Christmas Lift Tickets Are Surging To More Than $300 In Colorado

Christmas break is no doubt one of the most popular and busiest times of year for ski areas.

As a result, many ski resorts inflate lift ticket prices during the peak season and limit lower-tiered pass options to quell lift lines and general skier traffic.

This Holiday season, daily lift ticket prices at more than a few Colorado ski areas are reaching an all-time high. For the week following Christmas and into New Year's, at least five Colorado ski resorts will charge more than $300 for lift tickets.

From Friday, December 26, 2025, until New Year's Day, Breckenridge Ski Resort will charge $321 for an adult lift ticket, Steamboat Resort will charge $339, and Telluride will charge $328 per day. Vail and Beaver Creek are tied for the highest-priced daily lift ticket cost this holiday season at $356 per ticket.

2025 also marks the third year in a row that Vail and Beaver Creek, which are owned by Vail Resorts, hold this record, with tickets costing $329 in 2024 and $299 in 2023.

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Other Colorado ski resorts have managed to keep their peak season costs below $300, but not by much.

For the same period between the Friday after Christmas and New Year’s Day, same-day adult lift tickets will run $292 at Keystone Resort, $287 at Winter Park Resort, $279 at Aspen Snowmass, $274 at Copper Mountain, and $239 at Crested Butte. Arapahoe Basin and Eldora will charge $199 for daily lift tickets, and Loveland’s prices peak at $149 for the holidays.

While these prices are high, they are only indicative of daily lift tickets purchased on the day of the visit during this peak part of the season. Tickets purchased in advance are discounted, and skiing during non-peak times usually costs a bit less.

However, what these inflated ticket prices often don’t take into account is slope conditions. Several Colorado resorts were able to open earlier than many other places in the Western US this season, but have since received lackluster snowfall.

For instance, Steamboat Resort, which is among those charging more than $300 for lift tickets, only has 7% of its terrain open currently, and not much snow is in the forecast. Similarly, Vail has 18% of terrain open and Beaver Creek has 10% open. Telluride, which only has 5% of their terrain open, is also facing the possibility of a strike from their unionized ski patrollers who are currently working without a contract.

There’s no doubt low-snow years are stressful for resort management and mountain ops, not to mention those planning to spend the cash on a Christmas ski trip only to be met with limited terrain. Purchasing lift tickets or season passes, such as the Epic or Ikon pass, in advance can help mitigate some of the cost of daily lift tickets or act as a contingency when conditions are lackluster.

Related: 7 Up-and-Coming Ski Resorts To Check Out This Season