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Last season was biblically bad for snowfall (less than 40% of average) and the industry took a good financial hit. Most businesses have the ability to bounce back after one bad season... but two (or three) bad seasons in a row?
If this happens again, I fear that it will be a tipping point, possibly leading to a economic downward spiral.
Then again, it could be all-time huge this year! But what if it isn't?
Living in a ski town, in the face of climate change, is becoming nerve-racking!
CO will be fine. Thing is, most people who come on vacation don't want it to snow. They like sunny groomer skiing.
Our business had record numbers last season. Population boom on the FR helps too.
The only way the lack of precip will hurt business is if they fail to get a bunch of groomer skiing ready for XMas. It was marginal even for that at PCMR last year.
The water situation and fire danger are more of a threat than the hordes of gapers failing to show up.
It'll be localized. I think CB will be up no matter what due to the Epic pass, and there are a lot of ski areas that will have a bump from joining either Ikon or Epic for the first time. Some areas were even close to average last year (i.e A Basin). The far bigger problem will be drought and fires the following summer.
This. It’s hilarious to talk to tourons who complain about the cold and snow and love a good, smooth groomer under blue skies. No wonder the lower part of Breck is so popular 🤙[emoji23]Quote:
Originally Posted by shredgnar
Then let them corporate ski lords go bankrupt
Save your money, take out a loan
then buy one up in the inevitable fire-sale
boom! your own private ski area.
What if...
What about hedging with the development of sand/gravel/soil/scree skiing lift access options? Easy as a skier to adapt, might be a bit more difficult for a full infrastructure shift...but, necessity is the mother of all invention.Quote:
Originally Posted by DropCliffsNotBombs
I was a skeptic but saw the light. Feels like the real thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H5iofPSS98
^they have those big sand dune thingys there and my inlaws ski there in the summer. We have dunes here too but I can drive to Hood in the same amount of time so I haven't tried it yet.
They have pretty good beer in CO and realistically I only need to spend a couple days there to visit the in-laws. I think I'd be ok but it seems like it'd be a bummer to spend the whole year there with no snow.
well i probably wont ski a 100 days for consecutive seasons
will work more than i should
probably road trip with the extra $$
will fish more than 100 days
possibly some in the winter
Then I hope to see the lot of you at The Village.:fm:
Let’s hope not
You shut your whore mouth
Places above 8K elevation will be fine, maybe taking longer, with more manmade efforts to ramp up. But, by January they should be rocking, possibly more due to additional moisture warmer temps lower facilitate. Mid Atlantic and southern midwest places are more likely to suck more. Seems like the past 4 years in a row our annual February trips have been skiing in the rain as it washes away the base built in January. Christmas break here is now about as unpredictable as Thanksgiving used to be. Now Thanksgiving is a maybe with a strong possibility that it will all melt again before Christmas if they do manage to get lifts turning in November or early December.
The well at my house is getting down to the bottom. Makes me consider my long term plans. Buying land, starting family, etc.
I have full faith it will nuke this season. Come on down to Taos, for the powder.
I don't really understand the complaints about skiing in CO last season unless you were in SW CO. I70 resorts did very well, especially A Basin and Loveland.
Those were the only places that did well. Vail was pretty bad, CB matched the worst year I've seen in my ~25 years here and I don't quite call it SW CO, Aspen had a decent 2 week stretch, and that was about it..Quote:
Originally Posted by skiracer88_00
This summer wasn't exactly wet, either. I just hope they'll be able to blow some snow given that local stream levels are near record lows. Blue Mesa is so low that parts of it have become toxic.
That's what Al told you anyway. Abasin did OK, but in 21 years of skiing there, last year was one of the worst. I still had a good amount of fun, but it was definitely harder to motivate with so few powder days. Best day of the season was xmas day. I skied the enduro in April and all the runs were at least passable.Quote:
Originally Posted by skiracer88_00
Summit county is consistently mediocre with a few standout years. Luckily, aspect and elevation help the basin retain snow very well which in turn leads to the ability to not suck as bad on bad years.
OTOH Vail and Beaver Creek were just slightly better than abysmal as was Monarch, CB, Aspen, etc. Didn't pay attention to Steamboat or WP but assume they were quite ugly for most of the season.
Blue tide Somebody commented about algae mats forming in streams at 10000'.Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenboy
That isn't remotely true. Winter Park, which did about as well as any Colorado resort, had an average year. It looked great by comparison, but was strictly average.Quote:
Originally Posted by skiracer88_00
I'll take "consistently mediocre with a few standout years" over the feast and famine that you get in some places. Even with the crappy year at CB, I had a great time there last March and a good amount of the extremes was open.Quote:
Originally Posted by shredgnar
Yeah, I have always used "consistently mediocre" as one of the reasons not to move away from CO, but I lived in the PNW for a while and it sure was nice when you were "feasting".
I think Jackson is probably the spot that is the most "consistently good".
Either way though, I like skiing and snowboarding enough that I'll still go on even the worst days. I'm pretty happy that I've been able to keep that mindset throughout my life.
Sounds like you've got the right attitude for living in Colorado.Quote:
Originally Posted by skiracer88_00
:D
Some people have said because of low runoff and dry summer - water rights for snowmaking might be curtailed. Or the water might just simply not be there.
Not sure exactly what that impact would be, I'm kinda out of that loop.
Think snow!
ThisQuote:
Originally Posted by DeepHelmet