Access is everything for a destination resort like Steamboat Springs, where winter's direct jet service to Yampa Valley Regional Airport is the cornerstone of the community's economic plan. This winter, for the first time, that service includes Delta Airlines, which offers daily service from Salt Lake City.

"We're taking on Utah directly with this flight," says Andy Wirth, vice president of marketing at the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.

Not only does Steamboat hope the daily Delta flight will lure skiers from Utah, but also that it will serve as a convenient connection to the California market. Delta also offers Saturday flights from Atlanta, Ga., this winter.

After several years of struggling to pay the increasingly stiff cost of seasonal air service, the community received good news for ski season 2003/'04: "more seats for less money."