2024-25 Season Recap

[tseeb]

I'm starting it again as I think my season is over even though Mammoth could be open another 2-3 weeks. Edit to add now closing June 15.

Days: 46 vs. 47 last year and 46 the year before that. Not getting to my goal of 50, even with roadtrip to UT and CO where I skied 16 of 18 days including one at Palisades on way. My only days off on trip were to hike at Arches National Park and to drive home from Snowbird. Still want to try for 70 next season as I'll be 70 in exactly 100 days.

Vertical: 1,123,900, over 50K more than last season. I averaged 24.4K/day, highest since 2002-03 when I averaged 24.5 although I only skied 20 days.

Days on $449 Senior Tahoe Value Pass: 16, way down from preceding years, $28/day - Zero days at Northstar for first time in many years.
My last Vail Tahoe day of season I skied both Kirkwood and Heavenly as I also did my first days of season in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Adding via edit a little more detail on days skied at Vail Tahoe resorts in previous seasons on this pass.
Season Heavenly Kirkwood Northstar
24-25 5 1/3 10 2/3 0
23-24 5 22 4
22-23 6 13 2
21-22 10 15 2
20-21 10 13 2

Days on $1K+ Full Ikon: 30, the most I've ever had on it, $38.50/day
Palisades Tahoe 8 (Alpine side only 3), Altabird 5 (3 were Snowbird side only where I will likely only ski next year in LCC as I downgraded to Ikon Base), Mammoth 5, *Copper Mountain 4, Aspen 3 (one day was both Buttermilk/Ajax, other two Highlands then Snowmass), Sierra-at-Tahoe 2 (first year it was added to Ikon and my first time after fire), *Steamboat 2, Deer Valley (from new base) 1 - *first time at Copper and Steamboat

By month
Nov - 1 (Last day of month)
Dec - 3 (My first ever daytrip from So. Tahoe to Mammoth for Ikon early-up and free breakfast)
Jan - 5 (Skied five of first six days of 2025 and had 14" new at Alpine on very busy first Saturday)
Feb - 8 (Kirkwood with 10" new on the first Friday of month)
Mar - 13 (All in first 14 days. What happened rest of month? New snow 3 days at Copper, first day at Aspen and at Altabird.
Apr - 10 (First two days great mid-week Kirkwood powder days with very low elevation snow. And new snow for Alpine's closing day)
May - 6 (Same as previous season. This year from two trips with first day Palisades, night at So. Tahoe, then next two days Mammoth)

 

[Tony Crocker]

Area	Sum of Days	Sum of Vertical x1000	Sum of Powder x1000
Mountain High (West)	1​	13​	0​
Mammoth	17​	430.3​	5​
Snowmass	2​	44.4​	2​
Aspen Mt. (Ajax)	1​	16.7​	1​
Sugar Bowl	1​	17.3​	5​
Palisades Tahoe	1​	15.1​	0​
Snowbird	4​	66.1​	10​
Alta	2​	28.5​	3​
Mt. Bachelor	3​	67.5​	0​
Vail	1​	20.6​	9​
Copper Mt.	2​	43.2​	1​
Arapahoe Basin	1​	16.3​	1​
Steamboat	1​	20.7​	2​
Apex Alpine	1​	17.3​	0​
Big White	2​	43.6​	0​
*K3 Snowcat	2​	20.7​	13​
*Amirsoy, Uzbekistan	5​	38​	15​
*Chimgan, Uzbekistan	1​	1​	0​
*Ski Dubai	1​	2.3​	0​
Totals	49​	922.6​	67​

The 49 days was lowest in retirement aside from the 41 in 2020 due to Liz' shoulder injury and the mid-March COVID shutdown. The reason this time was nearly a month of non-ski vacation late January to mid-February. The other time this happened was in March of 2015-16, but that season had a strong November start at Mammoth, so I skied 54 days and 1.07 million vertical. This season it took a very active spring to even get to 49 days.

Powder was on the low side, lift served 6.0% vs. long term average 8.6%. There were only 3 significant lift served powder days, one at Iron Blosam, one at Vail and one in Uzbekistan. At Iron Blosam my age/altitude breathing issues mean I cannot hammer a powder day there bell to bell, especially when the last half of it will be chopped up snow requiring far more effort. I did ski bell to bell powder on Vail's less demanding terrain.

Last year I predicted that the 1 million vertical benchmark of my retirement seasons would no longer be routine. I had no chance this season with the 49 days and the 7 of them in central Asia totaling a meager 41,300. The 8 post Iron Blosam days in Colorado averaged 20,200 and the 16 April/May days averaged 23,500. As in the past couple of seasons, the proportion of groomers is higher than historically, and I can probably quantify that sometime with an apples-to-apples comparison of April and later ski days at Mammoth. Liz says she has never seen such consistent quality of spring skiing and I can probably research that too. Of course those spring days were not selected at random.

The 19 different areas in 2024-25 are the least in retirement and the 4 new ones bring my total to 290. Liz skied 47 days with 7 new areas, now totaling 233.

