It’s Broke (yes, the Ski Industry); We Need to Fix It

February 7, 2025

As much as we like skiing, we are fearful that the light at the end of the tunnel for the industry is actually from a train headed our way. The reasons abound as to why the industry may be headed into avalanche terrain. We would site three primary ones: the exorbitant costs, particularly the cost of entry to the sport; that the industry is absolutely dominated by several monopolies; and climate change.

(Please note that in all of our articles when we refer to “skiing” that includes skiing and snowboarding.)

First, some data. We generally agree with Mark Twain (although for the record, it isn’t clear he originated this phrase) that there are three kinds of lies – lies, damn lies and statistics. However, some statistics on the ski industry are alarming enough for us to pay attention. Skier visits in the United States over the last 25 years are essentially flat. Visits have generally ranged between 52 million and 60 million, with a Covid bump to 65 million for the winter of 2022/23. (Notably though, for the following winter of 2023/24 that number dipped back to 60 million.) In the winter of 2000/01 there were 57 million visits and in the 2018/19 year (before Covid starting skewing the numbers) that number had increased only by 2 million to 59 million visits. Of course snowfall and economic conditions can be blamed for these numbers bouncing around from year to year but you get the idea – skiing isn’t growing meaningfully.

The demographics of the industry show an equally sobering picture. The median age of participants last year was 37, up two years from the prior year, and this is part of a consistent long term trend of an aging skiing population. Participants last year 17 years old and younger were 27% of skiers but 10 years ago that group was 37% of skiers. As stated in the National Ski Association analysis…”This and other age data reinforces the importance of attracting and retaining younger guests to ensure a healthy future for downhill snowsports.” Put simply, the skiing population is aging out.

While we are deeply dismayed by these numbers, these trends shouldn’t shock anybody.

The cost of the sport is out of control and has made it available only to the rich. We all know day ticket prices are insane. This is all particularly evident when one looks at the entry costs for skiing. The expense of finding a basketball or tennis racket and playing on a public court is minimal. Same for soccer and football. And kids can learn all these sports for free in school. A good friend told us the story this week of paying for a beginner skier to rent equipment and take a one hour lesson at a very small ski area in upstate New York. The cost was $240. A beginner renting equipment and taking a group lesson at Alta will pay $220. Want a 2 hour private lesson (the minimum time) – $370!

Two large conglomerates, Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Company, control the industry and can basically set these prices. Between them they own 61 resorts, with most of them being large destination resorts. Add the resorts owned by Boyne USA, Inc. and Powdr and these 4 companies own over 80 ski areas. By our count 52 of these areas are well known resorts that dominate the industry in both the east and the west. Think Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, the 4 Aspen mountains, Snowbird, Park City, Heavenly, Palisades, Sugarbush, Stowe, Sunday River…

Of these four companies, Vail is the only public one and therefore is the only one for which we can see exact statistics. Their numbers alone are staggering. Vail’s North American resorts had 15.8 million skier visits during the 2023/24 winter, which was 20.2% of North American skier visits. (Note these numbers reported by Vail are for all of North America, not just the US.) The top three most visited resorts in the United States (Vail, Breckenridge and Park City) are owned by Vail Resorts. So are the ninth most visited (Keystone), the eleventh (Beaver Creek), and the twelfth (Heavenly). Vail sold 2.3 million Epic passes for the 2024/25 winter season and last year 75% of skiers at Vail’s resorts were using the Vail Epic Pass instead of day passes.  Net income for Vail Resorts for fiscal 2024 was $230 million.

The Aspen related entity, Alterra Mountain Company, often gleefully reminds us that it is a private company and does not have to publicly disclose its numbers. There is a thriving guessing game online as to how their numbers compare to Vail’s. We do know they are very profitable. A significant private equity firm that owns the majority interest in Alterra has decided to cash out any investors who wanted liquidity and stay as owners even though they have been invested in Alterra for 6 years.  Private equity folks don’t do that unless a business is quite profitable.

We don’t like to guess, but reliable industry sources state that OVER HALF the skier visits last year in the US were at resorts owned by Vail and Alterra!! If that doesn’t knock off your ski boots, we don’t know what will!

Nobody really knows what percentages Boyne and Powdr resorts would add to the total but it has to be at least in the 10% range given they collectively own Snowbird, Big Sky, Brighton, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Copper, and Mt. Bachelor. So let’s say 60 plus percentage of US skier visits are controlled by these four companies. And if it hasn’t hit you yet…if you control more than 60% of a market you can dictate the terms under which that market operates. Notably, their positions in the industry are not going to be diluted by the building of new ski areas. As Vail likes to point out, it has been 45 years since a new destination ski resort of scale has been built in the US.

