LAKE TAHOE — With summer sweltering the area with heat, Lake Tahoe ski resorts have tallied numbers from the 2009-10 season, announcing a 17 percent increase in skier visits.

According to a Friday announcement from Ski Lake Tahoe — a group composed of Alpine Meadows, Heavenly, Kirkwood, Mt. Rose, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Sierra-at-Tahoe and Squaw Valley USA — 2009-10 was the second busiest season ever for Tahoe, and more than four times the national average recorded by the National Ski Area Association.

The resorts attributed the visitor influx to the more than 600 inches of snow that fell — double the national average — and a long winter with some ski lifts operating from Halloween through the Fourth of July.

Consistent snowfall helped, with early season skiing coming from El Niņo storm systems and supplemented by snowmaking and spring storms that left resorts with mid-winter conditions and base depths at more than 100 inches to finish the year.

“The combination of reliable snow conditions coupled with unbeatable vacation deals and a totally unique, memorable winter experience has become the trademark of the Ski Lake Tahoe resorts,” said John Wagnon, president of Ski Lake Tahoe.

Reno-Tahoe International Airport's decision to increase its number of airlines and the number of flights into the Lake Tahoe area also helped bring in larger crowds, according to Ski Lake Tahoe.