What's happened
Scotland’s ski season has defied expectations, with 2025/26 marking the best skier-days tally since 2017/18, at 139,445 across five resorts. Snowfall and weather variability complicate the picture, but the skier-days metric shows more people choosing Scotland’s hills despite conditions.
What's behind the headline?
Analysis
- The Scotsman piece highlights how total snowfall is an unreliable measure for Scotland due to frequent wind and freeze-thaw cycles. It emphasizes the skier-days metric as a better indicator of resort activity.
- The reporting aligns with industry signs of recovery, providing concrete data (139,445 skier days) and historical peaks (254,958 in 2017/18).
- The tone remains informative rather than celebratory, noting the volatility of Scottish weather and the broader implications for the industry.
- Readers should take away that activity depends more on access and conditions than raw snow totals, with skier-days serving as a practical proxy for demand.
How we got here
The article situates Scotland’s ski season within long-term weather variability and the skier-days metric used by Ski-Scotland. It contrasts recent poor winters with the 2025/26 rebound and places it in the context of historical performance across Cairngorm, Glencoe, Glenshee, Nevis Range and The Lecht.
Our analysis
- The Scotsman: Roger Cox explains why skier days are a better metric than snowfall totals and documents the rebound to 139,445 skier days in 2025/26. - Independent Business notes the broader western U.S. ski industry faced a weather-driven downturn, underlining how climate factors affect demand. - Bloomberg coverage on Colder regions contrasts with snow-blanketed resorts and emphasizes that poor slopeside conditions have shifted consumer behavior toward amenities and experience-driven spending.
Go deeper
- Will this season’s skier-day rebound persist into the next winter?
- How might weather volatility affect resort investments in Scotland?