Ski Pass Sales Up as Tourism Officials Forecast Strong Winter Spending
Despite economic uncertainty and a drop in Canadian travel, tourism bureau directors are optimistic about the winter season as northwest Montana ski areas remain an affordable attraction
By Maggie Dresser
After a productive summer of trail maintenance on Big Mountain along with upgrades that include new grooming equipment and an additional cell tower, Whitefish Mountain Resort (WMR) crews are busy preparing for opening day on Dec. 4 as tourism officials predict a strong winter season.
Season pass sales were up 6.8% by the early bird deadline of Sept. 30, with roughly 15,000 sold. WMR spokesperson Chad Sokol said lodging bookings are looking strong so far this season – even as economic uncertainty lingers – with comparatively low ticket prices remaining an attraction.
“I think our position as a great value ski resort plays to our advantage,” Sokol said. “Folks are keeping an eye on their wallets a little more closely and there are not a lot of similarly sized independent ski resorts where you can buy a ticket for $100 per day.”
One-day lift tickets at WMR cost $115 while discounts are available for advanced booking and multiday tickets. By comparison, Big Sky Resort lift tickets in southwest Montana range in price throughout the season, costing nearly $300 during peak visitation like the Christmas holiday and President’s Day.
The snowpack is also a driver of winter tourism, Sokol said, with many skiers and snowboarders waiting for powder forecasts before committing to travel plans.
According to the National Weather Service, La Niña is expected to persist from December 2025 through February 2026, bringing cold and snowy conditions. From December through February, Montana ranks No. 1 as the most likely state to have “wetter-than-average” conditions.
Aside from the snow forecast, tourism officials expect a strong winter season in the Flathead Valley, even as nationwide surveys suggest domestic travel could decrease.
According to an American Travel Sentiment Survey conducted by Longwoods International in October, 41% of travelers plan to reduce their frequency of travel this holiday season compared to last year while 55% of survey respondents plan to travel by car. Factors like personal finance and inflation were the main drivers prompting the scaled-back travel plans.
While 70% of respondents plan to visit friends and relatives over the holidays, 11% plan to participate in winter sports, which was unchanged from last year.
At Explore Whitefish, Executive Director Zak Anderson said he is seeing “positive signs” for winter bookings, with hotels reporting a year-over-year growth in November while December is flat.
But Anderson said tourism forecasting is becoming increasingly difficult as booking windows tighten and travelers don’t plan their vacations as long in advance.
“Now is the time when we can start to see what might play out, but the booking window over the last 10 years continues to shrink,” Anderson said. “Industry-wide, that window is the time where someone is booking their travel and when they travel.”
Discover Kalispell Executive Director Diane Medler, too, said booking windows have narrowed in recent years except for holiday trips, which are notoriously busy at ski resorts.
While Whitefish sees a high volume of tourism traffic in the winter months, Medler has been working with Kalispell hotels to offer package deals that include lift tickets to Blacktail Mountain. The affordable 1,000-acre ski hill in Lakeside in 2021 was purchased by Washington-based Mission Ridge Resort and is included on the Indy Pass along with other Montana ski areas like Red Lodge Mountain and Lost Trail Powder Mountain.
“We’re a great location in the winter – the two ski areas are both affordable compared to national ski area pricing,” Medler said.
Tourism bureau experts say that while bookings in northwest Montana remain relatively flat compared to last year, Canadian spending is down 25% year-over-year in response to economic uncertainty, tense border relations and a weak currency.
Border crossings at Roosville in Eureka this spring dropped by roughly 25% while late summer through early fall hovered around a 15% decrease, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.
Nationwide, Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. via automobile saw a 30% decline in October, marking the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
The drop in cross-border tourism prompted Discover Kalispell to launch the Canadian Welcome Pass, an initiative designed to welcome northern neighbors back to the Flathead Valley.
Canadians can download a pass to redeem discounts at participating businesses that include Glacier Art Museum, Norm’s Soda Fountain, Princess & Buck, Western Outdoor, Waters Edge Wintery & Bistro and hotels across Kalispell.
Since the pass launched in early November, the tourism bureau has seen a steady increase in downloads.
“It’s a community-driven effort to reconnect with our Canadian visitors – they have long been an important part of Kalispell and the Flathead Valley, and they have historically traveled here during all times of year,” Medler said. “This pass is a gesture of friendship and appreciation.”
