Boyne Resorts' 2025-26 Plans: Upgrades or Marketing Spin?

Boyne's Latest Upgrades: Substance or Spin?

Boyne Resorts has unveiled its planned improvements for the 2025-26 ski season across its North American portfolio. While the company touts these as major enhancements, a closer look reveals a mix of necessary maintenance, catch-up improvements, and a few genuinely innovative additions. The announcements follow industry trends of focusing on lift upgrades, snowmaking investments, and creating Instagram-worthy attractions.

At Big Sky, the new Explorer Gondola addresses a long-standing bottleneck but comes years after competitors installed similar lifts. The viewing platform atop Lone Peak feels more like a bid for social media exposure than a core skiing improvement. Meanwhile, Sunday River and Sugarloaf are primarily focusing on snowmaking upgrades - essential in the Northeast, but hardly groundbreaking.

Some of Boyne's smaller resorts are seeing more interesting developments. Alpental's replacement of the historic Chair 2 with a faster triple lift is a sensible modernisation, though purists may lament the loss of a classic. Loon Mountain's new magic carpet for beginners is a practical addition often overlooked at major resorts.

Cypress Mountain's expanded tubing park and Brighton's Christmas-themed lodge cater to the growing non-ski revenue streams many resorts are chasing. While these may boost profits, core skiers and riders might question whether such attractions enhance or detract from the on-snow experience.

Boyne's announcements reflect the broader ski industry's challenges - balancing necessary infrastructure upgrades with flashy attractions to drive social media buzz and appeal to casual visitors. While some improvements, like enhanced snowmaking, will benefit all guests, others seem designed more for marketing than meaningful enhancement of the ski experience.

As ski corporations like Boyne continue rapid expansion and consolidation, skiers and riders should view such announcements with a critical eye. Are these upgrades truly improving the core product, or are they just keeping pace with competitors in an arms race of amenities? For the 2025-26 season, Boyne's changes appear to be a mixed bag of practical improvements and marketing-driven additions.