THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110279
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ROANOKE LENGTH: 66 lines
Sepp Kober has seen 36 seasons come and go as ski director at The Homestead, but this one is a bit out of the ordinary.
``Unusual'' is the word Kober selected to describe a season that started out with a boom, stalled and took off again like a slalom skier trying to make up for lost time after a spill.
``Fascinating'' is what you hear from David Zunker, director of ski sales at Wintergreen Resort.
But the word ``snow'' in the forecast for the coming week, along with more frigid temperatures in the mountains, has been a welcome Valentine's gift from Mother Nature to Virginia ski resorts. The two have had a hot-and-cold relationship this season.
One of the problems is the season hasn't been able to live up to the previous one.
Last winter was a record in every way: record snowfall, record number of skiers and snowboarders, record number of skiing days and record revenues, resort operators said. In all, about 420,000 skiers hit the slopes in Virginia.
Even before the snow guns began their assault on the slopes this past fall, enthusiasm was unbridled.
``There is tremendous enthusiasm coming off a season like we had last year,'' Zunker said. It was displayed in advanced reservations and in equipment and clothing sales, and the emotion was whetted by early November snowfalls.
When the enthusiasm roared into the Christmas season, it hit a bare spot head-on.
Kober described the important Christmas-to-New Year's period as a disaster. Skiing was pretty much limited to child's play at The Homestead. Adults stayed home, went elsewhere or spent their time ice skating or playing golf.
Then, skiing conditions got worse. The Homestead ski operation was closed for the first eight days of January.
``That's a long time,'' Kober said.
At Wintergreen, many guests showed up with golf equipment rather than skiing gear - or brought both.
``We were down to some pretty skimpy skiing that first week in January, but came back real strong with temperatures dropping,'' Zunker said.
Next weekend, the long one when the Presidents Day holiday is celebrated, holds special importance for ski resorts.
``A successful season depends on a successful Christmas week, a successful Martin Luther King weekend and a successful Presidents Day weekend,'' Zunker said.
``It looks good for Presidents Day,'' Kober said as he scanned a long-range weather report. But he said resorts can't catch up on the lost Christmas-to-New Year's revenue. ``There is just not enough time.''
By early February, the crowds were returning to Wintergreen, Zunker said. Skiers appear to have realized that they must squeeze in more skiing in a shorter time.
``They just can't spread it out like they did last year,'' Zunker said. ``Last year was a remarkable year, but the past two weeks our numbers have been stronger than they were during comparable weeks last year. We are looking for a strong finish.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Skiers at Massanutten Resort took to the slopes last week. After a
strong start to the season, warm temperatures around Christmas kept
skiers away. Now that the mercury is dropping again, business is
expected to pick up.