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<br />..... <br /> <br />/ <br /> <br />Cloud seeding, which is conducted by commercial operators, is a process of <br />injecting tiny nuclei (usually of silver iodide) into the atmosphere from <br />aircraft or ground-based generators, to increase the ability of clouds to <br />produce snow. (Operators indicate cloud seeding is most effective at higher <br />elevations, and in recent years only ground-based generators have been used <br />in Colorado.) Cloud seeding is viewed by some ski areas as an inexpensive <br />means of guarding against the disastrous economic consequences of very low <br />snowfall. <br /> <br />Data <br /> <br />Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, Copper Mountain, Snowmass, Vail and Winter Park <br />ski areas and Colorado Ski Country USA provided data on skier visits and <br />snow depth. These six ski areas were selected because they are among the <br />largest ski areas in the state and some of them have sponsored winter cloud <br />seeding programs. <br /> <br />Methodology <br /> <br />Multiple regression is used to estimate the association between skier visits <br />and early-season snow depth while controlling statistically for trends in <br />skier visits (historical increases) and the effects of snow-making on skier <br />visits. <br /> <br />Conclusions <br /> <br />Results of this study show that the relationship of skier visits to <br />early-season snow depth is quite strong at Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, <br />Snowmass and Vail but fairly weak at Copper Mountain and Winter Park. Aspen <br />Mountain, Buttermilk, Snowmass and Vail primarily serve "destination" skiers <br />who plan trips fairly far in advance and may cancel visits when word spreads <br />in very dry winters that snow conditions are poor. Copper Mountain and <br />Winter Park primarily serve "day" skiers. <br /> <br />Conservative estimates of retail expenditures by additional skiers in a <br />hypothetical dry winter in which early-season snow depths are augmented 15 <br />percent (to simulate possjble effects of cloud seeding) range from about <br />$460,000 at Winter Park to about $10 million at Vail. The increase at Vail <br />is about two percent of estimated ski-related expenditures in Colorado <br />during the 1981-82 season. Based on the results of this study, we conclude <br />that additional early-season snow in dry winters results in sizable influxes <br />of dollars into the economies of counties that host ski areas and into the <br />economies of surrounding counties. <br /> <br />ii <br />