Ski Patrol: Snow Your Facts on truTV.com

Ski Patrol: When The Slopes Take You Down, They Provide A Lift.

Statistics and trivia from America's slopes.

• In 1936, the first chairlift was unveiled in Sun Valley, ID.
• On average, about 37 skiers and snowboarders are killed and 44 are seriously injured on American slopes each year. Hitting a tree is the most common cause of fatal injuries.
• The highest chairlift in North America is in Breckenridge, CO. It tops out at an altitude of 12,840 feet above sea level.
• Alyeska Resort in Alaska is the ski resort with the lowest base altitude (274') in North America. The mountain's summit is 3,939'.
• At 13,684 feet, the highest ski slope in North America is at the Arapahoe Basin resort in Colorado.
• The National Ski Patrol has about 27,000 members.
• The first artificial snow in the U.S. was used in 1952 at the Grossinger's Country Club in New York.
• The first use of skis in the U.S. is believed to have taken place 166 years ago in Beloit, WI.
• Washington's Mount Baker has the North American snowfall record, receiving 1,140' of the white stuff during the1998-99 season.
• Oregon's Timberline Lodge, on Mount Hood, has the longest ski season in North America, generally staying open until Labor Day.
• The National Ski Areas Association reports that there were 481 ski areas operating in the U.S. last season, down from 622 twenty years ago.
• Thirty-seven states have ski areas. New York, with 50, has the most.
• Alabama, Tennessee, Iowa and even Missouri all have ski resorts.
• It is believed that skiing started about 5,000 years ago in Norway.
• The fastest skier ever recorded was clocked at 156.2 mph.
• Americans spent about $10 billion on their ski vacations in 2007.
• Big Sky and Moonlight Basin, Montana, is the largest area you can ski on one lift ticket in America, with over 5,000 acres and 20 lifts.