Would resort’s like Copper still be able to afford to groom world-class parks? Photo: Kelsey Booth//Unsplash
Vermont ski resort Jay Peak recently addressed President Trump’s proposed Canadian tariffs, writing in a lengthy Instagram caption this week, “the current state of geo-political affairs and philosophies relating to tariffs, various taxations and the viability behind them is neither something we can influence (somewhat obviously) nor are we inclined to comment on any further than to say, we dislike anything that keeps You from Us.”
While officials at Jay Peak avoided using specific political discourse, the resort brings up an important point: America’s economic landscape is changing, and fast. How will Trump’s proposed Canadian tariffs impact skiers and riders across the nation?
Weeks ago, Trump proposed a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy. It’s not entirely clear, at this point, if this will be followed through on. Trump has decided to suspend this decision until early March. But with early March now fast approaching, let’s investigate what this may mean for skiers and riders at U.S. resorts.
One important aspect of this situation, for context, is the United States’ reliance on Canada for “heavy crude,” a specific type of oil that the U.S. refines to make gas, diesel, and jet fuel. It’s cheaper to import heavy crude than to rely on domestic light crude. While the U.S. is the top producer of oil in the world, many of its refineries rely on Canadian crude oil to produce oil at current prices, and any tariffs on this imported oil would cause price hikes for gas, diesel, and fuel. All of which, of course, are used to operate ski resorts.
While there are a handful of ski resorts across North America that have vowed to reduce their fossil fuel usage, such as Aspen Snowmass and Whistler Blackcomb, overall, fossil fuels still largely power ski resorts in the U.S. From snowcats used to groom trails to snowmobiles used by ski patrollers to guest shuttles to get skiers and riders to the mountain, gas and diesel quite literally fuel the resort experience. Add to that the après ski amenities such as lodge operations and restaurants at the mountain and, with price jumps caused by tariffs, you quickly have a snowball effect. So either the resort or the consumer has to cover the cost.
Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, warned Americans in the Midwest, Rockies and Great Lakes regions to “brace for gas price hikes if the U.S. places tariffs on Canadian oil” at price increases of $0.20 a gallon. Again, the cost of crude oil is directly related to the cost of gas. If the cost of gas (and diesel, and fuel) rises dramatically for consumers, we probably don’t need to further connect the dots here on how prices will rise for consumers at ski resorts, which use a lot of gas. While we can’t say, with certainty, how this will impact skiers and riders in the next few years, we can say with relative certainty that it will have an effect.
The other factor at play is that while lift ticket prices routinely increase with inflation, they also increase exponentially more for unexplained reasons. Kyle Asay, the Senior Director at Stanford Medicine, shares an annual post with a graph on LinkedIn showing the price increase for U.S. resorts compared to price-adjusted inflation. Asay began tracking the data “a few years ago with the introduction of the Epic and Icon passes.” He reports that it is “staggering to see resorts like Park City, Snowbird, and Vail that have increased their prices since 1979 by over +2,300% (compared to price adjusted inflation around +340%).”
With this data, it is not out of line to assume that with rising energy costs, the lift ticket prices may fall on the consumer and be adjusted to rise, and they could rise exponentially.
With lift ticket prices already incredibly high, this hypothetical look at the costs potential tariffs could add to ski resort operations are extremely disconcerting. Especially for the everyday skier or rider.
