Winter '23/'24 Ski Season Was Fifth Busiest on Record
According to data released by the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), this past winter was the fifth busiest on record for ski resorts in the U.S.
U.S. resorts have collectively seen 60.4 million skier visits so far during the 2023-2024 ski season.
The NSAA, which has tracked annual skier visits since 1978, noted that this number is “preliminary” as several resorts in the U.S. remain open. However, the NSAA doesn’t anticipate the final skier visit tally will be significantly different.
Biletskiy_Evgeniy/Getty Images
“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.
Collectively, ski resorts experienced slightly less snow than usual this season across the U.S., a data point historically linked to lower annual visitation numbers by the NSAA—but skiers still crowded onto the slopes, contributing to a visitation total that “would have been considered high in a normal year [before] the pandemic,” the NSAA said.
The NSAA considers annual skier visits a “perennial key performance indicator for the downhill snowsports industry,” and noted that the results of this season’s poll suggest that resorts remain resilient to weather fluctuations.
Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Extra-large ski resorts accounted for the bulk of skier visits, securing 57% of the final tally. Small resorts clinched 13% of skier visits. (The NSAA determines resort size based on uphill lift capacity.) Half of resort visitors used season pass products.
During the 2022-2023 ski season, U.S. resorts saw a record-breaking 65.4 million visits. The NSAA attributed this total to robust snow years in the Rockies and Pacific Northwest, an increased post-pandemic interest in outdoor sports, and the growing availability of multi-resort pass products. In a press release published last year, the NSAA wrote that the 2022-2023 visitation number “[signaled] that the U.S. ski industry is healthy.”
Related: Winter '24 Opening Dates for South America's Notable Ski Resorts
Don't miss another headline from POWDER! Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of skiing.
We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging ski-related videos to feature on our channels. Whether you're a professional or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on POWDER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality ski videos.
