Epic Pass Sales Down 12% After Poor Snow in USA Last Winter

1st October 2026

Vail Resorts has reported that sales have plummeted for the 2026/27 season. Last winter in the western USA there was poor snow and this has made people think twice about buying the season pass. NEW

Last winter skier visits in the USA were down 13.4% after poor snow kept people away.

Average snowfall across the USA was 2.84m last winter.

That is well below the 10-year average of 4.29m.

That has now led to a significant impact on early sales for next winter’s Epic Pass.

Most Epic Passes are bought before the snow even starts to fall and the business advantage of this means people have already bought a lift pass before the season starts.

The knock-on impact means people are now wary after committing last winter and then not getting enough quality ski days in.

Reduced revenue from day-ticket sales likely caused the brunt of the decline last season.

“This past winter was one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S. for the ski industry, which negatively impacted financial performance for the year,” said the CEO of Vail Resorts, Rob Katz.

“Looking back over the past year and a half, we have taken decisive action and accelerated the pace of change across our business.

“Strengthening leadership, advancing growth initiatives, enhancing the guest experience, and improving operational efficiency.”

The resort’s net income also took a large drop, going from $280m to $147.5m.

We reported on the poor snow across the winter and the season statistics once they were released.

Skier visits down by 9m in the USA after poor snow

After a 7% increase heading into the 2023-24 season, pass unit sales declined 3% in 2024-25, 3% in 2025-26 and now 12% for 2026-27.

The company hopes some customers may be delaying purchases after last winter rather than abandoning skiing altogether.

Vail Resorts hopes there will be an opportunity to recapture skiers through later pass purchases or daily lift tickets.

It is likely the other main US multi- resort lift pass, The Ikon Pass from Alterra, is seeing a similar situation, but it is not required to release the information as it is not a publicly listed company.

It brings into question the whole business model where people buy a season pass ahead of the resort opening as day ticket price are so expensive.

There is an ongoing lawsuit that accused several of the companies of price fixing.

Largest US ski companies accused of price fixing

Of concern for the future is also the way it has put off young people and beginners trying skiing as it is simply too expensive.

It is a good structure for retaining existing skiers, but is not good for encouraging new people to try snowsports.

“Has the model that became so good at retaining skiers come at the expense of creating new ones?” asks the US snowsport platform Snowbrains in a recent article: