Ski Resorts Try to Stop Slide in Profits : Recreation: Lack of snow and fewer skiers prompt many lodge operators to increase advertising and offer discounts.

Without the lure of cold and snowy weather in the Southland mountains so far this season, many ski resort managers are finding it lonely at the top.

Although most Southland ski resort operators used snow-making machines to open shortly after Thanksgiving, ski visits are down by as much as 70% at some resorts, compared to the same period in 1988.

The number of ski visits to California resorts had been rising steadily in recent years, reaching 7.1 million last season. But this year, facing sales dips as steep as their slopes and the possibility of melting profit margins, operators are trying to generate business by developing incentive packages, sponsoring advertising campaigns and touting their snow-making technology.

The machines can make snow, but making skiers appear is much harder, said Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Assn., a trade group represents 38 state ski areas.

The problem is that city-dwelling ski buffs tend to stay away from the slopes when the weather at home is warm. Temperatures have been unusually high in November and December, ranging from the mid-60s to as high as the 80s in the Los Angeles area.

“If the weather is unseasonably warm,” Roberts said, “people become tennis players and golfers.”

And that turns the ski business cold.

Ski visits at Snow Summit, a resort at Big Bear Lake that opened Nov. 29, are off 70% from last season’s pace, said spokeswoman Catherine Boire.

Midday temperatures in Big Bear Lake have usually been in the 40-degree range, Boire said, although temperatures have fallen to freezing at night.

“People assume that (skiing) conditions are poor because there’s no natural snow,” she said. “Right now our snow is 100% man-made, but it’s excellent powder.”

Bear Mountain, another Big Bear Lake resort, has had a moderate decline in business compared to the cooler two-week period last year, said Bradley Wilson, sales director at the operation. The resort more than doubled its business last winter, primarily by investing $16,000 on snow-making equipment and other physical improvements, Wilson said.

“We really don’t depend on natural snow for opening and maintaining the (ski) runs,” Wilson said.

Some operators are trying to lure excursionists by offering discount packages. For example, Snow Valley Ski Resort in Running Springs is selling a daylong pass for $25--instead of the normal $33--until Dec. 22. The resort has also been running a free lunch program, which expires today, said Margaret Krajewski, marketing director.

The moves are in response to a sharp dropoff in visits. Since opening its season Nov. 29, Snow Valley has done only about half as much business as it did during the same period last year, Krajewski said.

Business is also down in some parts of Lake Tahoe’s winter resort community, said Phil Weidinger, a spokesman for Ski Lake Tahoe, a marketing group representing five separate ski areas. Those reporting declines say there are fewer visitors from the San Francisco Bay Area, possibly because many of those Californians are still reeling from the financial effects of the recent earthquake.

To offset losses from the Bay Area market, the Tahoe group is now trying--for the first time--to promote its resorts via television ads in Southland markets. The campaign was launched two weeks ago.

Weidinger said all Western resorts could see a jump in business during the financially crucial final two weeks in December if there is a white Christmas in the highlands.

“A little help from Mother Nature and we’ll all be doing fine,” he said.