When Ski Plans Fall Apart: How Refund Guarantee Helps Resorts and Guests Navigate the Unexpected
This has been a tough season in the West.
Colorado's snowpack hit a record low at 57% of average. Utah came in at 62% — nearly the worst since tracking began in 1980. It's the kind of season that will keep the conversation going across the industry — from resort teams to the NSAA National Convention.
Bad snow years are bad for everyone — skiers and resorts alike. Guests cancel trips, delay plans, or simply never book. And resorts feel it across the board: fewer lift ticket sales, lower ancillary revenue, empty rental shops.
But unpredictability on the mountain extends well beyond the forecast.
Plans fall apart for all kinds of reasons
A couple books full day of ski school for their young child. The plan is simple: get the kid settled, then head out for adult time on the mountain.
They arrive, get checked in, and walk over to the lesson area.
And then it happens.
The child refuses to join the group. Tears, clinging, total meltdown. The instructor is kind, the parents try to encourage it—but it’s not happening.
After a thirty minutes, they make the call. One parent stays back, and the day starts to unravel. Before long, they head home.
No weather issue. No travel disruption. Just a plan that didn’t go the way they expected.
Even when intent is high — trips booked, tickets purchased, schedules set — things fall apart. A kid gets sick. A flight gets delayed. Plans shift. What felt certain a week ago suddenly isn’t.
That uncertainty doesn’t just affect the day of the experience — it shapes how people book in the first place.
In a 2023 Spot study of over 700 skiers and riders, 58% said they worry about needing to change their plans, and 63% said they delay booking until everything feels fully locked in.
That hesitation has real consequences: later bookings, lower conversion, and higher drop-off.
63% of skiers and riders delay booking until plans feel certain.
Why this matters for resorts
When guests hesitate, resorts lose — not just on the cancellation itself, but on the booking that never happened in the first place.
Refund Guarantee changes that dynamic. When guests know they can cancel for any reason and get a fast, hassle-free refund, they book earlier and with more confidence. For resorts, the upside is clear:
- Booking revenue stays with the resort, even on cancellations
- Protection sales generate incremental revenue
- Cancelled inventory returns in real-time, ready to resell
- Earlier bookings improve forecasting and planning
We've broken down the full revenue math in a previous post — read it here.
Where it applies across the mountain
The uncertainty that delays bookings shows up differently across ski products, but it's present everywhere:
Lift tickets require committing to a specific day, and that decision is often influenced by a mix of factors. Guests are watching conditions, coordinating schedules, and trying to predict how the day will go.
Sometimes they wait. Sometimes they book late. Sometimes they don’t book at all.
When guests can protect their purchase, they’re more comfortable committing earlier, even when not everything is certain.
Ski school carries the highest uncertainty, especially for families. As the example above shows, even well-planned lessons can fall apart in the moment. A refundable booking removes the risk of losing that investment when things don’t go as expected.
Rentals are tied to the rest of the trip. When one part of the plan falls apart — a cancelled flight, a sick family member — rentals go with it. Protection keeps that revenue in play.
How resorts are responding
As resorts look for ways to address this uncertainty, many are rethinking how they approach flexibility at the point of purchase.
Spot’s Refund Guarantee is designed to fit directly into that shift, and it’s already being adopted across the ski industry.
Refund Guarantee is now available through Aspenware, the leading provider of ecommerce solutions for mountain resorts. This integration makes it simple for resorts to offer protection directly at checkout across lift tickets, lessons, and rentals.
Ikon Pass recently expanded its partnership with Spot to launch a refundable option for 2026–27 Ikon Pass and Ikon Base Pass purchases. This gives passholders the flexibility to cancel for any reason and potentially qualify for up to a full refund.
Snow years come and go. But the reasons guests hesitate to book — weather, health, kids, travel disruptions — are always there. Refund Guarantee doesn't just help when conditions are bad. It helps resorts capture revenue that uncertainty would otherwise leave on the table, season after season.