Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The heavy snowfall in November, which allowed the ski area to open four days early, proved profitable for local businesses, especially those on the mountain. Steamboat joined other ski towns such as Vail and Aspen in putting up big numbers in November.

Steamboat, which boosted its receipts 11.2 percent over last November, is up 8.6 percent for the year to date.

Sporting goods shops sold and rented equipment at unprecedented levels during November, as the city took in almost 50 percent more in sales tax receipts from the sporting goods industry, as compared to last November.

The ski corp. itself had a profitable November too. The lifts started early and stores were selling and renting equipment at high levels, said ski corp. spokesman Mike Lane.

"The early-season snow definitely helped us," Lane said. "We really saw the pent-up demand of people wanting to get out and ski this year."

One Stop Ski Shop on Yampa Street also did well in November, said manager Pete Dawson. The shop capitalized on the snow through both sales and rentals to boost overall sales by 60 percent. A lot of the sales, Dawson said, occurred even before the ski area opened.

Ski Haus on U.S. 40 boosted sales in November as well, said bookkeeper Shine Atha. The store stayed pretty steady in most departments, though retail sales went up by a more substantial margin, Atha said.

The mountain area in general had a good November, sending 39.9 percent more to the city than it did last year.

Sally Lorton, the sales tax administrator in Vail, said that the early snow also boosted sales tax receipts in that resort town.

The town of Vail took in 13.3 percent more than it had in November 1999, pushed ahead in part by sporting goods sales. The sporting goods industry sent 54.5 percent more in sales tax receipts to the town than it did in November 1999.

Aspen, as well, was up from last year, taking in 17.4 percent more in sales tax receipts.