At the Vermont Ski Areas Association’s 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting today, the industry trade group announced that Vermont’s ski resorts recorded 4,068,696 skier visits for the 2008–09 season.

Part of the reason the skiing industry fared better than other industries during the recession is because skiers and snowboarders view the sport as a definition of themselves. With almost everyone resetting their spending levels, businesses have to adapt to the new realties the economy has created, experts are saying.

Eight snow competitions in the 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in the mountain ski resort of Whistler, two hours north of the comparatively balmy Vancouver. “We represent the winter experience,” says Breton Murphy of Tourism Whistler.

Despite the worst recession in decades, Vermont’s ski areas logged more than 4 million skier visits this season – 6 percent fewer than last season but far better than two years ago and on par with the rest of the country. The Vermont Ski Areas Association released its 2008–09 skier visit numbers Thursday at its 40th annual meeting held at Killington Resort. The state’s 20 alpine ski areas reported a total of 4,068,698 skier visits.

Colorado winter resorts recorded 11.85 million skier and snowboarder visits during the just-completed 2008–09 season, down 5.5 percent from last year, Colorado Ski Country USA reported Thursday. But the state’s ski resorts had an uptick in visits by Front Range residents, and Melanie Mills, Ski Country’s president and CEO, pronounced herself “very happy with where visitation is for this season.”

The Ski Club of Great Britain has advised winter sports enthusiasts to start thinking about their 2009–10 holidays soon if they are hoping to get a good deal. A spokeswoman for the Ski Club said that people who book their holidays now, particularly for peak periods such as Christmas, will get the best value for money.

A leading ski-holiday specialist has advised families to avoid soaring prices by travelling during term time, despite the protests of head teachers. Joanna Yellowlees-Bound, of Erna Low, who predicted that peak-season prices would increase by “at least 20%” next winter, said the best way for families to beat the hikes was to travel outside the school holidays. “Take your children out of school and travel in January,” she advised.

Skiers are not fanatics who will go on a winter holiday regardless of economic conditions, according to new research. Independent financial planning experts Cavendish Ware surveyed 100 of its clients, from various backgrounds, in May 2009, and found that 65% of those who were regular skiers would sacrifice their winter holiday rather than their summer holiday if they were forced to make a choice.