A brief history of federal lift ticket regulation

In the 1970s, the US Forest Service actively regulated lift ticket prices at ski resorts operating on public land, even rejecting Aspen Skiing Company's proposed 20% price increase and limiting it to 10%. Today, despite retaining this regulatory authority, the Forest Service no longer enforces price controls, allowing ski resort operators—now dominated by Vail Resorts—to charge dramatically higher prices, with lift tickets increasing over 400% when adjusted for inflation since 1975.