News

February 04, 2011

OnTheSnow.com Ranked as Most Popular Website for Skiers and Snowboarders for the 6th Consecutive Year

ORINDA, Calif. – Feb. 03, 2011 – OnTheSnow today announced it once again ranks as the most visited snow sports website in the world according to a January Nielsen/Net Rankings audit. OnTheSnow’s traffic grew by more then one million visitors (52 percent) from January 2010, reaching more then 3.4 million unique visitors in January 2011.

The OnTheSnow web portal combines worldwide snow condition reports with news, features, guides, resort overviews and a broad community of bloggers, photographers, and videographers. Data from Hitwise Competitive Intelligence indicates the site increased its market share in the snow sports sector, which includes all sites related to winter activities and products, by six points in January 2011, bringing total share to more than 14 percent. OnTheSnow remained the dominate site among 13 of the most visited snow sports portals in that group, capturing 73 percent of all visits as measured by Hitwise.
“These latest figures validate how OnTheSnow remains the best and most popular resource for skiers and snowboarders on the Web,” said Chad Dyer, global managing director for Mountain News Corporation, which operates OnTheSnow. “Every year, we see more people go online to plan their trips to the top resorts around the world, learn about gear, check conditions, and learn from peers and experts about a sport they love. 2010 ended as our best yet, and our January audit figures demonstrate an increasing demand for the tools and information we provide our users.”

OnTheSnow’s locally-based editors and reporters produce more than 3,500 news articles each winter season. The website carries regularly updated snow condition reports and on-mountain webcams from some 2,000 resorts across the globe. New offerings for 2010, including a Gear Guide app for iPhone and iPad, and the addition of a new Snow Report app for the Google Chrome Web Store, drove increases in traffic, and overall monthly visits from mobile devices increased 146 percent year-over-year to more than 350,000. Visits to the expanded gear section, which now includes expert reviews and a gear guide that encourages users to browse and compare ski and snowboard equipment, grew by 70 percent to 400,000.

The site’s redesigned photo and video gallery featuring a real-time stream of user content from around the world drew more visitors, as well, reporting 325,000 unique viewers in January. Broadened partnerships with Google and Yahoo! also helped fuel growth by integrating OnTheSnow content in products like Yahoo! Local News and Google Instant Results.

OnTheSnow’s innovation will continue in 2011 as the site partners with industry experts to augment current editorial offerings. Krista Crabtree, former women’s ski test director for SKI and current apparel and gear editor for PEAKS magazine, will join the OnTheSnow team to create editorial reviews on more than 160 pairs of skis and 25 pairs of boots for the 2011/2012 season, significantly expanding current content. Meteorologist and snow expert, Joel Gratz, is also partnering with OnTheSnow to produce a series of videos and articles explaining weather topics like forecasting, snow water content and satellite imagery.

For more information please visit www.OnTheSnow.com.

About OnTheSnow.com and Mountain News Corporation
OnTheSnow is operated by Mountain News Corporation (MNC). MNC, a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, is the top provider of snow reports to more than 1,500 web sites throughout the world, including approximately 400 news media websites. The Company’s pre-produced radio snow reports are delivered to affiliate stations in 17 radio networks and 800 stations across the country. In addition to their snow reports and website, OnTheSnow.com publishes and delivers a weekly e-mail newsletter to its database of more than 250,000 subscribers worldwide. MNC also operates MountainGetaway.com, the year-round headquarters for information regarding popular mountain resort communities and regions in the summer months.