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Bonanza Photo - Jen Schmidt Skiers and snowboarders were already flooding Diamond Peak when the lifts opened Saturday morning, with many participating in this year's Vertical Challenge.
The records keep falling at Diamond Peak.
First it was the month of January, in which the ski resort set higher-than-ever marks in skier visits and gross revenue, along with near-record snow coverage totals.
Then it was Feb. 17, the day the mountain saw the most skier visits - in turn producing the most single-day revenue - in its history.
Apparently, revenue is the word.
First it was the month of January, in which the ski resort set higher-than-ever marks in skier visits and gross revenue, along with near-record snow coverage totals.
Then it was Feb. 17, the day the mountain saw the most skier visits - in turn producing the most single-day revenue - in its history.
Apparently, revenue is the word.
At the end of the day Saturday, Diamond Peak reached $4.7 million in gross revenue this snow season, tying this year with the 2004-2005 ski season as the highest revenue years in the resort's history.
With historically good snow months in March and April still to come, it's only a matter of time before that record also falls, said resort General Manager Ed Youmans.
"It's a great change from last year," he said. "We had everything stacked against us last year. We had the huge expense of making snow all year, with fewer skiers. Now we're at an exact opposite. We have lots of skiers and we're not making snow."
Skier visits, like it has been the story all season, continue to be on the rise. After February, they sit at 95,551, already eclipsing last year's skier visits, which were about 92,000. Last year's visits were about 25 percent below the 115,000 skier visit average the mountain would like to see, Youmans said.
When looking at revenue and ski visits, the mountain is at about 22 percent ahead of average, said Kayla Anderson, Incline Village General Improvement District Marketing Coordinator and Diamond Peak spokeswoman
With historically good snow months in March and April still to come, it's only a matter of time before that record also falls, said resort General Manager Ed Youmans.
"It's a great change from last year," he said. "We had everything stacked against us last year. We had the huge expense of making snow all year, with fewer skiers. Now we're at an exact opposite. We have lots of skiers and we're not making snow."
Skier visits, like it has been the story all season, continue to be on the rise. After February, they sit at 95,551, already eclipsing last year's skier visits, which were about 92,000. Last year's visits were about 25 percent below the 115,000 skier visit average the mountain would like to see, Youmans said.
When looking at revenue and ski visits, the mountain is at about 22 percent ahead of average, said Kayla Anderson, Incline Village General Improvement District Marketing Coordinator and Diamond Peak spokeswoman
"It's projected that this will be Diamond Peak's best revenue year ever based on the numbers produced so far," she said. "March should be a great month with perfect spring skiing conditions, a ton of events and 100 percent of our terrain open."
Above-average revenue not only is good news for Diamond Peak, but also for IVGID.
District General Manager Bill Horn, who was in Washington, D.C., last week, meeting with government officials and discussing funding for the district's effluent pipeline project, said the luck of a good snow year, couple with a focused marketing ploy toward attractice children and families, has led to Diamond Peak's success this year.
"We got our snow-making done at the right time this year at the most cost-effective way," Horn said in a Friday phone interview from Reagan International Airport. "And then there's the advertising of Diamond Peak as a family resort. And its the attitude of the employees, too. I have people come to me and say they make Diamond Peak their choice because it's where a lot of families come."
While in Washington, Horn said he spoke with 2nd District Congressman Dean Heller, R-Nev., who spoke highly of Diamond Peak, saying he and his children learned to ski at Diamond Peak.
Above-average revenue not only is good news for Diamond Peak, but also for IVGID.
District General Manager Bill Horn, who was in Washington, D.C., last week, meeting with government officials and discussing funding for the district's effluent pipeline project, said the luck of a good snow year, couple with a focused marketing ploy toward attractice children and families, has led to Diamond Peak's success this year.
"We got our snow-making done at the right time this year at the most cost-effective way," Horn said in a Friday phone interview from Reagan International Airport. "And then there's the advertising of Diamond Peak as a family resort. And its the attitude of the employees, too. I have people come to me and say they make Diamond Peak their choice because it's where a lot of families come."
While in Washington, Horn said he spoke with 2nd District Congressman Dean Heller, R-Nev., who spoke highly of Diamond Peak, saying he and his children learned to ski at Diamond Peak.
"Just spreading the word that Diamond Peak is a family skier place - it's just finally starting to spread throughout the basin," Horn said.
So while just about everything seems above average for the resort this year, Youmans said there still are expenses he has to deal with.
After all, there's all that snow that needs to be removed from time-to-time.
But luckily for Youmans, it's an expense he's willing to afford.
"Like I said to trustees a while back - it's a lot more expensive to make snow than it is to remove it," he said.
So while just about everything seems above average for the resort this year, Youmans said there still are expenses he has to deal with.
After all, there's all that snow that needs to be removed from time-to-time.
But luckily for Youmans, it's an expense he's willing to afford.
"Like I said to trustees a while back - it's a lot more expensive to make snow than it is to remove it," he said.
