Utah’s crazy record breaking ski season by the numbers
If you were anywhere on the internet this winter you likely saw that Utah had a record-breaking winter with snowfalls that surpassed anything they’ve ever seen before. While this makes for some incredible skiing it also provides impressive stats when you look at the numbers, my favourite being:Utah had 44 powder days. Ski Utah defines a “powder day” as a 24-hour period that gets over 12 inches of snow —the yearly average is 19.
Some other facts that are pretty impressive:
- Utah’s statewide snow water equivalent — essentially the moisture in the snowpack — peaked at 30 inches in early April, surpassing the decadeslong record of 26 inches.
- Data is still preliminary, but Ski Utah expects to report 7.1 million skier visits during the season, shattering the previous record of 5.8 million during the 2021-2022 season.
- Those skiers spent $2.54 billion, an 8% increase from last year’s $2.35 billion. Ski Utah says the ski industry contributed to $256.8 million in state and local tax revenue.
- Alta had so much snow it averaged 5.1 inches of snow each day.
- Brian Head opened on Nov. 4, earlier than any other resort, and closed on May 7 in what was its longest season ever and the most snow it had in 10 years.
- In addition, Brighton, Snowbasin, Park City, Deer Valley and Solitude all experienced their longest seasons ever.
- UDOT recorded 550 avalanches in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons this year — 98 of them crossed the road, and 62 of those were big enough to bury a vehicle.
- At 903 inches, Alta recorded more snow than any other resort. But it wasn’t the only resort that had its record broken — 12 of the state’s 15 ski areas had more snow than ever. Snowbird had 838 inches, shattering its previous record of 783 set in 2011, Brighton had 881, Solitude had 816, Park City Mountain Resort had 636 and Deer Valley had 606. At 613 inches, Snowbasin had more snow than its last two seasons combined.