I had 34 days on Ikon, second only to 37 in the much longer 2018-19 season, so the average price of an Ikon day was an excellent value $34.

 

[EMSC]

I had a surprisingly low ski day count this year. Spring was a bit odd for me. More non-ski stuff going on than I had expected, Jr not in hardcore race mode/program, lots of days actually too cold to trust that things would soften up enough, etc... Lots of excuses I guess.

41 total days was all I managed. About ten less than I had hoped to get this season.

by Month:
Nov - 2
Dec - 8
Jan - 9
Feb - 6
Mar - 12
Apr - 4

By Resort:
Eldora--------20 - 49%
3 Valleys, FR--5 - 12%*
Copper ------4 - 10%
A-Basin------3 - 7%
Mustang-----3 - 7%
Silver Star----2 - 5%*
Val d'Isere, FR-2 - 5%*
Beaver Creek--1 - 2%
Vail------------1 - 2%

*New resort for me

I am up to 119 places skied (includes a couple backcountry earn your turns locations).

Solid conditions overall for the season despite some hard groomers early season and poor snow days early on my trip at 3 Valleys. Definitely less powder than prior season though. In Colorado it was very cyclic. The following cycle happened multiple times this year: Way too warm for a ~week followed by very cold and snowy for ~2 weeks, then repeat.

I also note some lift ticket only specs (ignoring Cat skiing): My overall cost per day was $50.91, but only $29.22 per day on Ikon days; my son at $43.61 per day overall, but only $28.05 per day on Ikon.

 

[jimk]

I got 61 ski days this season. First day was Jan 5, 2025 at Canaan Valley, WV in good man-made conditions. Last day was on May 18, 2025 at Snowbird in 5 inches of new, wet snow.
I lost the little paper calendar that had all the days and places marked on it. I'm still reorganizing from a cross-country drive, I'll revisit this thread if I find it. Most days were at Snowbird. However, I skied two places that were new to me: Lost Trail, MT and Schweitzer Mtn, ID. If I'm not mistaken, that brings my life time ski area count up to 100 per this thread.
I buy a Snowbird senior season pass and a base Ikon add-on. Got good value from the base Ikon pass, skiing seven days at Copper, one Winter Park, two Arapahoe Basin, five Schweitzer and a handful each at Solitude and Brighton.

 

[Tony Crocker]

life time ski area count up to 100

101, I count Whistler/Blackcomb as 2.

I am up to 119 places skied

122, who would say Trois Vallees is not 3 and Val d'Isere/Tignes 2? In the ski area count thread EMSC formerly reported 4 areas in France.

New areas since 2023 for Patrick, James and ChrisC?

 

[Tony Crocker]

the proportion of groomers is higher than historically, and I can probably quantify that sometime with an apples-to-apples comparison of April and later ski days at Mammoth.

I reviewed my retirement springs a couple of weeks ago. From 2011-2019 the average number of ungroomed steep runs skied at Mammoth per day of 6 was surprisingly consistent by season though day by day varied a lot by conditions. In 2023 it was still 5. Then only 1 in 2024 but upper mountain conditions were not great on most of those days.

In spring 2025 the average was 3, more due to the groomer corn lasting longer than the upper mountain being difficult. We were very successful picking the right spring days for Mammoth in 2025. Kirk AKA Mountain Monster hangs out après ski every day at Stump for a couple of months and said overall this spring was not that consistent for optimal conditions, quite a few windy/refrozen days which we avoided.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

122, who would say Trois Vallees is not 3 and Val d'Isere/Tignes 2? In the ski area count thread EMSC formerly reported 4 areas in France.

Can't believe I'm going down this rabbit hole again given that I use my lifetime ski-area list to help me remember where I've been over the years, not to see how high my total number is. Regardless, to avoid profligate padding:

• Portes du Soleil: I don't include all sectors (Avoriaz, Chatel, Les Gets, Morzine, Champéry, Champoussin, Les Crosets, Morgins, and Torgon); rather, I see the PdS as two due to the border:: the French side and the south-facing Swiss. I'd apply the same logic to Ischgl/Samnaun and Zermatt/Cervinia.
• 3 Vallees: Méribel, Courchevel, Val Thorens, Les Menuires, Orelle, Saint-Martin-de-Belleville, La Tania. I don't separate out any of those because the various sectors are close together and easy to move across physically and via lifts.

OTOH:

• Whistler/Blackcomb: never been there but I'd definitely separate them out because they're physically unconnected and were (decades ago) separate ski areas. Same deal with Arosa-Lenzerheide.
• Val d'Isere/Tignes: I separated them because they are huge, more or less separate ski areas. IIRC, you have to glide a significant distance to go from one to the other?

We can argue these points until the cows come home; just sayin' not to get hung up on your total number unless you're in direct competition with Arnie Wilson. The last I checked, he was in the mid-700s; however, I haven't reviewed his list to see how padded it is!

