Largest US Ski Resort Companies Accused of Price Fixing Lift Passes

30th August 2026

There are now three lawsuits in Colorado’s federal court arguing that four resort companies are violating anti-trust laws with their pricing for passes and lift tickets, plus rentals & lessons.

If the court find against the resorts the result will have significant ramifications across the US  snowsport industry and will change the business model of how lift passes are bought and sold.

A group of skiers has filed a lawsuit against the ski resort industry’s four largest players, arguing the operators conspired to inflate prices at the country’s busiest ski hills, thus violating federal anti-trust laws.

The four lift companies are:

• Vail Resorts
• Alterra Mountain Company
• Boyne Resorts in Michigan
• Powdr in Utah

The four operators control 30 of the USA’s 32 extra-large destination ski resorts.

Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Co. control the country’s destination resort market with 27 of the 32 busiest ski areas.

The lawsuit has been filed in Colorado’s U.S. District Court and argues the four shared confidential, non-public information to set “artificially high” prices for skiing and “avoid meaningfully competing with each other”.

Ski resorts often share information around climate strategies and skier safety but that sharing should not include financial information, the lawsuit argues.

Two other lawsuits have been filed in Colorado U.S. District Court.

Vail Resorts launched its Epic Pass — offering unlimited skiing at four Colorado ski areas and Heavenly in California — for $579 in 2008.

Alterra Mountain Co. launched its $899 Ikon Pass in 2018, with shared skiing partnerships at both Boyne and Powdr ski areas.

The lawsuit includes graphs charting the nearly identical annual increases in passes and lift ticket prices, rentals and lessons at resorts owned by the four operators.

The resorts have not commented on the on-going legal proceedings.

See the full story with further details in the Colorado Sun.

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