In a phone interview on Tuesday, Paul Pinchbeck, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Ski Council, said early season pass purchases at ski areas are up 20 per cent.
The Canadian Ski Council said 350,000 more skiers and snowboarders hit the hills last season. Total domestic ski hill visits were 18.6 million, which marked roughly a 13 per cent rise from the previous year and the largest year-over-year increase in over 20 years. “I have to caution, while we have seen an influx of new Canadians coming into the sport, a lot of the revenue still isn’t there yet. Most restaurants, snow schools and rentals were severely restricted until about March 2021.”
Expectations are high but inflation is high too. It will be interesting to see what role the inflation will play on this season.