Sierra Resorts Bid for Colorado, Utah Skiers

RENO —  The mid-September snowfall that dusted the Sierra has whetted skiers’ appetites for what 16 resorts surrounding Lake Tahoe hope will be a successful season, according to ski area spokesmen.

The resorts have raised prices an average of 10%, installed new lifts and snow-making equipment and launched a heavy publicity blitz to attract skiers away from rival resorts in Colorado and Utah.

“This is one of the premier skiing areas in the nation. We just have to do a little more to let people know about it,” said Phil Weidinger, who handles publicity for five Sierra resorts. His clients include Heavenly Valley, the largest, and Squaw Valley U.S.A., site of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Weidinger scoffed at a survey in the October issue of Ski magazine that placed only three Sierra resorts in a list of the 20 most popular places to ski in North America.

“I don’t put much credence in those surveys because they usually have a limited sample of people they question,” he said. “And from a marketing standpoint, the people in Colorado and Utah have been doing this longer than we have.”

The 1,460 Ski readers who responded to a questionnaire named Vail, Colo., the most outstanding ski area in North America and No. 1 on a “wish list” of resorts they most wanted to visit.

The ski resort at Mammoth, Calif., in the southern Sierra, was ranked 10th in overall amenities, followed by Squaw Valley as 11th.

Heavenly Valley was eighth on the “wish list,” Mammoth was 10th and Squaw Valley 11th.

Colorado had nine resorts on the overall best ski resort list and eight on the “wish list.” Utah tallied three on each list.

“The Colorado and Utah resorts get a lot more people from the East Coast, so more people might be familiar with them,” Weidinger said, “whereas we have much more of a drive-up market, with a lot of people coming up from urban areas in California.

“People who haven’t been up here for the past five years, I think, would be surprised to see how much things have improved and changed.”

At Heavenly, 25 lifts carry skiers up the 10,100-foot mountain over the largest network of snow-making equipment in the world, according to resort operators.

Heavenly has 37 miles of pipeline with 594 hydrants and can pump up to 10,000 gallons of water a minute from its 47-million-gallon capacity to make snow.

All-day lift tickets increased from $32 for adults to $35 this season at Heavenly, tying it with Squaw Valley for the most expensive Sierra ski outing.

Squaw Valley, which turns 40 this year, put in five new chairs to boast 32 lifts that can carry 47,370 skiers up the slopes per hour. It also has added snowboard runs this year.

The remodeled High Camp Complex at the top of the cable car run includes new restaurants and bars. And within three years, the $8-million complex will include an indoor-outdoor swimming pool, skating rink and tennis courts.

An $85-million 405-room resort at Squaw Creek broke ground this summer and is scheduled to open in the 1990-91 season.

Carl Ribaudo, marketing director for the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, said exact attendance totals for the ski resorts aren’t available, but that the area lures 2.8 million visitors annually, about half of those during winter ski season.

“Certainly, skiing is the major reason most people visit the area in the winter,” Ribaudo said. “And with that little taste of snow we got this week people really can’t wait now until the season starts.”

Despite the Sept. 18 snow that left up to 1 foot of powder at the highest Sierra elevations, most resorts normally don’t launch full operations until closer to Thanksgiving.

The 16 resorts in the Lake Tahoe-Sierra area include Alpine Meadows with 13 lifts; Boreal Ridge with 11; Diamond Peak-Ski Incline, 7; Donner Ski Ranch, 4; Echo Summit, 3; Granlibakken, 2; Heavenly Valley, 25; Homewood Ski Area, 10; Kirkwood, 11; Mount Rose, 5; Northstar-At-Tahoe, 11; Sierra Ski Ranch, 9; Soda Springs, 3; Squaw Valley U.S.A., 32; Sugar Bowl, 8; and Tahoe Donner, 3.

Adult lift ticket prices range from $10 at Granlibakken to $35 at Heavenly and Squaw Valley. Cheaper tickets are available for half-day and for children and senior citizens. And most resorts offer less expensive ski packages over periods of several days.