Adirondack ski areas by the numbers: 2012-13 season

The National Ski Areas Assocation (NSAA) released preliminary numbers last week indicating that ski areas in the Northeast bounced back with a 20% increase in visitation over the disappointing 2011-12 season. Gore and Whiteface rebounded strongly too, as I reported in this article that appeared in the Adirondack Almanack yesterday.

Jon Lundin, ORDA’s Public Relations Coordinator, summed up the season: “This past skiing and riding season was an outstanding one for ORDA’s ski resorts. The resorts’ crews did an outstanding job with snowmaking and Mother Nature cooperated and provided plenty of snow cover on her own. It was great to see the skiers and riders back on the mountains enjoying the winter fun.”

Here are the numbers:

2012-13 ski season results

	2012-13	2011-12
Whiteface operating days	145	122
Gore operating days	140	111
Whiteface skier visits	195 thousand	165 thousand
Gore skier visits	197 thousand	156 thousand
Whiteface revenue	not yet available	$9.03 million
Gore revenue	not yet available	$7.09 million
Whiteface snowfall	182	129
Gore snowfall	168	76
Temperatures	6089 degree days	5270 degree days

2012-13 season results fine print:

• Operating days, skier visits, revenue and snowfall are per ORDA and are preliminary pending release of ORDA's Annual Report and audited financial statements. When released, those reports will be available here.
• Gore's long-term annual snowfall is 150 inches. Whiteface's is 200 inches.
• Temperatures are heating degree-days as measured by NYSERDA for the Glens Falls region for the Nov-April period. Degree-days represent the number of degrees by which the average daily temperature falls below 65 degrees. More degree-days equals colder temperatures. The long-term average number of heating degree-days for the Nov-April period is 6356.
• Several other privately owned ski resorts in the Adirondack region were asked to provide snowfall and skier visits, but declined to participate. Hickory Ski Center and Big Tupper did not operate this year.
• Revenue data for Gore and Whiteface is not yet available for 2012-13.