Colorado’s ski resorts are about to wrap up another strong season. Some areas are even staying open a week or two longer than usual due to late March snowstorms. But don’t expect extended seasons to happen in the future. That’s because they will be getting shorter in the coming years as the climate continues to get warmer, says CU Boulder climatologist Jim White. (Find downloadable audio files at the bottom of this page).
CUT 1 “Over the last 20 years, opening day has been coming later and later as time goes by and that’s because it has not been getting cold enough to make snow earlier in the season like we used to. (:11) The ski industry has been keeping track of when ski season starts and when it ends for quite some time and we’ve noticed a loss of days in the fall and a loss of days in the spring.” (:23)
White is the director of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at CU Boulder. He says the latest climate models show that as the atmosphere warms it will hold more moisture. That means rain for resorts in lower elevations and snow for resorts located higher in the Rocky Mountains, like Breckenridge and Arapahoe Basin.
CUT 2 “One of the more predictable things for the future as the world warms up, the atmosphere can hold more moisture, and globally we will be seeing more precipitation. That’s simple physics because the warmer the atmosphere the more water vapor it can hold. And the more water vapor it can hold the more chance you have for snow and rain. For the ski industry, the key is whether it’s rain or whether it’s snow. (:22) Colorado is fortunate in the elevation, particularly from some of our highest ski resorts - Breckenridge, A Basin - places like that.” (:31
White says in the future we can expect to lose one to two ski season days per year. He says Colorado should be OK for some time, but lower-elevation ski resorts in the U.S. will one day be without snow.
CUT 3 “The models predict when you get out to the 2050, 2075 time frame that somewhere around 9,200-feet is the cutoff point, above which it’s cold enough that you actually do better because with more moisture in the atmosphere you get more snow, below which it’s too wet.” (:19)
White says Coloradans should be aware as the climate continues to warm, environmental changes are ahead, especially at higher elevations.
CUT 4 “We’re part of the troops on the front line. We think about climate change in terms of sea level rise and agriculture and things like that but, really, Colorado is on the front lines of change today. (:10) High altitude regions change faster than other parts of the world. And so we need to pay attention to that.” (:16)
Skiing is an economic juggernaut for Colorado. According to a study conducted by Vail Resorts and Colorado Ski Country USA, the ski industry generated almost $5 billion for Colorado's economy in 2015.