The winter that wasn’t wrecked visitation to U.S. ski areas, with 9 million fewer visits marking the second largest annual decline in visitation in the history of the resort industry.
The National Ski Areas Association on Tuesday announced preliminary surveys showing the nation’s nearly 500 ski areas hosted around 52.6 million skier visits, which is down from 61.6 million visits in 2024-25, the second highest total on record.
The feast-to-famine collapse in skier visits ranks the 2025-26 season 32nd out of 48 seasons on record.
“Few seasons demonstrate as clearly as this one how dependent our industry remains on regional weather patterns,” NSAA President and CEO Michael Reitzell said in a statement that pointed to record warmth, rain and persistently weak snow at resorts out West.
Good snow out East helped, with resorts in the Northeast counting 12.9 million visits, compared with 12.5 million in 2024-25. In the Southeast, 4.8 million visits in 2025-26 compares with 4.4 million the previous season. Resorts in both regions posted their second-best season in the last decade.
But visits melted in the West as record-high temperatures savaged snowpack. The NSAA numbers show 20.1 million visits in the organization’s Rocky Mountain region, the most trafficked in the country with more than 90 resorts in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico. That compares with 26.5 million in 2024-25, 26.8 million in 2023-24 and a record 27.9 million in 2022-23. Resorts in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington hosted 8.9 million visits, compared with 12.3 million in 2024-25.
The winter that wasn’t wrecked visitation to U.S. ski areas, with 9 million fewer visits marking the second largest annual decline in visitation in the history of the resort industry.
The National Ski Areas Association on Tuesday announced preliminary surveys showing the nation’s nearly 500 ski areas hosted around 52.6 million visits, which is down from 61.6 million visits in 2024-25, the second highest total on record.
The feast-to-famine collapse in skier visits ranks the 2025-26 season 32nd out of 48 seasons on record.
“Few seasons demonstrate as clearly as this one how dependent our industry remains on regional weather patterns,” NSAA President and CEO Michael Reitzell said in a statement that pointed to record warmth, rain and persistently weak snow at resorts out West.
app.flourish.studio/visualisation/28837586/editGood snow out East helped, with resorts in the Northeast counting 12.9 million visits, compared with 12.5 million in 2024-25. In the Southeast, 4.8 million visits in 2025-26 compares with 4.4 million the previous season. Resorts in both regions posted their second-best season in the last decade.
But visits melted in the West as record-high temperatures savaged snowpack. The NSAA numbers show 20.1 million visits in the organization’s Rocky Mountain region, the most trafficked in the country with more than 90 resorts in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico. That compares with 26.5 million in 2024-25, 26.8 million in 2023-24 and a record 27.9 million in 2022-23. Resorts in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington hosted 8.9 million visits, compared with 12.3 million in 2024-25.
The lack of snow in the Rockies and farther west crushed annual resort snowfall tallies. The average snowfall nationally in the 2025-26 season was 112 inches, off 33% from the 10-year average of 169 inches. But the number of days that resorts operated remained flat — around 110 days — revealing the strength and increasing reliance on snowmaking across the U.S. resort industry.
Snow-making machines under the Corona lift at Eldora ski area were blowing at full blast during the afternoon Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (David Krause, The Colorado Sun)Colorado will not release skier visitation until next month. Last year the state’s 26 ski areas reported 13.8 million visits, making the 2024-25 ski season the third busiest ever for the state. The 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 are the four busiest ski seasons in Colorado history.
The streak ended in 2025-26, with visits expected to fall below 11 million.
But the drop in visits won’t be evenly spread in Colorado. Monarch ski area, for example, saw 172,300 visits, down from recent seasons with more than 200,000 visits.
But the ski area’s new No Name expansion, with 10 new runs and a fixed-grip triple chair accessing 377 acres, lured skiers. Monarch sold more season passes for 2025-26 than ever before and saw record revenues and its busiest day ever in December.
“Net income was our third highest ever. More than we paid for the place,” said resort owner Bob Nicolls, whose investment team bought the ski area 24 years ago and has pumped more than $10 million into improvements without any debt.
