SAM Magazine—Boston, Mass., Nov. 25, 2024—Snowbound Boston returned to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Nov. 15-17. Attendance was flat year-over-year, with the event drawing more than 21,000 visitors across three days of sunny and mild weather in the city. Event organizer Racoon Media Group reported having more than 200 brands and 48 resorts exhibiting.
Most resorts were from the Northeast, but there were also resorts from Canada, Japan, Chile, Europe, and the western United States.
“Despite the beautiful weather, I thought the attendance was on par with last year, certainly up from the first year after Covid,” said Saddleback, Maine, chief revenue officer PJ McSparran. Saddleback was selling ticket packs, with sales a bit down from last year, “however I did notice more resorts offering deeper discounts as compared to last year,” he said.
McSparran also mentioned it was good to see more representation from Vail Resorts, which returned to the Boston show last year after not attending for a few years prior. “More resort representation helps the show and helps the industry as a whole,” he said.
Killington’s Lee Cohen also said sales of discounted lift tickets were slightly off from last year, but attributed that to the increased prevalence of season passes.
“We don’t base success of the show based on sales, but rather the feedback we received from guests, staff and other vendors at the expo,” said Cohen. “And the overall feedback was very good and positive! It always helps that Killington is open for skiing and riding at the expo and guests can watch live via our webcam stream from our booth.” Killington reps were busy discussing the resort’s new ownership and easing guests’ concerns that their Ikon Pass wouldn’t be valid there this winter, which it will be.
Ski Massachusetts had a much larger presence this year than ever before, according to Tom Meyers, the association’s representative and semi-retired Wachusett Mountain marketing director. Meyers touted the variety to be found at the state’s 11 alpine ski areas during a pre-expo media reception on Friday.
Attendees could once again find deals on gear at the show in the Retail Zone put on by retailer Colorado Ski Shop. And the event hosted several athletes and influential figures in the ski and snowboard industry to speak on the Inspiration Stage, including Olympians Hannah Teter and Hannah Kearney, freestyle skier Troy Murphy as his affable alternative personality Donny Pelletier, snowboard pioneer Todd Richards, and adventurer Dan Egan.
The expo returns to the Boston Convention and Exposition Center, Nov. 16-18, 2025.