VAIL, Colo.—Balmy and dry fall weather could snap the Colorado ski industry’s two-year string of record snowrider numbers.
Last year, despite getting less snow than the season before, numbers were still up 6.7 percent.
But this year it is much drier and some major resorts weren’t even open for Thanksgiving. That’s despite the spending of hundreds of millions on snowmaking.
Resorts initially had some trouble making snow until temperatures cooled down to the mid-20s for extended periods.
Meanwhile, resorts in several other areas of North America, hurt by a lack of early snow last year, are doing much better this year.
The long-range forecast for Colorado is for dry weather, possibly leading to drought next year.
The dry weather puts extra pressure on Colorado’s resorts because they have sold hundreds of thousands of ski passes. That can bring numbers that quickly overwhelm the terrain and lifts that are open.