Vail Resorts late last month released an end-of-season update showing visitation to its 37 North American ski areas down 14.9% compared with 2024-25.
Company CEO Rob Katz, in a statement, said the 2025-26 ski season’s collapse was due to “one of the most challenging winters in history” with record low snowfall and warm temperatures at its Western ski areas. Visitation to the company’s resorts in Colorado and Utah — Beaver Creek, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City and Vail — is down 25%.
But thanks to the company’s industry-shifting selling of passes and tickets before the snow flies — or in this season’s case, did not fly — lift revenue is down only 5.6%, a sign that the company’s overarching strategy has largely immunized it to the whims of winter.
So now the question is: Will skiers balk at summertime pass buying after such a lousy winter?
Spring sales have launched and Katz warned investors last month of “moderate” decline in the number of passes sold through April 12 and a “slight” dip in sales dollars.
Vail Resorts counts more than 75% of its annual visits coming from skiers who bought their passes and lift tickets long before the lifts started turning. Nationally, about 49% of all resort visits come from skiers with season passes, which mirrors use from the previous season. The number of skiers using daily and multiday lift tickets is in long-term decline, falling from 51% of all visits in 2015-16 to 32% 2024-25.
“After several years of rapid growth, season pass usage has begun to stabilize over the past two seasons, signaling a maturing market,” reads the NSAA release announcing the 2025-26 traffic numbers.
The lack of snow in the Rockies and farther west crushed annual resort snowfall tallies. The average snowfall nationally in the 2025-26 season was 112 inches, off 33% from the 10-year average of 169 inches. But the number of days that resorts operated remained flat — around 110 days — revealing the increasing reliance on snowmaking across the U.S. resort industry.
Colorado will not release statewide skier visitation until next month. Last year the state’s 26 ski areas reported 13.8 million skier visits, making the 2024-25 ski season the third busiest ever for the state. The 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 are the four busiest ski seasons in Colorado history.
The streak ended in 2025-26, with visits expected to fall around 11 million.
But the drop in visits won’t be evenly spread in Colorado. Monarch ski area, for example, saw 172,300 visits, down from recent seasons with more than 200,000 visits.
But the ski area’s new No Name expansion, with 10 new runs and a fixed-grip triple chair accessing 377 acres, lured skiers. Monarch sold more season passes for 2025-26 than ever before and saw record revenues and its busiest day ever in December.
The Lower Hall’s Alley run under the Breezeway lift at Monarch Mountain ski area had little snow but bluebird skies and warm temperatures on Friday, March 20, 2026. The resort is closing March 28, two weeks ahead of its originally planned closing day. (David Krause, The Colorado Sun)“Net income was our third highest ever. More than we paid for the place,” said resort owner Bob Nicolls, whose investment team bought the ski area 24 years ago and has pumped more than $10 million into improvements without any debt.
Vail Resorts late last month released an end-of-season update showing visitation to its 37 North American ski areas down 14.9% compared with 2024-25.
Company CEO Rob Katz, in a statement, said the 2025-26 ski season’s collapse was due to “one of the most challenging winters in history” with record low snowfall and balmy temperatures at its Western ski areas. Visitation to the company’s resorts in Colorado and Utah — Beaver Creek, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City and Vail — is down 25%.
But thanks to the company’s industry-shifting selling of passes and tickets before the snow flies — or in this season’s case, did not fly — lift revenue is down only 5.6%, a sign that the company’s overarching strategy has largely immunized it to the whims of winter.
So now the question is: Will skiers balk at summertime pass buying after such a lousy winter?
Spring sales have launched and Katz warned investors last month of a “moderate” decline in the number of passes sold through April 12 and a “slight” dip in sales dollars.
Vail Resorts counts more than 75% of its annual visits coming from skiers who bought their passes and lift tickets long before the lifts started turning. Nationally, about 49% of all resort visits come from skiers with season passes, which mirrors use from the previous season. The number of skiers using daily and multiday lift tickets is in long-term decline, falling from 51% of all visits in 2015-16 to 32% 2024-25.
“After several years of rapid growth, season pass usage has begun to stabilize over the past two seasons, signaling a maturing market,” reads the NSAA release announcing the 2025-26 traffic numbers.
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