Vail Resorts, Inc. is reporting certain ski season metrics for the 2025/2026 ski season through January 4, 2026 (STD) for the company’s North American mountain resorts and regional ski areas, excluding the results of the Australian and European resorts and ski areas.

The data, provided by Vail Resorts, is for the interim STD period and is subject to fiscal quarter-end review and adjustments. The prior-year STD period ran through January 5, 2025.

  • Season-to-date total skier visits were down 20.0 percent compared to the prior-year STD period.
  • Season-to-date total lift revenue, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was down 1.8 percent compared to the prior-year STD period.
  • Season-to-date ski school revenue was down 14.9 percent, and dining revenue was down 15.9 percent compared to the prior-year STD period.
  • Retail/rental revenue for North American resort and ski area store locations was down 6.0 percent compared to the prior-year STD period.

“We experienced one of the worst early season snowfalls in the Western U.S. in over 30 years, which limited our ability to open terrain and negatively impacted visitation and ancillary spending for both local and destination guests during the period,” offered Company CEO Rob Katz.

“Snowfall at our western U.S. resorts for November and December was approximately 50 percent below the historical 30-year average,” Katz explained. “In the Rockies, snowfall was down nearly 60 percent versus the historical 30-year average, resulting in approximately 11 percent of terrain being opened in December.” Following the holiday period, conditions across the company’s resorts in the Rockies have improved, although Katz said conditions remain “near historic lows for this time of the season.”

Katz said conditions in Tahoe were near-historic lows through mid-December, while Whistler also had a slower start to the season, though both improved with significant snowstorms over the holiday period, which enabled us to greatly expand terrain.

“Early-season conditions at our eastern U.S. ski areas were strong, which provided a partial offset to the broader weather headwinds and highlights the benefit of our geographically diverse network of resorts,” he shared.

Revised Guidance
Given the impact from conditions, Katz said the company now expects full year Resort Reported EBITDA to come in “just below” the low end of the guidance range issued on September 29, 2025, “assuming that performance in the Rockies returns to normal by President’s [Day] weekend.”

Katz continued, “To the extent that performance improvements in the Rockies lag, due to weaker-than-expected conditions, there could be further downside to our guidance.”

He said the guidance also assumes:
(1) normal weather conditions, outside of the Rockies, for the remainder of the 2025/2026 ski season and the 2026 Australian ski season;(2) typical passholder usage for the remainder of the season;
(3) continuation of the current economic environment; and
(4) the foreign currency exchange rates as of our original fiscal 2026 guidance issued September 29, 2025.

“The recent weather variability has reinforced our commitment to our advance commitment strategy and the investments we have made in our resorts and our employees to deliver on the guest experience. I’m proud of the team’s resilience and exceptional execution that delivered strong guest satisfaction scores seasonto-date, despite the significant weather challenges,” Katz concluded.

Basis of Presentation: The reported ski season metrics include growth for season pass revenue based on estimated fiscal 2026 North American season pass revenue compared to fiscal 2025 North American season pass revenue. The metrics include all North American destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas and are adjusted to eliminate the impact of foreign currency by applying current period exchange rates to the prior period for Whistler Blackcomb’s results.

Image courtesy Vail Resort/Whistler Blackcomb