Colorado: Snow = skiers
Note: This article is a sidebar to this issue's feature story.
Inches of snowfall per year at selected Colorado ski resorts: More than 300
Number of days of sunshine: More than 300
Acres at Vail, Colorado's - and North America's - largest ski area: 4,644
Number of U.S. ski areas in 1967: 1,400
Number in 1997: 800
Length, in miles, of Colorado's longest ski run, located at Vail: 4.5
Revenues, in millions, earned by Vail Inc.'s skiing operation in 1997: $291
Revenues, in millions, from lift tickets: $137
Amount, in cents, Vail pays the Forest Service for each dollar it earns using public land: 2 or less
Additional skier days per year the Forest Service expects within 10 years of Vail expansion: 220,000
Percentage of national forest in Summit County permitted to ski resorts: 5.2
Number of the United States' 10 most visited ski resorts that are in Colorado: 7
Jobs supported annually by the ski industry in Colorado: 86,000
Percentage of houses sold in Eagle County during 1995 for $400,000 or more: 20
Percentage of local residents who could afford that housing: 6
Percentage of housing in Eagle County built since 1960: 90
Dollars, in billions, of retail sales Colorado's ski industry generates, directly and indirectly, in one season: 3.3
Acres of skiable terrain in Colorado: 30,344
Rank of Colorado among states in the U.S. in acres of skiable terrain: 1
Number of 10th Mountain Hut visits in 1984: 2,000
Hut visits last winter: 29,000
Greatest number of skier visits ever recorded in one state in a single season: 113,845,052
Rank of Colorado in number of skier visits for 1996/97: 1
Sources: Colorado Ski Country USA, Vail Resorts, U.S. Forest Service.
