Industry News
The global ski industry has just delivered its strongest season on record. The new Vanat report, released today, April 21, reported that the 2024–25 season recorded 399 million skier visits, up 9.0% from the previous season. This record number is seven million higher than the previous best visitation, which was recorded in 2018-19, when 392 million skier visits were counted. The newly released “2026 International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism” by Laurent Vanat is an annual report that breaks down the global ski industry in great detail.
The 2024-25 figure suggests a healthy, even expanding industry, which the Vanat report notes was remarkably unaffected by snowpack. This is a shift from the belief that skiers and riders only hit the slopes based on the quality of the snowpack at a ski resort. Vanat sees an increase in snowmaking capabilities at ski resorts worldwide behind this resilience to lower natural snowpacks.
A significant share of the growth in skier visits has been driven by two countries: China and the USA, which combined saw an increase of around 16 million skier visits compared to the pre-Covid 5-year average. The fascinating part about those two nations driving the lion’s share of the increase in skier visits in recent years is that the key drivers are entirely different.
China has seen rapid growth and enthusiasm for snow sports since the 2022 Olympics. With now 26.1 million skier visits in the country during the 2024-25 season, China has established itself as one of the top ski countries in the world. Post-Covid growth in China has driven both new resort development and strong demand. A total of 748 ski resorts were in operation during the season, including 66 indoor facilities. This is a considerable increase from the turn of the century, when China had a mere 50 ski areas.
China’s growth in skier visits is mainly driven by new participants to the snow. 25% of winter sport enthusiasts skied or snowboarded for only one day according to a white paper by Benny Wu. The average number of skier visits in China rose from 1.80 to 1.92 last season, however, the problem remains converting the many who try out snowboarding or skiing as a novelty into repeat customers. Nevertheless, the retention problem does not dampen the overall growth in a country of 1.3 billion. With an improved retention rate, China could continue growing its ski industry significantly.
China opened its first ski area in 1986, but skiing and winter sports did not really start to grow until 2015, when China was awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics. In the years leading up to the Beijing Winter Olympics, China invested heavily in growing both its infrastructure and appetite for skiing. The State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science started studying snow making and snow storage techniques in 2015 to prepare for the Olympics, and the ski industry has benefited ever since. In 2015, there were just 50 snowguns in the whole country. In 2019, just a few years before the Beijing games, there were almost 10 times as many.
Meanwhile, growth in the United States has been driven by the emergence of mega pass products such as Epic or Ikon, which have enticed a stable number of active skiers to ski more days at no extra cost. The post-pandemic ski industry in the United States has been increasing, with the 2022-23 season reaching its highest skier visits with 65.4 million. After dipping to 60.5 million in the 2023-24 season, the United States bounced back by 1.93% for the 2024-25 season. With an estimated 10.7 million participants, the average skier day per participant sits at 5.8 days — a massive difference from China’s low number.
The growth of mega-passes has proven to make existing skiers ski more often; however, it is struggling to attract new skiers. With daily ticket prices now above $300 at some resorts and a season pass commitment of at least $1,000, new and young skiers are failing to emerge. Instead, much of the USA’s growth in skier visits came from a tripling in season pass commitments. When the Epic Pass first launched in 2008, season pass sales accounted for only 26% of the total lift ticket revenue. By 2025, 78% of skier visits across Vail Resorts’ ski areas came from Epic pass holders.
Trying to mitigate the problem of attracting new skiers to the sport, Vail Resorts introduced a new pricing tier for Gen Z. Skiers and riders, ages 13 to 30, can now purchase the 2026-27 Epic Pass and Epic Local Pass for 20% less than standard pricing. Teens and young adults can save up to $220, with the Epic Pass launching at $869 and the Epic Local Pass at $649. “The future of the sport depends on the next generation of skiers and riders, and it is our responsibility to create a more accessible pathway for them well into young adulthood,” Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, said in press release. “We know that young travelers, especially Gen Z, are prioritizing experiences when deciding how to spend their time and money–and we hope to make skiing and snowboarding an easy decision for them.”
The 2024-25 Vanat report clearly shows that skier visits are not based on having the best snowpack or conditions. The ski industries in both the United States and China have invested heavily in their snowmaking capabilities to combat warmer temperatures and provide longer seasons, more terrain available, and better conditions. Even though skier visits set a record with 399 million people last year, the struggle is to attract new skiers and retain them. Whether through mega passes, expanded access, or continued investment in infrastructure, future growth will depend less on how often people ski and more on how many new people are introduced to the sport.
