Ski Visits Are Strong. Leadership Risk Is Still Real.
Enzo Lee, Profile Search International
Strong skier visits are encouraging. They are not the same thing as leadership stability.
Public reporting of preliminary National Ski Areas Association data described the 2024–25 U.S. ski season as the second-highest skier-visit total since NSAA began tracking the metric, with 61.5 million skier visits and a 1.7% year-over-year increase.
For boards and owners, that headline matters. It shows demand, resilience, and continued relevance for the mountain experience.
But high visitation can also mask leadership risk.
A ski resort is not a single operating business. It is a seasonal machine made up of lift operations, snowmaking, grooming, patrol, food and beverage, guest services, finance, marketing, risk, real estate or lodging in some cases, local politics, employee housing realities, and community expectations. When visits are strong, the organization may look healthy from the outside while internal leadership strain is building.
The numbers do not answer the leadership questions
The most important resort leadership questions often sit below the demand data:
Is the leadership team aligned before the season starts?
Are department heads developing, or merely surviving?
Is the board clear on what kind of GM or president the mountain actually needs next?
Is guest growth outpacing infrastructure, staffing, or culture?
Is the resort’s community trust keeping up with commercial demand?
A strong season can create a false sense of time. Boards may wait because nothing looks broken. Owners may postpone succession planning because the numbers look fine. Search work may begin only after a leader leaves, a department head burns out, or a strategic transition becomes urgent.
That is usually too late.
The best resort leadership searches begin before urgency takes over
The strongest ski leadership searches begin before the seat is empty and before the board is forced into a rushed compromise. Resort leadership roles are too visible for reactive hiring. The candidate must understand the mountain, the community, the operating calendar, and the credibility requirements of the role.
The issue is not just whether someone can run a complex business. It is whether they can run this kind of complex business: one where weather, labor, capital, safety, guest experience, and community identity all meet in public.
Winter participation data points in the same direction: the market is resilient, but it is also changing. Public SIA reporting for 2024–25 described overall U.S. snowsports participation as up 2.4%, with alpine skiing still the largest segment while cross-country skiing and snowshoeing posted stronger growth rates.
That mix matters for leadership. Resorts are operating in a market where core guests, occasional participants, pass products, family affordability, weather volatility, access expectations, and community pressure all sit together. The leader who can hold that complexity is not always the obvious résumé match.
What boards should pressure-test now
Before the next transition becomes public, boards should be able to answer four practical questions:
What must the next leader protect?
What must the next leader change?
Which candidate backgrounds are credible for this mountain and community?
If the current leader left after this season, who would we approach discreetly — and why?
Ski demand is a positive signal. It should prompt sharper leadership planning, not complacency.
For boards, the practical question is simple: if the current leader left after this season, would we know what profile we need, who the credible candidates are, and how to approach them discreetly?
If the answer is no, the leadership risk already exists.
Sources
SAM Magazine report citing preliminary NSAA 2024–25 skier-visit data.
Outdoor Sportswire / SIA 2024–25 winter sports participation reporting.
Profile Search International helps outdoor, ski, recreation, and mountain-market organizations calibrate senior leadership decisions where fit, timing, discretion, and community credibility matter.