Ski resorts are expanding summer activities; here are 7 that are year-round destinations

After the snow melts, hiking, biking, horseback riding, zip lining, concerts and outdoor summer fun await at ski resorts in the summer season. Many U.S. ski resorts are investing in warm-weather programs and activities to make them year-round destinations.

“Although summer recreation at ski resorts isn’t necessarily a new trend, all ski resorts are seeing a boom in summer visitation and are focused on creating new activities in the summertime,” says Dan Sherman, Chief Marketing Officer of ski.com. “Most ski resorts have recognized the trend and are aiming to attract even more travelers in a variety of ways, including festivals; mountain biking; and on-mountain activities like ropes courses, zip lines, outdoor climbing walls and alpine coasters.”

Developments like Snowmass, Colorado’s new on-mountain activity center; new electric bike tours at Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain; and Jackson Hole’s Via Ferrata — an alpine climbing adventure through suspended bridges and along granite walls unveiled two years ago — are just a few of the initiatives that have enhanced summer recreation at resorts that are primarily thought of as winter destinations.

Here are seven ski destinations to consider visiting this season:

Big Sky

Location: Big Sky, Montana

Big Sky Resort is home to summer recreation like hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding trails and fly-fishing on the Gallatin River. Big Sky is located between Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Local resort taxes have increased 218% from July 2009 to July 2018 due to increased summer tourism, according to the Big Sky Resort Area District Tax Board.

With summer becoming more popular at the ski destination, two large music festivals have started in the past year: the Moonlight Music Festand the Peak to Sky festival.