Visitors to Vermont’s ski areas continued to grow in 2024-25

Vermont’s alpine and cross-country ski areas joined industry partners, supporters and friends at Ski Vermont’s 56th annual meeting at Sugarbush Resort, June 4-5, recapping a season of continued growth despite challenges.

Vermont’s alpine ski areas reported 4.16 million skier visits for the 2024–25 season, an increase of 1.1 percent over the previous year and 6.2 percent over the 10-year average. These totals put Vermont 0.6 percent ahead of the New England region’s 0.4 percent growth, and just 0.6 percent behind the national average visitation increase of 1.7 percent.

With strong visitation and continued year-over-year growth, Vermont remains the top ski state in the east and fourth largest in the nation, measured by skier visits, a key performance indicator for the snow sports industry. The state’s ski areas averaged 117 operating days this season, slightly lower than the 10-year average of 123 days. Average snowfall of 218 inches was a 19-inch increase over last year and 35 inches above the 10-year average.

“Ski areas are committed to investing in resilience for their communities, with capital dollars going toward efficiency and snowmaking projects as well as expanded programming and activities to appeal to a wider range of guests,” said Ski Vermont President Molly Mahar.

Despite a slow start in November, the core winter months of December, January and February delivered consistently seasonable weather and temperatures with abundant snowfall, particularly in the northern mountains. Blustery and frigid weather dampened peak period visitation over the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday weekend and Presidents’ week. The lack of March snowfall and inclement weather during spring weekends further reduced visitation, and an early melt cut the spring season short.

Further exacerbating challenges for ski areas was the Canadian response to rhetoric from the federal government, resulting in decreased visitation toward the end of the season. Canadians account for up to 50 percent of visitation at several ski areas in the northern part of the state.

The consistently cold winter weather was a boon for Ski Vermont’s cross-country area members, which reported a total of 322,353 skier visits, up 37 percent from last season’s disastrous result when 50 percent of visits were lost. While several of Vermont’s cross-country ski areas have limited snowmaking on portions of their trail networks, the majority rely on natural snowfall. Adequate snow over the holidays and a reliably cold January and February meant cross-country areas could consistently operate for most of the season, though some had to close in early March due to milder temperatures and a lack of natural snowfall.

Skiing is an important economic driver and employer in the state, particularly in rural areas where many ski areas are located.

(Bryan Rivard is director of communications for Ski Vermont, a nonprofit Vermont ski areas association.)