Adirondack ski areas by the numbers: A look back at 2014-15

After a long summer maybe you've forgotten how cold last winter was. Or, if you're like me, you never stop thinking about winter. Before anticipation for the coming winter eclipses our memory of last winter, here's a look back at 2014-15's numbers. Nationally, skier visits were down by 5% from the previous winter. But record-breaking cold and abundant snowfall in the Northeast helped drive skier visits up 1% over 2013-14. Gore and Whiteface followed that trend, with increases in skier visits and revenue, including a record-setting $10 million in on-hill revenue at Gore. Last season's results are summarized below:

2014-15 ski season results

	2014-15	2013-14
Whiteface operating days	144	149
Gore operating days	142	141
Whiteface skier visits	216 thousand	214 thousand
Gore skier visits	214 thousand	203 thousand
Whiteface revenue	$9.80 million	$9.84 million
Gore revenue	$10.04 million	$9.64 million
Whiteface snowfall	130	160
Gore snowfall	124.5	147.5
Temperatures	6897 degree days	6890 degree days

2014-15 season results fine print:

• Operating days, skier visits, revenue and snowfall are from ORDA's Annual Report and audited financial statements, 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.

More good news from Gore - investment in energy efficient snowmaking equipment has again resulted in more terrain available to skiers at a lower energy cost, leading to increased revenue and higher operating profit:

	2014-15	2013-14	2012-13
Lift days*	1305	1209	1071
Gallons of water pumped	297 million	305 million	270 million
KWH consumed	13,180,674	13,539,776	13,646,411
Total revenue	$10,039,903	$9,646,160	$8,956,910

*One lift day is the equivalent of running one lift for one day. For example,one ski day with 10 lifts in operation is equal to 10 lift days.

Photo courtesy of Whiteface Mountain