It was a rough winter for Vermont鈥檚 ski resorts, and then it wasn鈥檛. A barren January and February was followed by a snowy March and April, given a boost by a once-in-a-lifetime total eclipse.
鈥淲e were probably 15% or 20% behind our budget headed into fiscal March,鈥� said Steve Wright, president and CEO of Jay Peak. 鈥淲e鈥檝e made up all that ground as a result of both the natural snow we鈥檝e received 鈥� which is over 100 inches in the last six weeks 鈥� and also the eclipse.鈥�
Wright said Jay Peak鈥檚 late season 鈥� the resort closed in early June the last two years 鈥� helps it attract spring skiers when other resorts have closed. This upcoming weekend, Wright said, rooms are completely sold out.
Other resorts have benefited as well: Stowe extended its season , now ending on April 21, to take advantage of the snow.
And while resorts in the path of totality may have reaped the most benefits from the eclipse, March and early April鈥檚 snow brought two to three times as many visitors to resorts in the southern half of the state as they鈥檇 generally see in spring, said Bryan Rivard, director of communications at Ski Vermont.
鈥淭he only areas that wouldn鈥檛 have benefited from [the snow] 鈥� and everybody that I spoke to did 鈥� would have been those that have closed,鈥� Rivard said. 鈥淪o some of the areas that were either of smaller operations or didn鈥檛 have full time staff or didn鈥檛 have a lot of snowmaking ability.鈥�
At Killington, March typically has the , said Kristel Killary, the resort's brand marketing and communications manager.
And Rivard said that late spring storms, rather than being an anomaly, have happened enough to form a pattern the industry will adapt to.
鈥淭he last two years, we鈥檝e seen pretty big spring storms that have come in just this time of year,鈥� Rivard said. 鈥淭his is pretty standard, I think, for what we鈥檙e seeing now and we鈥檒l be ready for it in future years.鈥�
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