As of Friday, Utah ski resorts expected to close on the following dates:

l April 16: Brian Head, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City, Solitude, Powder Mountain

l April 17: Alta, which will reopen April 21-23

l April 23: Brighton, Snowbasin

l May 14: Snowbird, which will be open on weekends through May 29

l Already closed: Beaver Mountain, Sundance, Wolf Mountain

SOLITUDE - Utah's ski season isn't quite over - in fact, Snowbird plans to stay open through Memorial Day - but the number of visitors to the state's resorts so far gives ski tourism boosters hope it will be another record-breaking year.

They already know they scored a coup: On Saturday, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. attended Ski Utah's annual media ski fest, the first Utah governor to have done so in the event's seven-year history.

"This is a fantastic way to spend the day," said Huntsman, fresh from the slopes of Solitude Mountain Resort.

The governor said Utah's ski industry has helped funnel $9 million to the state in the past year and has become a vital part of Utah's economic development.

Ski Utah president Nathan Rafferty said lift ticket sales at Utah resorts could hit 4 million this year, which would match or break last year's unprecedented 12 percent increase over the then-record of 3.4 million in 2003-2004.

In the 2004-2005 season, resorts opened as early as Nov. 5. In 2005, Snowbird stayed open until July 4, a record 205-day season. No resort will match that this year, even though snow depths still range from 84 inches at Brian Head to 188 inches at Alta.

Rafferty and others pointed out this year's weather was unusually accommodating, with accumulations of 8 to 14 inches per storm day instead of 100 inches in 100 hours, a rate that can force closures of canyon roads due to avalanche danger.

As of Friday, the National Weather Service reported the Cottonwood canyons' snowpack was 171 percent of average for this time of year; Park City, 140 percent. Alta had a 600-inch snow year.

While Utah may never manage to sell more lift tickets than arch-rival Colorado's 11 million, Utah has half the number of ski resorts and about 10 million fewer acres of resort skiing.

Ski Utah officials said Delta Air Lines' nonstop flights between Salt Lake City International Airport and major ski market cities has helped the industry grow here, as has some Salt Lake television stations' move to run a ski information ticker at the bottom of the screen during morning newscasts.

Ski Utah also has been giving free lift passes to Utah fifth- and sixth-graders to help them catch the bug early. Hits on the organization's Web site, http://www.skiutah.com, are up 29 percent over last year, and ski movie impresario Warren Miller is including Utah ski shots in his 2006 film tour that will visit 189 cities in 35 states, Rafferty said.

After his speech, Huntsman acknowledged a "disconnect" between ski tourism boosters and the state. While the state can't build ski area infrastructure, he said, it can help efforts to spread the word about Utah's skiing and other recreational gems to the rest of the world.