Vail Resorts will cap ticket sales every day across all 37 of its North American resorts this ski season.
The policy won't impact passholders, including holders of the various iterations of Vail's Epic Pass, but if individual lift tickets are sold out online, Vail will not make them available for walk-up customers.
The move is a step-up from last season, when Vail Resorts limited sales of lift ticket during the weeks around the Martin Luther King Jr. and Presidents Day holidays, as well as during the week following Christmas.
"As we see visitation spreading out across the season -- away from just peak days -- this decision was made to help manage the experience every day of the season," Vail spokeswoman Marjory Elwell said.
She explained that the company does not expect lift tickets to sell out every day this season, but Vail nevertheless is strongly encouraging people to secure mountain access in advance, either through a lift ticket, a season pass or an Epic Day Pass.
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Vail plans to launch its 2022-23 ski season at Keystone Resort in Colorado in mid-October, then gradually open other resorts beginning Nov. 11 with Breckenridge in Colorado and Mount Snow in Vermont.
The company endured criticism last year about labor practices as staffing shortages forced Vail to keep sections of terrain at some resorts closed when snow conditions would have allowed them to be open. For this year, Vail Resorts will increase its minimum wage to $20 per hour and raise average hourly wages by 30%.
Vail is also upgrading 18 lifts ahead of the coming season.