It basically falls into the same category as golf. The amount of land that needs to be set aside for a sport that costs thousands of dollars is unacceptable.
The land set aside is pretty small and in the side of a mountain at relatively high altitudes.
Expensive ski places suck but cheap ones exist. Kinda depends on where you live. $100-$200 season passes are still a thing many places and are (at least) a lower middle class kind of thing, like driving a slightly nicer Toyota.