While You Were at the Beach – Ski News for Winter 25/26

December 4, 2025

Even though we don’t publish during the “off season,” we do keep a close eye on developments in the ski industry. Much of the “news” in the summer relates to non-skiing activities. Sorry gang, but I could care less about new mountain biking trails. While we laud the resorts’ efforts to remain solvent during the summers, we are just really interested in what they are doing to make the next winter better. So…here are a few items that captured our attention.

Dear Valet Explodes – Our most faithful followers no doubt know that Deer Valley (aka Dear Valet) isn’t our favorite ski area. While we do begrudgingly admit that it provides an outdoor sanctuary for many skiers (remember, snowboarders are not welcome), for us it is the poster child for where corporate America has bastardized our beloved sport.  But, perhaps not surprisingly, the biggest development since last winter comes from Dear Valet. And it’s a whopper!

For winter 25/26 they have added seven new chairlifts, a 10 passenger gondola and 80 new ski runs! North America has rarely seen such a massive expansion in one season – the area has more than doubled in size to slightly over 4,300 skiable acres. While that is impressive, the bad news is that the general area of the development gets very little natural snow so much of the new terrain will have to rely on a massive commitment to snowmaking.

Eastern Developments – By comparison, the east coast ski industry was relatively tame over the summer. As a sign of the times, many areas are touting their new and/or improved snowmaking capabilities. Depressing, eh? Killington in central VT is perhaps the one exception.  Their Superstar Quad has been replaced with a new six pack (that would be number of people, not beer), and their Skyship Gondola will feature all new cabins. Both lifts are mainstays of Killington’s sprawling lift system.

Oh, and Mad River Glen repainted its single chair!

Mad River Glen to Expand? – BUT WAIT – As I was putting this article together there is REAL news from Mad River Glen! The skier co-op that owns Mad River has exercised its right of first refusal to buy 1,100 acres that abuts the current ski area and runs generally south to Sugarbush’s Mount Ellen. When Betsy Pratt sold the ski area to local skiers (hence the skier co-op) in 1995 she retained ownership of this parcel. A timber company has recently offered to buy the land which has triggered the co-op’s right of first refusal.  The area is barely skiable unless it is a rare deep Vermont powder day given the forest’s density, but it does incorporate areas known to local skiers as the 19th and 20th holes. (That because these heavily wooded “trails” deposit a skier off at a local bar instead of the ski area base.) There is no definitive word as to whether Mad River will do some clearing to make the area as skiable as the rest of the mountain. Remember though that Mad River’s famous slogan is “Ski it if you Can!”  The area is currently conducting a fundraising campaign to raise the $2.5 million to buy the land, so if you are in a giving mood check out starkmountain.org

Independents Take Over the World? – There is hope! After years of watching the 800 lb. gorillas (that’s you, Aspen and Vail!) gobble up ski resorts, we are seeing a trend towards local independent ownership. While old news at this point, last year a group of local skiers purchased Killington from Powdr Corp. (owner of Copper, Bachelor and Snowbird).

Out west, the local darling of the Denver area, Eldora Mountain Resort, is being purchased by the 1,500 population town of Nederland from Powdr Corp.  Eldora is nothing to sneeze at – over 60 trails; 9 lifts and vertical of 1,400 ft. Powdr had also announced that Batchelor would be sold, but following a failed bid by a local group, Powdr has decided to hold onto the area for now. We suspect that the decision was really driven by a lack of interest from the industry’s conglomerates.

Two beloved local ski hills in the East will be under local control for winter 25/26. Ragged Mountain, a local jewel for the central New Hampshire ski community, has been bought by a local group of skiers. The area had previously been managed by Pacific Group Resorts.  It is less than two hours from Boston and features over 1,300 vertical with five lifts. And in Northern Vermont, Burke Mountain Resort, with over 2,000 vertical,  finally has escaped the purgatory of the bankruptcy process and has been bought by a small group of local skiers. Burke had been in receivership since 2016 when its then owner was arrested for fraud in connection with misuse of EB-5 visa program funds.

Want to Sue? Ski in Oregon – States in which the ski industry is a major player have gone to great lengths to protect the golden goose (or the egg, if you believe the egg came first). While the laws vary greatly, most state laws protect the resorts from liability claims from skiers, even if ordinary negligence can be proven. When we buy a ski pass or ticket we are effectively signing a waiver releasing the ski area from liability unless gross negligence can be proven. Unfortunately, Oregon has a tortured history on this issue, and recent developments have severely hampered the industry in the state.

The Oregon Supreme Court decided in 2014 that a state law protecting ski areas from “inherent risks” type liability was invalid. This has resulted in a number of law suits against Oregon areas involving what most of us would consider normal risks of the sport. The legislature has fiddled and diddled with the issue for years. The insurance companies have tired of the issue this year, which has left only one insurance company (at exorbitant rates) willing to provide coverage in the state. Mt Hood has been the latest area to advise skiers it is raising pricing due to the increased rates.

Snow Blankets – In the “you can’t make this shit up category…” we have Snow Blankets! In the old days we eastern skiers had blankets given to us by lifties to keep us WARM on the Mad River single chair and the Stowe chairlifts. Now there are blankets to keep the snow COLD.  We were amazed at how many posts were sent our way by areas keeping huge piles of snow under snow mats for the summer in order to cache the snow until the early ski season. Sunpeaks Resort in British Columbia invested $180,000 (yeah we know, that’s in Canadian loonies worth about 10 cents on the real dollar, but still) to cover 14,000 cubic meters of snow and claims it saved 80% of the snow from melting. (BTW – if you haven’t skied Sunpeaks, put it on the list. Great under the radar hill.) Bogus Basin in Idaho spent real American dollars to cover a 30 foot deep 300 foot long pile of white gold with “insulation panels.” Christmas came in early October when the pile was uncovered with little loss of snow. While we find this very interesting, it is perhaps more depressing than the extreme focus of the industry on making fake snow.

Incredible Growth at Indy Pass – We have written about Indy Pass in the past. We love the name and concept – sell a pass that can be used at numerous independent resorts. Think – the anti Ikon and Epic! Indy added 50 new ski areas for winter 25/26 for a total of 270 areas on the pass for this winter. Redemptions at areas accepting the Indy Pass increased 40% last winter and sales of the pass are up 60% for this winter. The good news – the base pass sold for only $450 and gives a passholder two days of skiing at each participating resort. And, yes, many of the areas are small and you have never heard of them. But Lost Trail Powder Mountain and Montana Snowbowl (two of our favorites) in Montana are Indy resorts and in the east Cannon Mountain and Jay Peak are participating resorts. The bad news – passes are already sold out for this winter. Sign up now to be notified if more passes go on sale and to be notified early for winter 26/27.

Pacific Group Resorts buys Silver Star – We are certain that many of you looked at that headline and mumbled – “Who the hell is Pacific Group Resorts (PGR) and what the hell is Silver Star?” Both PGR and Silver Star deserve your attention. Although we will admit that before PGR bought Jay Peak in Vermont last year we didn’t know who the hell they were either. At that point they owned several ski areas that nobody had heard of (Wintergreen, Wisp, Powderhorn and Mount Washington Alpine). But with the purchase of Jay Peak and now Silver Star they are on the ski industry map. Silver Star in British Columbia is large – 2,500 vertical; 3,300 acres and roughly the 15th largest resort in North America. We haven’t been there, but it is on the list! The seller of Silver Star – Powdr. Are you sensing a pattern here? As noted above, Powdr has been a seller recently which we will keep an eye on. Could Snowbird be their next sale?

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!