DILLON, Colo. – Warm temperatures and limited snowfall are giving Colorado ski resorts an unusual start to the winter season, forcing both resorts and skiers to adjust as the busy holiday period gets underway.
This time of year, ski areas are typically blanketed in snow and filled with families on winter break. Instead, resorts across the Front Range are relying heavily on snowmaking and working with limited terrain as natural snowfall lags behind normal levels.
At Loveland Ski Area, skiers and snowboarders were still hitting the slopes, even as conditions looked more like early spring than mid-December.
“It’s no secret that it has been a slow start to the season, snow-wise,” said Loryn Roberson, marketing director at Loveland Ski Area. “But our mountain operations team has done a phenomenal job with the product that we’re able to offer considering the conditions that we’ve been given.”
Roberson said the warmer weather has created ideal conditions for beginners, especially families with young children who are learning to ski or snowboard for the first time. Softer snow and mild temperatures, she said, can make those first runs more enjoyable and less intimidating.
For more experienced riders, the lack of natural snow is harder to ignore.
“You’d think by mid-December we’d have way more snow,” said Reef Packer, a snowboarder at Loveland. “It’s a little disappointing, but we’re still going to be out here shredding. No white Christmas this year unfortunately, but maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Conditions are similar at Echo Mountain, where general manager Danny Moss said the season has been unlike anything he’s seen in over two decades.
“This has been an incredibly unique year,” Moss said. “It’s a tough start, and all of the resorts around us are dealing with some of the same issues and struggles.”
Moss said the warm weather has affected bookings, especially as families plan holiday trips and check conditions online before committing. Even so, Echo Mountain has still seen an uptick in visitors and strong interest in activities like tubing, which remains popular regardless of snow depth.
Among those visitors was the Gonzales family from Texas, who were looking for a taste of winter during their trip to Colorado.
“I wanted them to have a little snow play, since we kind of live by the beach,” said Bonnie Gonzales, who was visiting with her children. She said fewer crowds allowed her family to get more runs in than expected. “We had a blast.”
Back at Loveland, Roberson said crews are making snow whenever overnight temperatures allow and watching the forecast closely, hoping for colder weather and natural snowfall as winter progresses.
“Winter is going to come. It always comes,” Roberson said. “Sometimes it just comes at its own pace.”
Resort officials say conditions can change quickly in Colorado’s mountains, and a few strong storms could still turn the season around as the winter continues.
