(Host) Record snow this past winter may have contributed to flooding across the state.
But as VPR’s Nina Keck reports, it also helped Vermont’s ski industry enjoy its best season in six years.
(Keck) The Vermont Ski Areas Association says state ski resorts logged more than four point three million skier visits during the 2010-2011 season. That’s the best since the 2004-2005 season.
Ski towns across the state say local revenues are up because of it. Kathleen Ramsay is town manager in Killington.
(Ramsay) "Everyone had a great year from what I heard, pretty much across the board. Our local option tax receipts are up about $60,000 for the period October through March and that’s about 10 percent above previous year levels."
(Keck) Stowe Town Manager Charles Safford says revenues from their local option tax from December through March were up 14 percent.
(Safford) "It’s also important to non travel and tourism communities because 30 percent of this tax revenue gets distributed to all communities in the state of Vermont. So there’s a benefit there, as well."
(Keck) Local tax revenues were up near Okemo as well. Marji Graf heads the Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce.
(Graf) "It’s very important that skiers come up and that skier visits are increasing because it has a trickle down effect for everyone in our seven communities. And it’s not only skier visits in the winter, it’s also in the summer when we have all our hikers and bikers and outdoor enthusiasts. So any increase in visitors is good for the whole valley."
(Keck) According to the Vermont Ski Areas Association, nationwide skier visits were the second best on record, with the Northeast posting the biggest gains of any region in the country.
For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck.