Visitor turnout peaks at resort

Diamond Peak Ski Resort closed the book on a successful year that saw more than $5.6 million in gross revenue and perhaps its third highest traffic season ever.

The resort attracted more than 126,000 visitors during the 2009-10 season, said Ed Youmans at last week's Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees meeting, 18 percent higher than the 10-year average.

IVGID General Manager Bill Horn said the resort attracted about 26,000 more visitors compared to 2008-09, representing a 27 percent increase.

"This is the third-best year since the resort began measuring visitors," said Horn, who attributed robust attendance to good snow, timely storms and the Child Ski Center, which houses a blossoming program aimed at teaching young children how to ski or snowboard.

Diamond Peak began keeping track of visitor turnout to the resort in 1991.

"We are a boutique ski resort with a special niche that appeals to families with children ages 5 to 7," Horn said.

Horn said the resort's phase two renovation, which calls for a 40 percent expansion of the Child Ski Center, will only bolster revenues in coming years.

"We'll be able to sell more lessons and stop turning children away that want to learn," he said.

An upgraded ticketing facility and an enhanced base lodge will also help attract prospective visitors, said Horn.

Horn also praised the hard work of Diamond Peak employees, in particular Youmans, who cut expenses by more than $300,000 compared to last year.

"We managed to come in 11 percent below our budgeted expenses, giving us a nice profit margin for the season," Youmans said.

Lift safety

In reaction to a recent North Lake Tahoe Bonanza article discussing the safety of moving carpet ski lifts at Diamond Peak, Horn provided numbers that support the idea the lifts increase loading safety rather than compromise it.

Lifts at Diamond Peak are used an estimated 1.3 million times over the course of a season, Horn said. The resort witnessed more than 372 incidents during the 2009-10 season involving injury varying from very minor scrapes and bruises to more serious sprains and fractures.

Of the 372 occurrences, 18 incidences were related to loading/unloading on the ski lifts, four of which were directly related to loading, Horn said.

Cal Casey, 83, who fractured his hip attempting to load onto the Lodgepole lift, accounted for one of the four incidents, Horn said.

Casey was quoted in the Thursday, April 8, Bonanza story, saying he was an experienced skier and the incident was, "the first time I've ever fallen in a lift line."

"The percentage of incidents compared to the total amount of use is immeasurable," Horn said. "That doesn't mean we don't continue to make sure Diamond Peak is safe. It doesn't mean we get complacent. We have to continue to take a hard look at all our procedures and policies."