SAM Magazine—Wardsboro, Vt., March 3, 2025—Many regions of the United States, especially those that experienced somewhat lackluster snowfall and mild temps last winter, are enjoying the benefits of consistent snow and cold weather so far this season, and the results for the Presidents’ Day holiday appear to prove that out. Photo credit: Snowbird

Ski areas in the Pacific Northwest, Northeast, and Midwest reported strong visitation and revenue compared to last Presidents’ Day holiday period, as did resorts in the Rockies, many of which had a snowy February.

Speaking of snowy, Jay Peak in northern Vermont has gotten more snow than anywhere in the country except Alyeska, Alaska, and Mt. Baker, Wash. It’s snow report for Friday, Feb. 28, said: “To quote Gwen Stefani, whose contribution to world literacy is unmatched, this $#!& is indeed B-A-N-A-N-A-S.” February delivered nearly 130 inches of snow and the total currently stands at 383 inches for the season.

As a result, said Jay Peak president and general manager Steve Wright, the holiday “was an all-time record for us despite losing the first two days [Feb. 17 and 18] to wind holds for most of each day and a near complete absence of day traffic. Lodging was sold out for eight days,” boosting per-cap spending.

Most Vermont schools were off last week and lodging occupancy for the resort was at around 80 percent all week, up 15-20 percent year-over-year, with strong day traffic. Looking ahead, the Quebec and Ontario breaks are the next two weeks, respectively, and occupancy is greater than 90 percent for both.

“Snow, snow, snow,” was the primary driver for excellent business at Burke Mountain, Vt., according to marketing and events manager Sara Kozlu. “We have been gifted with a copious amount of snowfall this season, a lot of which came during the [Presidents’ week] period, too, so timing was really on our side,” she said, adding that Burke had some of the highest skier-visit numbers the resort has seen in the past few years.

Over in New Hampshire, Cranmore general manager Ben Wilcox said the resort was a little behind in business for the Presidents’ week compared to last year, partly due to the wind events early in the week, “and also because last year there was a slow start to the season and the pent-up demand hit us hard during Presidents’ week.” 

However, Wilcox reported that it’s been a strong winter overall with ski school programs selling out and the new hotel doing well, having already booked 10 weddings for this summer.

In Massachusetts, the weather was a major factor during the holiday week. Wachusett Mountain was down almost 16 percent in visits, mostly due to an ice storm on Sunday, Feb. 16, and then three days of 30 to 50 mph winds. “This made everyone’s driveway into skating rinks,” said resort co-owner Carolyn Stimpson. “Customers called to ask if we were using Zambonis to groom the slopes!” 

Despite the weather, Stimpson said rentals and lessons were solid, “so dollars were not far behind last year’s record-breaking and only good week of the season.”

After a successful Saturday to start the holiday weekend, that same storm hit Berkshire East and hampered visitation on Sunday—then high winds knocked out power to the ski area Sunday night and it wasn’t restored until late Tuesday night. 

“[Berkshire East owner] Jon Schaefer worked closely with National Grid to help restore power,” said general manager Melissa Roberts. “We brought a groomer and operator up to Bear Swamp Hydro Electric Station to help clear the road of fallen trees as well as drag in new poles. That teamwork helped shorten the length of the outage.” 

The resort bounced back the remainder of the week and second weekend, finishing only slightly down in visitation year-over-year for the full period. “I feel confident it would have been a record week for us if we didn't lose Monday and Tuesday,” Roberts added.

Some rain on Sunday and Presidents’ Day put Bristol Mountain, N.Y., a little behind last year by the middle of the week, according to owner Dan Fuller, “but we caught up the next weekend and had a great closing to the holiday week,” he said, ending the period ahead of last year, business-wise.

After its worst season on record in 2023-24, business has been booming in the Midwest thanks in large part to the early onset of cold weather and more frequent snowfall. 

"Overall, Midwest ski areas are showing strong numbers,” said Midwest Ski Areas Association executive director Bo Bigelow. “Cold, consistent temps and natural snow has meant things are more normalized this winter. Last winter, for example, we were down 37 percent in Minnesota (where Bigelow was the executive director of the state’s ski areas association). We are seeing a full rebound this winter."

Crystal Ridge, Little Switzerland, and Nordic Mountain in Wisconsin were on pace to have their best winter ever, but recent warm temps may put a damper on that, according to owner Rick Schmitz. Nonetheless, it was a good Presidents’ week. “We look at our ‘walk up’ traffic as our best indicator, and we are up 22 percent over last year and 9 percent over a three-year average,” said Schmitz.

Schmitz hopes to keep the ski areas open until March 16, weather dependent. Lessons are up over last year, he said, thanks to snowfall. “Natural snow has always been our best marketer in terms of boosting trial. It's what I fear most looking to the future and declining snowfall. Last year was the worst for snowfall in my 20 years doing this. Thankfully, there was a significant bounce back this year for many Midwest ski areas.”

