SALT LAKE CITY — When the snow melts and tourists have packed up their ski gear and left town, Utah's 13 ski resorts have an economic challenge on their hands.
For six months of the year, the "greatest snow on Earth" is gone, and resorts have to keep business afloat in a desert summer.
Sure, there's the cursory hiking and biking, but ski resorts have to be creative with their offerings to entice people to visit dry ski runs.
At Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon, the ski lift operator now manages a winding, 1,300-foot alpine slide.
"We've made a very conscious effort to add more and more activities every year and carve out a niche as a summer ski resort," said Jared Ishkanian, Snowbird's director of public relations. "The locals really seem to love it. When we tell people our name, we say we're Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort. It's a rebranding effort in the last 10 years, and I think it's worked out really well."
Over the past decade, the resort has built a zip line and ropes course and has added horse and ATV rides in nearby Mineral Basin.
Skiing purists
Compare that with Alta Ski Area, the smaller skiers-only mountain just two miles up the road, where summers are quite bare.
"We don't make any money in the summer," said Onno Wieringa, the resort's general manager.
"For a start, our snow isn't all melted. It's just finally getting to the point where you can get up and over all the passes," Wieringa said. "It always takes awhile for the snow to melt. Then, in six weeks, the kids are back to school, and the summer is over. We've never evolved to having a summer economy here."
That's the difference between ski areas and ski resorts, he said. A few restaurants are open for events and Sunday brunches, but with no lodging, that's the extent of commercial business at Alta.
So Alta just keeps a core group of year-round employees to maintain lifts and gear up for a November opening. Alta makes up for the lack of summer business in the winter, though, as Altabirds flock at the first sign of winter.
"We try to stick to pure skiing. It works pretty darn good for us," Wieringa said.
Local market
Summer is all about locals for the resorts. No longer a destination spot with fresh powder for out-of-state tourists, the target market is the Wasatch Front.
"In the summer, Utah visitors are our primary guests," said Krista Parry, director of communications with Park City Mountain Resort, which entices locals with the simple line: "Beat the heat."
Park City temperatures often average a 10- to 15-degree relief from the valley's summer highs.
"Obviously, our summer business is not as big as our winter business, but we've seen summer as a big opportunity point for us. Summer is a place where we see our business can grow," Parry said, adding that the resort is working with the local chamber of commerce to advertise Park City's three resorts as summer destination spots.
Park City's summer amenities are akin to "an amusement park in the mountains," Parry said, with the Alpine Coaster's elevated speed track, giant trampoline, a merry-go-round and miniature golf course to supplement the season's regular hiking and biking trails.
The upscale Deer Valley Resort in Park City hangs its hat on three summer concert series, which run through the fall at its outdoor amphitheater.
The challenge in the summer, said Deer Valley communications manager Erin Grady, is letting people know the resort is open.
"We have to let people know we have a lot going on in the summer," Grady said, "and it's a more affordable time to come out with your family."
Offseason events
Lodging deals are part of the allure, and most resorts drop room rates in the offseason.
Sundance seems to be the exception. The Provo Canyon resort gets a big boon of summer guests.
"The other resorts gear down, but we have to staff up for summer," said Lucy Ridolphi, Sundance's marketing and public relations manager. "The summer is great for us. It's just as busy as our winter season."
Sundance's unique activities are a big part of the draw — including art classes, full-moon ski lift rides, the Bluebird Café concert series with Nashville country-western artists, author readings and a summer theater that always sells out.
Snowbasin in Ogden is hoping its Way Out West Music Festival will fare well, too.
"That's a new venture for us, to try and make some money in the offseason," said Jodi Holmgren, Snowbasin's director of marketing. "Our biggest challenge is we really can't draw from out-of-state in the summer. We primarily rely on the local and regional market."
That works well in the Ogden area, Holmgren said, where residents love the outdoors. Outside magazine recently ranked the city as one of the country's "Best Towns."
It's also why Snowbasin is only open on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer. Even then, the resort is completely closed during the muddy shoulder season, which runs from mid-April through June, and again from October until Thanksgiving.
Snowbasin added two amenities last year to appeal to summer guests — an easy, for-all-ages 1-mile walking loop, and a program for early season pass-buyers to get unlimited summer mountain access.
Beat the heat
Summer extras or not, the draw of the mountain landscape is enough for some resorts. Getting out of the heat and up to the mountains — where it's at least 10 degrees cooler — is the main selling point for many resorts during some of the longest and hottest days of the year.
"We get a lot of people from St. George, Las Vegas, Arizona. People come here to escape the heat," said Traci Brown, who runs the activity center at Brian Head, just east of Cedar City.
The challenging mountain bike trails are a main selling point at Brian Head, as is the resort's proximity to national parks.
"When it's 100 degrees in the valley, the average temperature is upper 70s to 80s here," Brown said. "Everything's green. It's just gorgeous."
e-mail: astowell@desnews.com