare their slopes and equipment for another year. These hardy individuals know that Mother Nature's generosity can create a slope of dreams in an instant, and they look with optimism to 1996-97. Since they have little control over snow depth, they turn their sights instead to marketing and improving the [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] quality of the skiing experience.

Raising the awareness of skiing in New Mexico remains a challenge, said industry representatives who primarily target local and regional markets within driving distance. "We want to focus on the markets that are not tied to airplane reservations or any long-term events," said Ski New Mexico's McCampbell, who laughed when he said he's trying to recoup from last season by going door to door in Amarillo and Lubbock.

He and others also market at trade shows, such as the upcoming Winterfest at the Manuel Lujan Building on the State Fairgrounds Nov. 2 and 3, the same weekend that the Sandia Peak Ski Patrol holds its mammoth ski swap in Tingley Coliseum.

Ski Apache's Riker Davis tries to lure skiers who can drive from Tucson, Houston or Mexico, or who fly into El Paso and then drive north to Ruidoso. Other areas also market to day skiers, who will hitch their skis to their wagons on the spur of the moment when they hear conditions are favorable.

While Taos Ski Valley's marketing manager J.P. Rael wants to appeal to skiers from Albuquerque who can drive up and back in one day, he also markets on a broader scale to the vacationing or destination skier. Taos, with its slopeside lodging, is particularly appropriate for skiers who can stay for multiple days.

Besides raising awareness, New Mexico's ski areas also encourage participation in the sport by special ticket pricing and lesson packages. In September, Sandia Peak began selling its Silver Pass, which allows unlimited skiing at the area. The area also sells a combination pass for both Sandia and Santa Fe, which are owned by the same corporation. Taos is introducing a Taos Card with a bar code that allows daily savings as well as direct-to-lift access without standing in the ticket line.

Those ski areas fortunate to have new equipment in their budgets for the coming season offer their clientele an enhanced product through additional capabilities. For example, Ski Apache has added a new quad chair to service its beginner area. Angel Fire, which is recovering from receivership, has new owners who have developed a multiyear, multi-million dollar plan to upgrade the area, beginning with this season's installation of a high-speed detachable quad chairlift.