New areas since 2023 for Patrick, James and ChrisC?

• Melchsee-Frutt, CH
• Andermatt, CH
• Engelberg, CH
• Airolo, CH
• Val d'Isère, FR
• Bardonnechia, IT
• Serre Chevalier, FR
• Puy Saint Vincent, FR
• Vars, FR
• Ceillac, FR
• Arvieux, FR
• St. Véran, FR
• Les Contamines, FR
• Bonneval sur Arc, FR
• Val Cenis, FR
• 3 Vallées, FR

 

[ChrisC]

European resorts are difficult to quantify as ski areas, especially because a 'ski resort' is more defined as a town or development, rather than an independent skiing area. Historical villages all want to be billed as a 'ski resort', so whatever lift system they might now have, included in a larger ski circus, becomes a sector or resort. You can disregard many of these as ski areas.



Any resort that is linked by a lateral lift could be two separate ski areas:

USA

• Whistler (village link as well)
• Sugarbush (but owned by one entity since the 1970s)
• Stowe (Spruce was unconnected for most of its existence)
• Magic (used to have long lateral trails to Timbeline)
• Crotched (long lateral trails connecting two areas)

Europe

• Arosa-Lenzerheide
• Obergurgl - Hochgurgl
• All of the Stella Ronda Mountains
• Brevent-Flegere
• Les Arcs-La Plagne
• Andermatt/Sedrun-Disentis

 

[EMSC]

Can't believe I'm going down this rabbit hole again

In this case the answer is non-obvious with lots of grey soup.

My take is that if I actively ski them as separate or did so prior to a merger they get counted as separate. But if I ski them actively using linkages in the same day and etc.. I count them as one.

Examples:

• I never skied any of my 3 Valleys days without starting and ending in the same spot each and every day. How do I justify calling them separate when I skied all of it as though it was one (super giant) place? Do I call the old Arrowhead part of Beaver Creek as a separate resort too just because it leads to a different base village with long flat connector trails between (and that they started as separate ski resorts)?
• Canyons and Park City - I skied both of those back when they were separate so two items in my list. Do they still count as two for someone who shows up next season and starts/ends from the same spot each day but skis all over the whole resort? Heck with Canyons itself there are lifts like Short Cut, Over and Out, Timberline. They all are essentially sideways or connector lifts within just the old Canyons footprint with no ski terrain. Does that make Canyons by itself count as 3 different resorts?

I'm not trying to be rude, but realistically there is a lot more grey in making such choices and no real definitive answer that everyone is going to like. BTW I've skied both sides of WB in the same day and have it in my lists as only one place since I got there only after all that was in place... Etc... Interestingly by my personal rule if I had skied them as separate resorts before the merger and interconnection I would have them separate. See how easy it is, lol?

 

[jamesdeluxe]

realistically there is a lot more grey in making such choices and no real definitive answer that everyone is going to like.

That's a good summary. Even if it becomes a "keeping score" situation with everyone playing by separate rules, there's no cash prize so as long as you don't take someone's eye out, carry on!

 

[Tony Crocker]

since 2023

Bad wording on my part, I meant after 2023. James's list above includes the areas between Bardonecchia and Contamines during 2023, so that's 8 in 2024 and 2025, but really 11 with Trois Vallees and Val d'Isere/Tignes split out.

In this case the answer is non-obvious with lots of grey soup.

There are very grey areas (notably Dolomites) where it's super subjective. That's why I have stated reasoning for some of the splits.

I never skied any of my 3 Valleys days without starting and ending in the same spot each and every day. How do I justify calling them separate when I skied all of it as though it was one (super giant) place?

The subjective part is the huge scale. What's not subjective is that you can buy a cheaper lift ticket for a specific sector, which James, Liz and I did at Courchevel in 2024. If there are separate lift tickets, there are by definition specific boundaries defining the separate areas. This applies to Portes-du-Soleil as well. There are big banners at the Avoriaz/Chatel boundary warning people they need a combined ticket to cross. Nobody counts Alta/Snowbird as one area even though you can buy a combined ticket and that full Ikon days are defined as a combined ticket.

I skied both of those back when they were separate so two items in my list. Do they still count as two for someone who shows up next season and starts/ends from the same spot each day but skis all over the whole resort?

Yes. It's also a lateral lift connection (no ski connection) like the examples ChrisC mentioned between two large scale areas.

Do I call the old Arrowhead part of Beaver Creek as a separate resort too just because it leads to a different base village with long flat connector trails between (and that they started as separate ski resorts)?

I say no to that one due to the trivial size of Arrowhead relative to Beaver Creek, and how many people ever skied it when it was separate? Those people could claim it separate but not worth splitting after the merger IMHO.

Arnie Wilson. The last I checked, he was in the mid-700s

He must be slowing down. He was at 746 when Liz and I met him in Iceland in 2015.

Huge scale is a subjective reason to consider a split. But lateral lift connections and separate lift tickets are more objective criteria that should generate more consensus.