Ski and Snowboard News, Deals, and Events

The National Ski Areas Association, an organization whose members include most major ski resorts across the country, keeps tabs on an astonishing amount of information.

One nugget is the number of ski areas per state, which has generally trended down over the years, as evidenced by 20 years worth of data that shows 622 resorts operated in the 1987-1988 season, compared with 481 last season.

That's no surprise to skiers and riders, who have witnessed ongoing closings and consolidations among resorts.

An interesting question to ponder: Are there fewer trails available to skiers and riders now than 20 years ago? Or are the same number of trails available, but at fewer resorts? Think about that one, if you will, and chime in with a comment below.

Back to the numbers of NSAA member resorts per state operating last winter. Michigan was No. 2, with 38, and Wisconsin No. 3 with 34. Then: Pennsylvania 32; California 29; Colorado 28; New Hampshire 26; Vermont 24; Maine 19; Minnesota 18; Idaho 16; Montana 17; Washington 16; Utah 14; Massachusetts 13; Oregon 13; Alaska 10; New Mexico 10; Wyoming 8; Illinois 7; North Carolina 7; Ohio 6; Connecticut 5; Nevada 5; West Virginia 5; Arizona 4; Iowa 4; North Dakota 4; Virginia 4; Indiana 3; New Jersey 3; Missouri 2; Alabama 1; Maryland 1; Rhode Island 1, and Tennessee 1.

Rocky Mountain resorts combined to host the most number of skier/rider visits: 11.6 million; the Northeast was second, with 14.26 million; then the Pacific West, 11.6 million; the Midwest, 8 million, and the Southeast, 5.2 million, for a total of more than 60 million skier/rider visits last winter, a record.