Cross Country Ski Areas Off to a Good Start

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SAM Magazine—Woodstock, Vt., Jan. 27, 2022—Season pass sales, demand for rental equipment, and lesson sales are all up at a majority of North American cross country ski areas as of Jan. 15, according to the results of a survey conducted in early-January by the Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) and Snow Sports Insights. CSAASurvey

The survey was conducted to get a reading at to how the season is going so far at cross country ski areas and clubs across the U.S. and Canada. There were 61 respondents.

Of the 53 percent of respondents that indicated season pass sales were up year-over-year, more than half were up by double digits. Twenty-nine percent said pass sales were even, and 18 percent are down compared to last year.

Rental equipment demand was up for 56 percent of the responding ski areas, and down at just 17 percent. The survey report concludes the high rental demand may be a side-effect of supply chain disruption: With customers potentially unable to find equipment they wanted to buy, some may have been forced to rent this season.

About 43 percent said that both retail and lesson sales were up, with 19 percent reporting sales in each category were down. “The ski areas with low retail sales also had low lesson sales, indicating that it isn’t a lack of interest driving declines, but lack of snow,” the report said.

The lack of snow in certain areas of the country, especially the Northeast, can be blamed for many of the declines. Overall, day-pass sales were down slightly, but 31 percent of respondents still reported an increase in day-pass sales.

A regional breakdown shows the West has experienced the most success in every metric—season pass, day pass, retail, lessons, rental—which can be attributed to better snow conditions as of mid-January. The Northeast has seen the biggest share of midweek skiers, almost even with weekenders, which is a positive byproduct of the work-from-home trend caused by the pandemic.

For the complete results, visit ccsaa.org.