Glossary

The winter snow sliding industry has a number of terms and technical jargon specific to resort area development, hence, a glossary is provided below:

  1. Snow Slider - Refers to a person that slides down the hill using skis, a snowboard, mono ski, snowblades, Big Foot skis, snow runners, or other devices attached to their feet.
  2. Slider Visit (Winter) Sometimes referred to as "skier visit", one person visiting a winter recreation area for all or part of a day or night for the purpose of skiing, snowboarding, snowblading, etc. This is the total number of lift tickets issued. Slider visits include a person holding a full-day, half-day, night, complimentary, adult, child, season, or any other ticket type that gives them the use of an area's lifts and trails.
  3. Rated Uphill Capacity The manufacturer's rated number of passengers per hour (pph) a lift can transport to the top of the lift. An area's hourly capacity is the sum of the individual lifts.
  4. VTF/Hour (000) - (Vertical Transport Feet Per Hour) - The number of people lifted 1,000 vertical feet per hour (vertical rise of a lift, times the lift capacity per hour, divided by 1,000). An area's total VTF, is the sum of VTF for all lifts.
  5. VTF Demand/Slider/Day The amount of vertical consumed (demanded) each day by a skier, snowboarders, snowblader, etc.
  6. Slider (Comfortable) Carrying Capacity (SCC) - The number of sliders that a given area can comfortably support on the slopes, lifts and in the base and mountain warming buildings, without overcrowding, or those that may be accommodated at one time and still preserve a congenial environment. An area's comfortable carrying capacity is a function of VTF demand per slider, VTF supplied per hour, difficulty of terrain, and scope of support facilities. This is some time referred to a Comfortable Carrying Capacity (CCC) or skiers At One Time (SAOT).
  7. Utilization - Is measured as a percent of SCC. Comfortable Seasonal Capacity is the product of an area's daily carrying capacity times its days of operation. Utilization compares actual number of visits to calculated comfortable seasonal capacity.
  8. Terrain Pod - A contiguous area of land deemed suitable for lift and trail development due to its slope gradients, exposure and fall line characteristics.