And then there is climate change. There are the statistics…global temperatures are up; seas levels are rising and greenhouse gas levels are increasing. But in case you believe statistics are damn lies…we have been lucky enough to spend lots of time over the last 40 years in Little Cottonwood Canyon, home of Alta and Snowbird. The summits of the ski areas are at 10,000 ft., but that doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Having observed our weather patterns for 40 years, there is no question in our minds things are getting warmer. Average temperatures are higher, winters are shorter, and we get immature snow, i.e., rain, several times a winter.

So…our beloved sport is insanely expensive, controlled by several large companies and weather patterns are trending against us. No wonder the numbers indicate the sport has at best plateaued, and is most likely losing skiers. What to do? You won’t be surprised to know we have a few thoughts on the matter. There are many ways to approach these issues. We will leave with a few of our thoughts.

• Everyone of the 52 destination resorts owned by the big boys should have at least 5 “sister” ski areas. These should all be small hills located in the states with numerous ski areas (New York – 52 ski areas; Michigan – 40; Wisconsin – 34) or similar states. Johnny, the 10 year old living near one of these areas, should be able to go there on a Saturday morning and get free equipment and a free lesson. Those costs would be subsidized by the destination resort who has agreed to support the little area and the Johnnies of the world. When Johnny is 20 and now completely hooked he gets to go to that destination resort at a very discounted rate. Hell, Vail can take it out of the $13.5 million they paid their CEO over the last three years.
• The conglomerates have forced people into buying their multi-area passes by increasing the day ticket prices to laughable heights. Skiing 4 days at day prices will cost you more than buying Vail’s or Alterra’s multi-resort pass. Of course then you have to ski at their areas. A six day pass at Courchevel, the French gargantuan ski resort, is $370 vs. $1760 at Vail. The casual skier or beginning skier in North America is stuck with exorbitant prices. The companies absolutely need to reduce day prices and rental prices, particularly for beginners, to reasonable levels. Of course this isn’t in their near term interest, but if they were able to lift their heads up from their calculators they would see the train headlight coming for them.
• Interestingly, Powdr has announced its intention to sell Mt. Bachelor, Eldora Resort in Colorado, and Silverstar Resort in British Columbia. This year they sold Killington in Vermont to a private group of individuals. As highlighted in the New York Times recently, a local group of individuals has interest in buying Mt Bachelor in a move to take back what locals consider their community hill. However, it is fully expected that it will be sold to Vail or Alterra. But perhaps we all need to start thinking big and buy our resorts back!
• We as consumers have a responsibility also. We need to vote with our skis. Already independent and more authentic ski areas are being favored by many skiers who don’t like the mega industry players and what they are doing to our sport. Read our article Ski Area Rankings. If you are dismayed by what is happening, go ski elsewhere! Hell, even Jackson Hole is independently owned. Ski Bridger Bowl, not Big Sky. Ski Whitewater (Charlotte skiing there pictured above), outside of Nelson in Canada, not Whistler/Blackcomb. You will be amazed at what you find!
• The ski industry’s reaction to climate change is “let’s figure out how to make snow when the temperature is 38 degrees.” Sure every resort of any size says all the right things on their websites and has several “green” snowcats. And it isn’t enough to make your own operations “greener.” The large companies need to commit millions to the right climate causes, contribute to the candidates committed to fighting climate change and become leading spokespersons for the climate cause. This threat is real! These companies need to quit hiding behind what might be immediately best for their shareholders or their private equity investors.

Be Well; Ski Well

By Kevin Dennis

conSKIerge co-founder

Kevin Dennis is a life long ski bum with a 34 year legal career on the side. Now retired, he skis 80+ days a year. While he lives in Alta UT in the winters, he has traveled extensively through skiing and has skied almost every major resort in North America (and many you have never heard of). He continues to hit the road often throughout the western United States and Canada and trips over the last several years have included ventures in British Columbia, Montana and Colorado. Whether you want to know about the behemoths like Aspen or Squaw or are interested in the road less travelled (Lost Trail Powder Mountain in Montana or Whitewater in BC anyone?), Kevin has been there, has an opinion and you will most likely have to tell him to shut up after a half hour!