Vail Mountain put the 2025-26 season behind it on Wednesday, calling an end to the worst ski season on record in terms of snowpack.
In other ways, however, the season can be considered a success — Vail Resorts reported only modest declines in lift revenue despite the worst-case weather scenario, and the company also said it received high satisfaction scores in the surveys it conducted with guests.
Visitation was down 13% at Vail Resorts properties through Jan. 31, but total lift revenue was down only 2.9%, due to pre-sold 2025-26 passes reaching a total sales revenue that was 3% higher than last season’s pre-sold passes. Low snow years like this one show how the company’s shift toward pre-sold passes and away from walk-up window tickets demonstrates “the resilience of the business model,” Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz told investors on March 9.
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Vail Mountain’s official U.S. Department of Agriculture Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) snowpack measuring site goes back to the 1978-79 season, and prior to this season, the mountain’s lowest snowpack occurred during the 2011-12 season. .
