The World's Winter Sports Hotspots

With the Olympic Winter Games of Milano and Cortina just three weeks away and Sunday marking World Snow Day, it’s time to take a closer look at a pastime and industry that faces an uncertain future: winter sports. While tens of millions of skiers and snowboarders still head for the mountains during the colder months each year to follow their passion, it is increasingly difficult and costly for ski resorts to maintain adequate winter sports conditions in a way that is both economically and environmentally sustainable.

In recent years, rising temperatures have raised snowlines, made natural snowfall less dependable and ultimately shortened snow seasons, forcing many ski resorts to invest in snowmaking capabilities and subsequently raise prices during the months that still offer rideable conditions. Despite these challenges, winter sports enthusiasts are still hitting the mountains in droves, with the world’s largest skiing destinations seeing very high visitor numbers in recent years.

According to industry data published by DSF, the association of French ropeway and ski slope operators, a handful of nations dominate the ski tourism industry, with the United States, perhaps surprisingly to some, ahead of Europe’s alpine nations in terms of annual skier days. France and Austria with their world-renowned ski resorts are close behind, with Italy, Japan and Switzerland following at some distance. A relative newcomer on the list is China, which saw its winter sports industry grow in the aftermath of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

According to the National Ski Areas Association, the U.S. has recorded more than 60 million skier visits in each of the past four seasons – a milestone that was only passed twice before, in 2007/08 and 2010/11. "Several years ago, we set an ambitious goal of reaching a three-year rolling average of 60 million skier visits. We’ve now surpassed that benchmark for four consecutive seasons,” NSAA President and CEO Michael Reitzell said in a statement.