Though winter storms are bringing some relief to the snow drought in the Rocky Mountains, experts think it won’t be enough to bring our snowpack back up to average after a record-breaking dry start to winter.
That’s a problem for our snow-based water supply, but it’s also been an issue for the region’s multi-billion dollar ski industry. Resorts are doing their best to entice guests to their slopes, even with less powder and poor conditions.
Michael Childers is a professor of environmental history at Colorado State University, who studies the ski industry. Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Caroline Llanes spoke with Childers to put this year in context.
Editor’s note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Llanes: So as I'm sure many people have noticed, we're having a very warm, very dry winter right now. There's not a lot of snowpack. Have we seen anything like this before in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West?
Childers: Yeah, I mean, even in recent history we've had similar snow droughts in, you know, the early 2000s, the early 80s, but probably the one that's the closest to this is what happened in the winter of 1976-1977, when the state didn't see any snow until well after the new year. And it really impacted the ski industry. A lot of areas didn't even open that winter. So that's probably the closest parallel to what we're experiencing today.
Llanes: Interesting. So from what you've seen, how is the ski industry reacting to this winter that we're having right now?
Childers: Immediately, right now they're doing the same thing that any business would do when they're faced with this sort of reality, and they're paring back on their spending, they’re cutting hours of their employees. And I don't know about you, but my social media feed has been ramped up with more advertising to try to draw us up in the mountains, even though skiing may not be what we expect or hope it to be.
Otherwise, you know, a little longer-term, I would suspect we're gonna see very much the same thing that we saw back in the late 80s and even throughout the 1990s and in this year. And they're gonna really see a lot more investment into things like snowmaking, securing water rights to make that snow. And then maybe other amenities that could help augment their bottom line. Are they gonna have more lodging, more swimming pools? Summertime is gonna be even more important to recoup the economic losses. So we'll see what their game plan is moving forward in those regards. But I would expect the short-term is cutting back, and then medium-term, along the road here this summer, heavy investment in more amenities on the mountain.
Llanes: So we know this winter is a little bit of an anomaly as far as the warmth and the dryness goes. This isn't going to be the new normal, but we are certainly looking at a trend of warmer and drier winters. So I want to talk about these measures that you've just described, the ski industry is currently taking. Do you think those will be enough in the face of our new climate reality?
Childers: No. You know, if you listen to the experts, they're saying that winter is going to start later, end earlier, and it's gonna be way more varied year to year in terms of what snowpack is. And that's just an inconsistent variable that the industry's not gonna be able to control by simply putting in more snow guns or another ski lift. That's going to take a much larger political and social change that the ski industry is involved in, no doubt. But in terms of being more stable, what they can control is, what do they have on their mountains? What kind of revenue can they bring in? What kind of package deals can they offer to keep luring us to the mountains? I mean, are ski passes going to get cheaper? Are they going to have free hamburgers on every Tuesday? Those sorts of enticements, I think, is what they can do, but in the larger picture: this is not just on a single industry to address. This is going to have to be a much wider-spread effort.
Llanes: Absolutely. So thinking about that bigger picture, what role do you think would be most useful for the ski industry to play?
Childers: Well, I think the ski industry, they're kind of the canary in the coal mine, right? So we can see pictures of ski runs, barren of snow or just such a little amount of snow. And that is a real tangible and understandable measurement of, the climate is changing. Things are more variable. And so just being kind of the visual advocate that we need to address this thing, not only for the larger climate but also for the bottom line of our own industry. So they are in a very unique position of having a very large megaphone to call out for action on this sort of issue. Especially if you're thinking about the larger corporate-owned entities, they're much better positioned financially to make this a part of their brand and calling more attention to it.
Llanes: And moving a little bit beyond just the ski industry, thinking about Colorado and western rural resort communities and towns that rely on outdoor recreation economies: what impact do winters like this one have on them, and how should they be thinking about the future?
Childers: Yeah. Have kind of a shared vision of what the community and the region wants and have a larger plan that encompasses skiing and the ski industry as a part of that plan. But what other issues do you want to address in terms of preserving open space or having affordable housing? So that they think a little bit more expansively about this is not just a single issue of this industry, but it's throughout the entire area around these communities.
If you look, for example, around Steamboat (Springs) in Routt County and their master plan, they've done a really good job of preserving open space, being as diverse as they possibly can economically. And they, yeah, they have had struggles and there's some political fights that are going on in that county, but they're a great model to think a little bit larger than just on a single industry and a single year. And know that yeah, as the climate changes and these things, these seasons are going to happen. So how do you think about being more resilient as a community I think is something that's really gonna be important and needs to be in the forefront of a lot of these folks' minds.
Llanes: Right. So what sorts of things will you be keeping an eye out for as we progress through this winter and as we see the ski industry evolve in the face of climate change?
Childers: Well, I think short-term, we will get through the winter and it will be what it'll be. But I'm really curious as to how people will be thinking about next season. I'm thinking particularly about all of us who buy season passes. Are we going to be rushing back to buy a season pass after a season like this or are we going to be a little bit more conservative? How is that gonna change the consumer behavior going into the next year? And then are these ski areas going to change their pricing and their packaging? And if so, how?
Vail has gone through a pretty difficult couple of years in terms of its stock price and its perception by many that it's kind of the evil empire of the ski industry for good or not. How are they going to adapt to that after a year like this where there's gonna be so many people who are gonna be like, ‘maybe I don't spend the money on skiing next year’? So that's what I'm really curious to see what happens next, in terms of the consumer side of the whole deal.
Llanes: Awesome. Well Michael, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with Rocky Mountain Community Radio.
Childers: Oh, no worries.
Copyright 2026 Rocky Mountain Community Radio. This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including Aspen Public Radio.