In southern Michigan, Swiss Valley Ski and Snowboard Area is experiencing that rebound, according to general manager Jamie Stafne. Swiss Valley is up 25 percent on the year, including a strong Presidents’ week. “Natural snow started early, and people's interest has rebounded from last winter,” she said. “Last season, we were only open 49 days, and we’ve already been open 70 days this season, with more to come.”

South of Swiss Valley at Perfect North Slopes, Ind., general manager Jonathan Davis said that while revenue is outpacing visits, business is flat year-to-date, “but I’m happily optimistic because we are sitting on a pile of snow we haven't seen in a while that should keep us open well into March.” Perfect North was nearing the end of its season at this time last winter.

Davis added that demand for lessons has increased this season (it’s only $10 for a beginner lesson and $60 for a private at Perfect North), and the ski area’s self-guided, self-paced area for beginners has been a hit.

While the last few weeks of winter are approaching in the Midwest, February delivered bigly in the Rockies, where several feet of snow at many resorts helped make for a fairly successful Presidents’ week. 

The fruitful February brought more than 9 feet of snow to Snowbird in Utah, where general manager Dave Fields said, “We had phenomenal conditions for the entire Presidents’ Day weekend and week.” Hotel occupancy was good and ancillary revenue was strong, he said, adding that retail sales remain soft. 

Ski Cooper, Colo., got 40 inches of snow during the week, which was great for conditions and excitement, but led to travel issues on I-70. “I don't think it (traffic) really moved the needle either direction materially, but it probably did scare some front-rangers away,” said Ski Cooper’s Patrick Torsell. 

Visitation and revenue were marginally down (about 5 percent) year-over-year, although last year’s Presidents’ week included Ski Cooper’s single busiest day in its history “by a huge margin,” said Torsell. “That single day made last year an outlier and made up essentially the entire 5 percent visitation and revenue difference for the week.” This year, yield was up about 5 percent, ski school revenue was up 27 percent, and rentals was up 5 percent. 

Also in Colorado, Eldora’s visits and revenues were largely flat to a year ago. "We did great despite some challenges that were wholly out of our control," said finance analyst Kyle Sylvester. On the plus side, the area received a foot or more of snow over the three-day weekend (Feb. 15-17) with snow falling each day. However, on Saturday, a mid-day, four-hour closure of Boulder Canyon, the primary access to the resort from Colorado's Front Range, put a damper on afternoon visits. 

For the full holiday period, ski and ride school visits and revenues were down slightly, while F&B was up slightly, "contrary to the general feeling within the industry surrounding F&B," Sylvester said.

Up in Alaska, the snowiest U.S. resort so far this winter is Alyeska, which, as of March 3, has gotten 509 inches of snow on the season. “The Presidents’ holiday was very strong for us across a number of areas,” said mountain general manager Duane Stutzman. Overall revenue and skier visits set a record, both up 12 percent over last season’s Presidents’ Day weekend, driven primarily by destination visitors, he said. The mountain sports school and rentals both outperformed forecasted revenues. “The most noticeable win for us was how the increased skier visits did not operationally affect the guest experience,” he added.

Alyeska also hosted the NCAA Western Regional Ski Championships over Presidents’ weekend.

In Idaho, Brundage Mountain general manager Ken Rider said that while the Presidents’ weekend is important to the resort, “of even greater significance is Presidents’ week, which usually ends up being our second busiest week of the year. This year was no exception.”

For the weekend, Brundage was up 6 percent in overall revenues, driven by ticket sales and ancillary business. For the week, overall visits were up 13 percent and revenues up 30 percent. More snow was a factor in this success, said Rider. “Season-to date snowfall was over 100 inches more than last year at the same time. Conditions were/are fantastic right now.”

Over in Washington, where many school districts are on break the week after Presidents’ week, visitation to Mission Ridge was slightly above normal during Presidents’ weekend, but the following week “saw significantly increased guest visits versus the prior year,” said Mission Ridge chief marketing officer Tony Hickok.

Mission Ridge offers a “Park Offsite & Save” lift ticket deal, which Hickok said continues to be popular, especially on the Presidents’ Day weekend. “Folks are genuinely excited to save an additional $20 ($40 off in total when combined with the online purchase discount) off a weekend ticket,” he said. “They park at a lot offsite and are shuttled by our team to within 100 yards of the Chairlift. A great win for all on the most popular weekends.”

Snow has been less plentiful in the Southwest, where resorts like Red River Ski Area in New Mexico are enduring what general manager Linton Judycki said is "close to the top 5 worst snowfall seasons in 100 years" for the town of Red River, which the ski area overlooks. Judycki said business is down around 5-10 percent from last season, which was a strong winter, and the lack of snow in the region has made it difficult to develop any hype around winter. "The biggest win we've had is our snowmaking," he said. "Without it, we wouldn't be open. The challenge is getting people to understand we have snow, and it's great skiing."

Otherwise, Red River's ski school is having a good season and was essentially sold out for the Presidents' Day weekend.

There appears to be continued demand for snowsports across the country, so there is reason to be optimistic about a strong finish to the season.