SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (October 23, 2002) -- Seems like there may be more winners from the 2002 Olympic Winter Games than initially thought. The athletes, of course, have gone home with their medals, but it's Utah's ski resorts that may be bringing home the gold with increased bookings for the 2002/2003 ski and snowboard season.

"It's looking like all of the media exposure Utah received around last winter's Olympic Winter Games has helped get the word out on our great winter product," said Ski Utah President Kip Pitou. "Magazine and newspaper articles, Web sites, and most importantly, the television coverage of our bluebird blue skies, deep powder snow, impressive mountain peaks and lively ski towns has had an impact on vacation planning amongst winter sports enthusiasts. They want to make Utah their next winter vacation destination."

Utah resorts are reporting excellent bookings for the upcoming season. "We truly have a success story here at The Canyons," said Katie Eldridge, Resort director of communications. "Bookings for the upcoming season are up at least 200 percent over last year. Phone volume is up 100 percent over the same time last year. Even requests through our Web site are up - 800 percent over the 2001/2002 winter season."

Snowbird's communication director Dave Fields reported, "Snowbird's reservations are ahead of two years ago, which was our best year ever. We're seeing several trends - more online reservations and more inclusive packages. Increased bookings lead us to believe that with a normal snow year, we're on track for a great season."

Park City Mountain Resort's Michelle Palmer, the Resort communications manager, echoed a similar finding. "Our sales managers say that consumer interest at the ski/snowboard trade shows has been outstanding and can be directly associated with Olympic exposure. Our email inquiries are up double digits," she said.

Snowbasin Resort's gateway city of Ogden is seeing the same upturn is bookings. "Group ski and snowboard bookings through the Ogden/Weber Convention and Visitors Bureau are up 100 percent over last year and growing," said the organization's Marketing Director Barbara McConvill.

With snow already falling in Utah's Wasatch Mountains, visit Ski Utah's Web site at www.skiutah.com for the latest in resort scheduled openings and special vacation offerings.

— Posted by Ari Cheren, MountainZone.com Gear Editor