Photo: Cristina Munteanu // Unsplash
New data from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) reveals that the 2023-2024 winter saw 60.4 million visits to ski resorts in the United States. That number makes this past winter the fifth busiest on record, according to the NSAA.
The association began tracking skier visits across the U.S. in the 1978-79 winter and the past two seasons were reported as the strongest on record with the 64.7 million skier visits in 2022-2023 setting an overall record since that stat began being tracked. For clarification, the NSAA defines a skier visit as every time an individual uses a lift ticket or pass at a ski area. That means one person can obviously account for more than one visit within NSAA’s data throughout the season, which explains how half of the season’s visits were made by season pass holders.
The data also revealed a noticeable disparity between large corporate resorts and small local mountains. The NSAA differentiates between the two by how many lifts operate at a given mountain. “Small ski areas” accounted for just 13 percent of the total visits this season but they make up just under 60 percent of all U.S. ski area operators. A similar disparity can be seen regionally as well. The Rocky Mountain region, for example, saw 26.7 million visits while the Midwest saw just 4.8 million visits. Other regions included the Northeast’s 12.4-million visits and eight-million visits at Southwest resorts, 4.2 million in the Pacific Northwest, and 4.2 million in the Southeast to round out all six of the survey’s geographical regions.
“Some ski area operators described the season as a roller coaster, and I applaud those same operators for being flexible, reopening to take advantage of a late season storm or making snow in late March to squeeze in one more week,” said Kelly Pawlak, NSAA president and CEO. “Skiers are a hardy bunch and responded enthusiastically. The strong skier visits speak volumes to their passion for sliding on snow.”
Either way you cut it, the ski industry seems to be doing ok.
