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France Beats USA to Most Popular Ski Destination

Oct 5

1 min read

France returns to the No.1 spot as the most popular ski destination for the first time since 2024/15

In figures released released by Domain Skiable Francais (DSF), the industry body representing French ski resorts, skier days to French resorts grew by 2.4 %.

France recorded 56.1 million skier days in 2025/26, ahead of Austria (53.7 million) and the USA (52.6 million) — retaking the top spot for the first time since 2014/15.

France was up 2.4% on the previous season and 6% up over the past four years, making 2025/26 the third-best season ever recorded by French ski resorts.

DSF brings together 380 members, including 230 active members (ski lift or ski area operators) and around 150 associate members (suppliers, manufacturers, training centres, project managers, etc.). Ski areas are the main source of appeal for mountain resorts, which see 10m tourists each winter – 7m take part in snowsports.

This comes off the back of one of the most challenging winters in North American skiing history, with some regions recording their lowest ever snowfall totals. Uncertainty continues into this winter with a "Super" El Nino forecast; Vail Resorts, one of the big two multi-area resort operators, notes that Epic Pass sales are down 12% on last year.

CEO Rob Katz commented that last winter was “one of the most challenging winters in history across the western US.”