Soaring ski pass prices are making Europe’s slopes unaffordable for many holidaymakers

Many of Europe’s top skiing destinations are becoming increasingly unaffordable as pass prices soar.

In Italy, the cost hike for this season has been so high that a consumer watchdog has deemed it “completely unjustified”.

The report by Assoutenti found that pass prices for slopes from the Dolomites to the Apennines are set to jump 40 per cent compared to 2021.

A study from earlier this year found that overall, the cost of skiing in Europe has risen by 34.8 per cent above inflation since 2015, with Swiss, Austrian, and Italian resorts most responsible.

Italy’s ski pass price rise is ‘unacceptable’

This season, the Dolomiti Superski pass, which grants access to all 12 resorts in the exclusive Dolomites area, will cost skiers €86 a day.

In Roccaraso, a resort in Abruzzo’s Apennines that made headlines last season for intense overcrowding, the cost of a daily pass is set to rise to €60.

Seasonal ski passes are expected to range from €755 per adult in Roccaraso to as much as €1,800 in the Aosta Valley.

Coupled with these hikes are rising costs of hiring ski equipment, as well as hotel and restaurant prices.

Resort operators blame soaring energy bills and maintenance fees for the increase.

But Gabriele Melluso, president of Assoutenti, said the prices this season were “completely unjustified and unacceptable […] both because inflation in Italy is under control and energy tariffs, which had increased costs for ski resort operators in 2022, have returned to normal.”

He added that the increases were pricing out less wealthy holidaymakers, turning skiing into an activity only for the affluent.

Skiers are paying double for the same slope compared to 18 years ago

A report from storage company Radical Storage last year found that the average day pass for Europe’s ski resorts costs €66.46 in 2023 - 24.7 per cent more expensive than before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019.

Since 2005, the average cost of a day pass at 100 of Europe’s top resorts has increased by 92.6 per cent, meaning that skiers find themselves paying almost double the price for the same slope than they did 18 years ago.

Bulgaria saw the most dramatic increase, rising by an average of 34.8 per cent since 2015. Meanwhile, similar increases were felt across Austria's (34.3 per cent) and Italy’s (33.1 per cent) ski slopes.

Since Covid-19 halted travel in 2019, Italy’s Paganella resort has become 51.1 per cent more expensive.

Two other Italian resorts have seen the largest spikes, which can be attributed partly to high energy costs in 2023, as resorts across the region continue to recover financially.

Switzerland’s Zermatt resort was Europe’s priciest resort for skiers last year, with a day pass costing an average of €108.

Serbia’s Kopaonik resort was the cheapest, costing just €37 per day to ski there.

In the Alps, France’s Espace Diamant was the most affordable resort in the region, a favourite for visitors of Annecy.

Located just a few miles from Mont Blanc and within a 90-minute drive of Geneva, a peak season day pass is just €47.50 - less than half the cost of resorts across the Swiss border.