We believe every skier deserves to experience the mountain the way locals do.
Our founder spent a week at Vail following the trail map, skiing the same groomed runs as every other tourist, eating at the same overpriced slope-side restaurants. On the last day, he ran into a local who spent an afternoon showing him a completely different mountain — secret bowls, hidden trees, the best tacos in Vail hidden down a back street.
The gap between "tourist experience" and "local experience" was enormous. And it shouldn't be. SkiBuddy exists to close that gap.
We started with 5 buddies at 3 resorts in our first season. Today we have 90+ verified local experts across 20 of North America's top ski resorts, and thousands of guests who've seen their resort through new eyes.
"To make the local mountain experience accessible to every visitor — not just those lucky enough to know someone who lives there."
Our buddies are real locals — not hired staff, not corporate employees. People who genuinely love their mountains.
Every buddy is verified, reviewed, and held to high standards. We remove anyone who doesn't deliver exceptional experiences.
SkiBuddy supports mountain communities by ensuring local expertise has economic value in the tourism ecosystem.