Overall, 31.96 million Americans participated in snowsports (including XC and alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, sledding, and other winter activities) in 2025-26, up 3 percent year over year and the highest total in six seasons. Participation reached 10.3 percent of the U.S. population age 6 and older, compared to 10 percent in 2024-25.
Snowboarding drives growth. Snowboarding grew 9 percent to 10.6 million participants, up from 9.7 million last season and 7.1 million in 2017-18. It attracted 4.2 million new and returning riders, exceeding the 3.3 million who lapsed.
Snowboarding continues to attract younger and more diverse participants. Despite having 20 percent fewer participants overall than alpine skiing, snowboarding had nearly as many participants younger than 25 (5.3 million versus 5.5 million). Hispanic snowboard participation rose for the third consecutive season to 2.2 million.
Alpine skiing participation, meanwhile, remained flat at approximately 13.2 million, below its 2018-19 peak of 14.9 million. The 6 million new and returning skiers were offset by an equal number who lapsed. The number of new skiers has also been declining.
More participants, fewer days. Despite growth in overall participation, self-reported alpine skiing days declined 6 percent and snowboarding days fell 3 percent year over year, driven primarily by decreases in the Mountain region.
Those frequency findings align directionally with the National Ski Areas Association’s Kottke End of Season and Guest Experience Study data, which showed U.S. skier visits declined 14 percent to 52.6 million in 2025-26, largely due to poor snow conditions across the West.
