Measuring “food on the table”

Without a good, reliable natural snow cover, ski towns as we know them would be dead. They'd never survive. Sure, there are twelve month in a year, but the four winter month account, on average, for 85% of the income a mountain community sees in 365 days. Park City is perhaps different in the fact that about half of its population telecommutes or hold jobs in the Salt Lake Valley that is within commuting distance, but all the community services and wonderful amenities that benefit the entire population are only available because of the tourist trade. Without it, and the super-profitable winter sport activities, there wouldn't be a Park City, a Vail or a Whistler as we know them. Always be very kind to tourists!

Our economic gauge is directly tied to the snow dipstick that stands as a centerpiece in my backyard as a way to honor this basic financial truth. This morning, it indicated 32 inch, which is a good figure for late February and is our number-one type of economic indicator. If your eyesight is as sharp as it should be, you might even be able to read that this gauge is the by-product of my expansive optimism as it goes to... 72. Now, I know you'll ask how much snow on top of our local mountain? Easy, up to 107 inches!