Wednesday, May 13
HANCOCK — More people schussed down Jiminy Peak's slopes this season than ever before — an attendance record that defied trends associated with the nation's economic downturn.

Approximately 275,000 people visited Jiminy between Nov. 22, when the mountain opened for winter recreation, and April 5, when the winter season ended.

"We had a great winter and a record winter this year," said Katie Fogel, director of public relations.

Jiminy Peak, which celebrated its 60th year this past winter, had about 255,000 visitors during the 2007-08 winter season, the previous high.

Fogel credited the record attendance to Jiminy Peak's effort to advertise deals to customers and promote the mountain as a family-oriented destination.

"We definitely made a lot of effort to put deals out there and push the family message, and people seemed to take advantage of that," she said.

In addition, the weather for snowmaking was good, she said.

Jiminy opened the ski and snowboard season with at least a three-foot base of mostly manmade snow on 12 trails. At the time, officials credited a week of cold temperatures for making the snowmaking possible.

Fogel said snowmaking continued to the beginning of President's Day weekend in February, and natural snow only helped conditions.

Closing Jiminy Peak on April 5 matched typical years when it closes at the beginning or middle of April.


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Jiminy is gearing up for the summer season, opening Saturday, May 23, and closing in October.

Fogel was hesitant to say if this summer's attendance will be as high as this past winter's, but Jiminy Peak is expecting the mountain to continue to attract families in large numbers.