3rd Driest Year For Western US Ski Resorts; Industry Responding W. More Snowmaking, More PR

[hatrack]

This winter was the third-warmest on record for U.S. ski resorts. Consider the data:

Tahoe’s Squaw Valley saw 367 inches, down from 669 the year before.
Colorado’s Crested Butte Mountain Resort saw 145 inches of snow, down
from 335.
Telluride saw 159 inches, down from 294.
Vail saw 171 inches of snow, down from 215.
New Mexico’s Taos Ski Valley saw 78 inches of snow, down from 192.
Ski Apache saw 27 inches of snow, down from 43.

A single down season isn’t rare, but this year should still be a harbinger. While precipitation has remained flat in recent years, the snowpack at ski resorts is shrinking. Temperatures are warming. The Climate Impact Lab, a research institution with scientists all over the country, released an analysis this year showing that if warming trends continue, resorts should expect to lose a month of the season within the next two decades.

Resorts are reacting as expected to the dismal ski season—and as they have in the past. They’re revamping snowmaking and grooming, building snow fences to harvest windblown snow, installing extracurricular activities to entertain guests when the snow isn’t cooperating, and growing summer amenities. They’re also expanding into different regions and selling season passes that have skiers shouldering some of the financial risk of a down season. Mostly, they’re hoping somehow next year is much better.

EDIT

What sales don’t change is the clear lack of snow on the hill. Analysts who spend time studying the long-term trend, like Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Co., say emergency tweaks such as greater snowmaking capacity and better grooming won’t solve the bigger problem. “I think the industry has fundamentally acted as if they were defending their image versus defending the climate,” Schendler says. “I think there’s a core of management in the ski industry that still hasn’t said this is a priority.”

EDIT

https://www.outsideonline.com/2310791/winter-really-was-bad-everyone-thought

[Rhiannon12866]

1. There's a ski center just down the road from me and we had snowstorms through March this year

I wish we could ship it to those who could use it... I'm in New York.