The President of the Canadian Ski Council says so far this year, the sales of season passes at Eastern Canadian Resorts, including Blue Mountain and several Simcoe County resorts are even or above last year.
Colin Chedore says coupled with there early arrival of perfect skiing conditions at many of these resorts, the initial prognosis is for a very good winter season.
He says because of the economic situation a lot of skiers and boarders will be making shorter trips to their favourite resorts and that is good news for resorts within a two hour drive of the GTA.
Chedore says some of the so called destination resorts in Quebec, Alberta and BC may see a reduction in their numbers as people rethink their long distance vacation plans.
He also says the value of the Canadian dollar also spells good news for Ontario resorts as it makes them more attractive to US skiers from Ohio and Michigan.
Chedore says Blue Mountain for example usually attracts about 9 per cent of its clientele from the US and says with the low value of the dollar, those numbers are unlikely to change this winter.
He predicts the combination of early winter, higher season pass sales and the lower value of the dollar will put resorts like Blue Mountain in a good position to weather the economic storm.
