By Chris Jones, Las Vegas Review-Journal Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Dec. 26--It's a financial relationship that's both unusual and unfamiliar to those in the traditional business world, but Craig Baldwin understands perfectly how the appearance of the Las Vegas Valley's skyline can affect his business' bottom line.
'We call snow on the mountains the `White Horizon,' ' said Baldwin, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort at Lee Canyon. 'When people see the White Horizon, they come to the mountains. And anytime there's a fresh snowfall, we'll see an increase in skier visits here.'
Attracting skiers and other winter sports enthusiasts is the primary source of revenue for the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, which has suffered along with other snow-dependent businesses during the Southwest's recent drought. That's why Baldwin follows the words of TV weathermen the way a stockbroker dissects The Wall Street Journal.
'We're constantly watching the weather up here,' Baldwin said. 'It's a way of life for us.'
The resort's 50 to 75 full- and part-time employees typically open its three lift chairs around Thanksgiving Day. This year, however, the National Weather Service said Southern Nevada received almost no precipitation during November.
Consequently, the opening of the resort, which is about 50 miles northwest of downtown Las Vegas, was delayed until Dec. 4, and midway through the month, only 10 percent of its ski and snowboard trails were ready for use.
Thanks to several storms during the week of Dec. 15-21, that figure improved to about 40 percent heading into the important period between Christmas and New Year's Day, Baldwin said Tuesday. The drought also reduced the resort's ability to manufacture so-called 'blown snow,' but Baldwin has somehow remained optimistic.
'We're snow farmers up here,' said Baldwin, who hopes to open the resort's third lift chair within the next few days. 'Sometimes we've got some spots on our peaches, but we've still got to sell 'em.'
Baldwin declined to say how many people have so far skied and snowboarded at Lee Canyon this year, but he did say recent snowfall made for strong business over the weekend before Christmas.
'Even though the ski area is still operating on limited terrain, it's been very busy and we've been happy with that turnout,' Baldwin said.
In Las Vegas, sales and rentals of snowboarding clothing and equipment have chilled over the last two winter seasons, thanks in part to problems with the local economy as well as uncooperative weather, said Aaron Jackman, manager of It's All Downhill snowboard shop at 3650 S. Jones Blvd.
'So many people in this town work in the hotels and (last year) there were a lot of layoffs,' Jackman said. 'When you're out of work, you're more interested in finding another job than in taking a weekend trip to snowboard.'
Although most of his customers venture to nearby out-of-state resorts in Utah and California, Jackman said conditions at Lee Canyon, as well as the weather in the Las Vegas Valley, also play a large role in determining his customers' willingness to spend.
'When it's cloudy, colder or raining in Las Vegas, it tends to push up our business because it puts people in the mind-set that snowboarding season is here,' Jackman said. 'On a bad day at Lee Canyon, you're going to see a lot of rocks and gravel that can tear up a new board, but once the weather gets colder and (the resort operators) can blow their own snow, more people come in here to buy a new board or rent one for the weekend.'
D.C. Watson, shop manager of McGhie's Ski Bike and Board store at 4503 W. Sahara Ave., said the recent lack of snow at nearby resorts has negatively affected early season sales and rentals at his store.
'Lee Canyon is my favorite mountain to ride on, when they have snow,' Watson said. 'Obviously it does affect people when (snowfall) is slow. ... Visible snow would have a huge effect on rentals.'
Watson said his customers continued to come in during the recent dry spell to purchase new winter sports goods or repair damaged equipment. And now that more snow has arrived, he's also looking forward to improved business throughout the rest of the winter sports season.
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(c) 2002, Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
