25% Drop in Visitors to Rocky Mountain Resorts Run by Vail Resorts

by admin in RSS Social News. Posted April 24, 2026

Vail Resorts operates 37 North American ski areas and overall there was a 15% drop with the resorts in The Rockies seeing the sharpest decline.

Resorts in the Rockies are some of its big-name resorts including Vail, Park City and Breckenridge.

It also runs Whistler in Canada

The data is subject to fiscal quarter end review and adjustments.

Season-to-date total skier visits were down 14.9% compared to the prior year period.
Season-to-date total lift revenue, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was down 5.6% compared to the prior year period.
Season-to-date ski school revenue was down 12.0% and dining revenue was down 11.7% compared to the prior year period. Retail/rental revenue for North American resort and ski area store locations was down 6.6% compared to the prior year period.

“The winter of 2025/2026 has been one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S., with record low snowfall and historically warm temperatures negatively impacting visitation and spending throughout the season,” said Vail Resorts Chief Executive Officer, Rob Katz.

“March conditions saw a continuation of low snowfall and warmer temperatures well outside of historical norms, leading to weaker late-season visitation and earlier than planned closures for many resorts across the western U.S.”

Vail was set to close on April 19th but had to shut on April 8th as there was not enough snow.

It was official the worst winter for snowfall in recorded history in Colorado.

The Colorado Climate Center has said this winter was “the worst year for the Colorado snowpack in recorded history”.

Poor snow season for US resorts

“As we previously highlighted heading into March, these dynamics increased variability and resulted in visitation declines for both destination and local guests with the largest impact in the Rockies, where visitation declined 25%,” Katz added.

Vail Resorts does not release skier visit and revenue numbers for individual ski areas.

But Katz added that spring season-pass sales for its Epic Pass product at the company’s North American ski areas were only slightly off the typical range.

“Spring pass sales for the 2026/2027 season are underway, and through the April 12 deadline, we have a seen a moderate decline in pass product units and a slight decline in sales dollars,” Katz said.

“It is early in the selling period, with our first pricing deadline in May, and we will provide a more comprehensive update on pass sales trends when we report third quarter results in June 2026.”

There has been some late season snow and Breckenridge is re-opening an area this Saturday weekend after it closed last weekend on April 19th.

Peak 8 re-opens for one day on Saturday, April 25, for the Peaks and Beats event.

There will be skiing and riding off the Colorado Chair with access to Middle 4 O’Clock to Freeway and Park Lane and a small terrain park on Freeway.

There’s a free lunch for the first 500 Epic pass holders, plus free music all day and the Gold Runner coaster running.

The gondola will run from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for transfers between town and Peak 8.

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