Small ski hills face challenges

MARQUETTE (AP) - Hard knocks at Marquette Mountain apply to more than just tumbling skiers.

The ski area in Michigan's Upper Peninsula has seen its share of weather-related and other challenges in recent years. And like the clients, officials are dusting themselves off for the next ride - getting through a winter in a recession.

''I'm not expecting anything fantabulous, just because of the economy,'' said Vern Barber, Marquette Mountain's general manager.

Smaller ski operations such as Marquette Mountain offer same-day adventures without the four-star amenities or in-house lodging. Customers arrive, ski and leave. This year these operations are hoping the locals aren't thinking twice about whether they can afford to ski.

More than three-fourths of the nation's 481 ski resorts are small- or medium-sized in terms of skier-snowboarder visits. They typically are family owned and are located in the eastern half of the country, said Michael Berry, president of the Lakewood, Colo.-based National Ski Areas Association.

Together their numbers help drive the $6 billion U.S. ski industry, which saw a record 60.5 million visits last year.

''Some of the most profitable ski areas based on cash flow are some of those small- and medium-sized areas,'' Berry said.

This winter, the mom-and-pop places have two positives going for them.

Berry said gas prices now below $2 a gallon will result in lower operating costs and create a mind-set among potential customers that it's cheaper to drive to the local ski area.

And forecasts for good snowmaking weather will allow smaller operations to get off to a good start. In some previous years, warm weather has pushed back opening dates well into December.

''This is the best start for the areas east of the Mississippi River that we've seen in a decade at least,'' Berry said. ''That's a big plus, getting open and getting people excited about it.''

North Carolina's Appalachian Ski Mountain had its earliest opening to a season since 2000.

Season-ticket sales and an annual ski shop sale showed improvements over last year and early-season lift ticket sales are up about 10 percent, general manager Brad Moretz said.

Appalachian had 125,000 skier visits last year to its 10 trails.

''We have a lot of reason to believe this is going to be a very good winter,'' Moretz said. ''We sort of think that a lot of people that didn't travel this summer due to gas prices will say, 'Hey, we need to go skiing this winter.'''

Marquette Mountain, with 25 trails, might see 2,000 skier visits in a day and had just less than 70,000 for all of last year. It has hired about 8 percent fewer workers this year, but opening five days earlier than planned could help offset a 40 percent drop in advance lift ticket sales.

''People are hedging on the season to save money,'' Barber said. ''It's a wait-and-see issue.''

Accessibility and casting a wide net for customers is the key for southern West Virginia's Winterplace Resort, which is near Interstate 77 and boasts of customers from as far away as Florida.

Economic downturn or not, ''it's a lifestyle,'' said Winterplace president Terry Pfeiffer. ''People are going to continue to do it. We believe we're the affordable alternative.''

On the Net: Marquette Mountain: www.marquettemountain.com