Counting skiers...

In the current issue of Skiing History, John Fry is attempting to take a count of U.S. skiers.

From his thorough analysis, we're reading that his final number for alpine skiers and snowboarders is around 10 to 11 millions. This numbers seem to agree with the “2018 International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism” published by Laurent Vanat in Switzerland.

While these figures are extrapolated from annual skier-days, one may question the ways we get to that ratio. I might be reasonable to expect that both Vail Resorts and Alterra, with their huge database, could shed a more precise light on our ski/snowboard population.

Sure, smaller, independent ski areas that aren't part of these conglomerates might have a different story to tell, since most of them don't rely on destination visitors.

While snow remains the key element that makes or breaks a season, over a quarter of a century, the number of skiers-days has stagnated in the US, averaging 55 million with a low of 50 and a high of 60.

This happened when the average length-of-stay dropped considerably at destination resorts, from about a week, some 50 years ago, to just 3 to 4 days today.

Game changers like the Epic-Ikon passes, fluctuating ski visits and shrinking length-of-stay have become a moving target for any algorithm designed to crunch these numbers.

John will probably have to make a few adjustments...