The nation’s ski areas logged 61.5 million visits in 2024-25, the second highest showing for American resorts and a sign that the pandemic bump may be permanent. Since 2021, the U.S. resort industry has counted four of its five busiest seasons ever.
Before the pandemic, the resort industry launched a concerted effort to boost visits above 60 million, a high mark only surpassed in the 2007-08 and 2010-11 ski seasons. Visits have surpassed 60 million for the past four seasons.
“The 2024-25 season may come to represent a new baseline for the industry,” said National Ski Areas Association president and CEO Michael Reitzell in a statement released early Monday announcing the preliminary results for the 2024-25 ski season. “Even if ‘normal’ continues to evolve, this season gives us a strong point of reference for what steady, healthy growth looks like.”
The NSAA released the visitation numbers Monday at its annual conference. The initial report — more detailed numbers typically land in the summer — shows ski areas in the Pacific Northwest reporting their busiest season ever, with 4.7 million visits.
The Rocky Mountain region’s 26.4 million visits accounted for 42.9% of the nation’s ski area visits, marking a decline from the previous season and the 2022-23 season’s record-setting 28.2 million visits but still ranking as the third-best season for the six-state, 100-resort region. Colorado’s skier visits will be announced next month by the Colorado Ski Country trade group. Colorado, the most trafficked ski state in the country, logged 14 million visits in 2023-24, down from the highest-ever 2022-23 mark of 14.8 million.
Skier visits are only one measure of the resort industry’s health. Visits used to count as a critical indicator for the resort industry, but with the widespread use of season passes in the past decade, skier traffic patterns have changed and the skier visit metric has lost its shine. A decade ago, about 38% of skiers used season passes. In recent seasons, that percentage has passed 50% but slipped a step to 49%.
Still, the past few seasons have seen lift-riding skiers hitting the hill about five to six times a season, suggesting that record-breaking visitation is being driven by a growing population of skiers and snowboarders, not just the same group going more often.
And the promise of a growing population of skiers — with newcomers and dormant skiers returning to the lifts — bodes well for the resort industry. Another indicator of resort industry vibrancy is investment. The last several seasons have seen resorts funneling record amounts into improvements and infrastructure, with recent numbers showing resort investment in the past five years averaging more than $20 for every skier visit.
Early numbers from the NSAA show ski areas investing $624.4 million into resort improvements in the 2024-25 ski season, which represents about $21 per skier visits and follows the largest single-season investment by the U.S. resort industry in 2023-24 — $754.3 million — which included the installation of 97 new and upgraded ski lifts. Resorts are planning $560.7 million in capital spending for the 2025-26 ski season, including 47 new lifts and 70 lift upgrades.
With the average yield for a visit of $75, about 28% of revenue generated from every sold lift ticket or season pass is being reinvested back into ski area improvements.
The 2024-25 ski season averaged 150 inches of snow across all U.S. resorts, a decline of about 7% from the 2023-24 season and below the 10-year average of 175 inches. Snowfall was below long-term averages across 172 ski areas in the 12 states spanning the NSAA’s Rocky Mountain, Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest regions.
The second-highest ever showing for visits in a season with less than robust snow reveals the stability delivered by season passes.
“While weather will always be unpredictable, this year was less volatile overall, and nearly every region saw solid snowfall,” Reitzell said in the NSAA announcement.
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