SAM Magazine—Marco Island, Fla., May 16, 2025—The heavy rain that was forecast for most of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) National Convention and Trade Show wound up missing Marco Island, where a total of 919 ski area operators and industry suppliers—up more than 200 people compared to the 2024 event in Texas—gathered for four days of meetings, education, and networking, May 11-14.Industry operators and suppliers enjoy the opening night reception on the beach in Marco Island, Fla.

The more-sun-than-rain theme translated to the news shared indoors. NSAA president and CEO Michael Reitzell, presiding over his first National Convention since he was appointed to the role in September, reported during Monday morning’s general session that the United States ski industry enjoyed its second-best season on record for skier visits, tallying a preliminary total of 61.5 million in 2024-25.

Reitzell introduced himself to the crowd as a leader who believes in safety, collaboration, and progress. He also discussed events, the importance of adopting technology, and supporting small ski areas.

Perfect North Slopes, Ind., owner Chip Perfect was presented with the NSAA Lifetime Achievement Award during Monday’s general session.

Education sessions followed a variety of tracks including risk and safety, artificial intelligence, HR, growth, marketing, and risk and regulatory affairs, among others. AI was a fairly ubiquitous topic, discussed in several different sessions, and the AI-specific sessions were all well-attended, signaling a continued interest from ski areas in using it as a marketing and operations tool.

The regulatory environment was another topic of high interest. Monday’s session about the Trump administration’s first 100 days was held in a large ballroom to accommodate the bigger crowd. Tuesday morning’s general session featured a keynote discussion with Benji Backer, founder and CEO of Nature is Nonpartisan and executive chairman of the American Conservation Coalition. Backer and moderator Tony Cammarata from Arapahoe Basin discussed polarizing environmental issues and answered questions from attendees.

Also during Tuesday’s general session, SE Group’s Chris Cushing was honored with the NSAA Industry Impact Award.

The scuttlebutt around the halls, beach, and trade show focused on a handful of topics, including current and future challenges created by the Trump administration’s trade, staffing, immigration, and environmental policies, with many suppliers voicing their concerns about tariff impacts; the landscape of frequency-card products; the importance of small ski areas; and whether zinc-based or chemical sunscreen is better.

Also on attendees’ minds was the continuing decline of lessons given at U.S. ski areas. According to preliminary data shared by NSAA, lesson-visits dropped roughly 10 percent year-over-year, following a 13 percent decline in 2023-24, signaling a concerning trend. Reitzell addressed this during his opening remarks and made it clear that NSAA and its Growth Committee plan to prioritize the issue.

In other news, outgoing NSAA regional board members included former Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (Wyo.) COO Mary Kate Buckley, former Mission Ridge (Wash.) general manager Josh Jorgensen, and Alterra’s Mark Brownlie. Deer Valley’s (Utah) Todd Bennett, Stevens Pass’s (Wash.) Ellen Galbraith, and Purgatory’s (Colo.) Dave Rathbun were elected to the vacant seats. Windham Mountain Club (N.Y.) chairman Chip Seamans was reelected as chair of the executive committee, Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher as vice chair, and Schmitz Brothers CEO Rick Schmitz as secretary.

The 2026 NSAA National Convention and Trade Show will be held at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif., May 4-7, 2026.