For decades, America’s ski resorts have marketed themselves as idyllic getaways for the affluent and well-known. However, beneath the facade of luxury goggles and après-ski fashion, a troubling narrative is beginning to unfold.

From the slopes of Aspen to the trails of Vail, and from the peaks of Park City to the valleys of Jackson Hole, the exclusive realm of U.S. skiing and snowboarding is being shaken by reports of wild, drug-fueled parties, unruly conduct, and alarming allegations of harassment and sexual assault targeting young women.

Veteran skiers express concern that the sport they once cherished is becoming unrecognizable. Insiders caution that these issues are deeply entrenched within the community.

On paper, the U.S. ski and snowboard industry appears to be thriving. The 2024-2025 season recorded approximately 61.5 million skier visits, marking the second-highest turnout in history, even as snowfall levels fell below the decade-long average.

Industry revenues soared to an estimated $4.2 billion by 2025, fueled by rising pass prices, market consolidation, and the demand for luxury experiences.

Industry revenue hit an estimated $4.2billion by 2025, driven by soaring pass prices, consolidation and luxury experiences.

Yet beneath the surface, critics say the industry is in moral and cultural decline.

‘The culture around skiing has gotten worse,’ wrote one regular skier on Reddit. ‘Selfish skiing. S****y etiquette. Flying through slow zones. No apologies.’

America’s winter wonderlands have been overtaken by jet setters and wild drug-fuelled parties

Locals worry about growing incidents of assault and harassment at après-ski hot tub parties 

Another added bluntly: ‘This sport is very expensive so you have a large amount of overly entitled narcissistic people who think they own the mountain.’

Anyone who has stepped into Aspen’s infamous Cloud Nine bar knows the scene. Champagne sprays. Boots on tables. Music thumping at altitude.

The same energy pulses through The Red Lion in Vail and Jackson Hole’s Million Dollar Cowboy Bar – haunts frequented by celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Bieber and Mark Zuckerberg.

But insiders say the party culture has tipped into something uglier.

Law enforcement agencies have stepped up crackdowns on cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and fentanyl flowing into resort towns, fueling wild après-ski nights in bars, luxury lodges and private chalets.

In October 2024, traffic stops on Interstate 70 in Eagle County yielded 133 pounds of methamphetamine, along with cocaine and fentanyl, some believed to be headed for Vail and Beaver Creek.

Another 100 pounds of meth was seized in Vail in late 2025. In November, Colorado authorities announced the seizure of 1.7million fentanyl pills statewide.

Drug teams have also been active in Park City, Utah – another playground for Hollywood stars and Silicon Valley executives.

More troubling than hangovers are the allegations now surfacing from young women working or training in ski towns.

At Camelback Resort in Pennsylvania, a teenage female hostess has sued the resort, alleging she was sexually harassed by a male coworker – and that she and her younger brother were fired after she complained.

A judge has ruled the case can proceed. It is not clear whether the lawsuit has been settled.

Insiders say such cases remain rare – but are becoming more common as resort nightlife grows louder, looser and more aggressive.

The sport’s elite has not been spared.

In one of the most shocking cases, Jared Hedges, 48, a former coach for Team Summit Colorado, is facing felony sexual assault charges in New Mexico involving a young athlete during a team trip in March 2025.

Regulars say the sport is being ruined by such big money fans as Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan

Busts in Eagle County, Colorado, in October 2024, yielded 133 pounds of methamphetamine, along with cocaine and fentanyl

Peter Foley, the former head coach of the US Snowboard Team, was suspended for 10 years after multiple women accused him of sexual assault, harassment, and enabling a toxic culture

The Kardashians are among America’s biggest celebrity ski fans, pictured here at Vail resort 

The iconic Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson, Wyoming, is famed as an après-ski hangout

Paris Hilton skis at exclusive, luxurious resorts, notably the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana

According to court papers, Hedges allegedly chose to sleep in a sleeping bag next to the victim despite having his own room and touched the boy inappropriately after he fell asleep. Hedges was fired and has pleaded not guilty. He awaits trial.

Then there is Peter Foley, the former head coach of the US Snowboard Team. In August 2023, Foley was suspended for 10 years after multiple women accused him of sexual assault, harassment, and enabling a toxic culture.

Foley has consistently denied the allegations. US Ski & Snowboard fired him in 2022, and an arbitrator upheld his suspension in 2024.

The cases sent shockwaves through winter sports – and shattered the image of a clean, wholesome athletic culture.

Longtime skiers say the problems go beyond crime and misconduct. They point to a fundamental shift in who skiing is for.

Jackson Hogen, a veteran ski industry insider, wrote recently that America’s resorts have been overtaken by a ‘monied class that could care less about the quality of the experience for the average Joe.’

‘At the same time that skyrocketing costs are squeezing the middle class out of the sport, the gentrification of resort communities is driving those who serve them further and further down valley,’ Hogen wrote.

‘Ski towns feel less and less like organic communities and more like country clubs with a rotating membership.’

Lift tickets now routinely cost hundreds of dollars. Housing for workers is scarce. Season passes lock skiers into mega-corporate ecosystems.

Daniel Block, a Park City ski instructor, recently argued in The Atlantic that consolidation under giants like Vail Resorts and Alterra has hollowed out the sport.

‘America has only so many ski areas, and as long as they’re controlled by a couple of conglomerates, the whole experience will continue to go downhill,’ he wrote.

Crowding has become endemic. Long lift lines spark tempers. Slopes are packed with inexperienced skiers filming selfies as they bomb downhill.

Veterans complain of being knocked over. Patrols report more collisions. Courtesy is vanishing.

Avid skier and actress Paltrow famously found herself in court over her behavior on the slopes in 2016 – but jurors rejected the man who claimed she had skied into him and injured him at a Park City resort. 

Perhaps the most startling link between winter sports, drugs and crime centers on Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder now on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.

A buzzing atmosphere at the Snow Lodge Revolve Apre Ski, with music by Rampa, in Aspen, Colorado

A mugshot of alleged pedophile Jared Hedges taken after his arrest in Taos County, New Mexico, in March 2025

Police are on the hunt for former Olympic snowboarder for Ryan James Wedding, accusing him of running a massive drug smuggling ring

Private jets on the apron of Aspen airport in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, the fortunes that can be can be made in winter sports

Avid skier and actress Gwyneth Paltrow famously found herself in court over her behavior on the slopes in 2016

Wedding, 44, is accused of running a $1 billion-a-year transnational drug trafficking empire with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, shipping cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada and beyond.

Authorities say dozens of motorcycles linked to Wedding were seized in Mexico late last year, a haul worth some $40 million.

The FBI recently released a chilling photo allegedly showing Wedding lying in bed, shirtless, a lion tattoo sprawled across his chest, staring blankly at the camera. He is believed to be hiding in Mexico under cartel protection.

None of this means ski resorts are lawless wastelands. Millions still enjoy safe, joyful days on the slopes. Assault cases remain statistically rare. Most workers and guests play by the rules.

But the pattern is unsettling.

An industry built on freedom, nature and escape is increasingly defined by excess, entitlement and exclusion.

As climate change threatens snowfall, costs soar, and crowds grow angrier, the question lingers: can American skiing clean up its act before the image – and the experience – collapses?

For many who remember quieter lifts and kinder slopes, the answer feels uncertain. The mountains, they say, haven’t changed. The people have.