The skiing season has ended early at dozens of resorts in the western U.S., and for some it never even started.
The effect of higher than usual temperatures and a continuing drought in some areas has had a big impact on some of the best-known names in the industry. Taos, New Mexico has gotten by for a while bulldozing snow from higher elevations to its ski runs; Park City, in Utah, has had only about half its usual snowfall this winter. At Vail, in Colorado, less than a quarter of ski trails are open.
The Reuters news agency noted half of 120 ski resorts have closed early or never opened, compared to about a dozen that might close early in a normal year. The low snowfall has been followed by a warm beginning to spring.
A University of California climate scientist told reporters that “This was a remarkably bad snow year, not just one basin, but across most of them. It’s really just been a tale of astonishing warmth throughout the West.” He attributed much of it to ongoing climate change, which has had a continuing effect not only in the U.S., but in European ski areas at lower altitudes.
Among the effects of the poor season has been drops in employment in an industry that employs as many as 190,000 workers in a normal season, and dropping revenues for ski resort operators, including giant chains such as Vail Resorts, which has operations in both the U.S. and Europe.
