Skier visits at the company’s North American resorts declined 14.9% compared to the prior year. Lift revenue was down 5.6%, ski school revenue was down 12%, and dining revenue was down 11.7%.

But in the company’s Rocky Mountain region, skier visits declined 25%.

Based in Broomfield, Vail Resorts owns 37 resorts and regional ski areas across North America, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte in Colorado. Also included in the company’s Rocky Mountain region is Park City Mountain Resort in Utah.

Colorado’s other ski resorts are privately held, so they don’t disclose information about their financial performance. Vail Resorts is publicly held, so the information is available through company reports to its investors.

“The winter of 2025/2026 has been one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S., with record low snowfall and historically warm temperatures negatively impacting visitation and spending throughout the season,” chief executive Rob Katz is quoted as saying in the report. “March conditions saw a continuation of low snowfall and warmer temperatures well outside of historical norms, leading to weaker late-season visitation and earlier than planned closures for many resorts across the western U.S.”

Numerous Colorado resorts closed before their projected closing dates. Vail Mountain closed on April 8, 11 days early, and Beaver Creek closed two weeks early on March 29. Breckenridge, which was scheduled to close in May, shut down on April 19.

After Loveland closes on Sunday, only two Colorado ski areas will remain open, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin. They both plan to close on May 3.

Colorado Ski Country USA will release skier visit totals for the season in June. That number was 13.8 million in 2024-25, the state’s third-highest total.

In other ways, however, the season can be considered a success — Vail Resorts reported only modest declines in lift revenue despite the worst-case weather scenario, and the company also said it received high satisfaction scores in the surveys it conducted with guests.

Visitation was down 13% at Vail Resorts properties through Jan. 31, but total lift revenue was down only 2.9%, due to pre-sold 2025-26 passes reaching a total sales revenue that was 3% higher than last season’s pre-sold passes. Low snow years like this one show how the company’s shift toward pre-sold passes and away from walk-up window tickets demonstrates “the resilience of the business model,” Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz told investors on March 9.

With less-reliable powder days, Colorado ski resorts invest in snowmaking, push preseason pass sales

Vail Mountain’s official U.S. Department of Agriculture Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) snowpack measuring site goes back to the 1978-79 season, and prior to this season, the mountain’s lowest snowpack occurred during the 2011-12 season. .

Resort officials announced the change Friday and said Vail will close for the season on Wednesday, more than a week ahead of the scheduled April 19 closure.

Despite a fresh foot of snow from a Thursday night storm, Vail officials said warm temperatures and spring conditions caused them to call the season.

“We’re incredibly grateful to our teams across the mountain who made the most of every opportunity and kept things going through a challenging winter, especially these past few weeks,” the resort said in a post on .

Vail will join the ranks of 17 ski areas that already closed or are set to close this weekend after scraping through a season marked by Colorado’s worst snowpack since statewide recordkeeping began in 1941.

Climate scientists expect Colorado’s ski season will be several weeks shorter in the coming decades, with climate change causing snow quality to worsen and precipitation to fall more often as rain rather than snow.

Vail’s Epic Pass and Alterra’s Ikon Pass dominate the American ski market. The complaint alleges they steer skiers and riders into expensive season-pass “bundles” by setting daily lift tickets at exorbitant levels. The case was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Denver on behalf of four individuals, three of them Colorado residents, seeking damages for them and others affected by Epic and Ikon pricing across the U.S.

“For years, skiers have been told that soaring lift ticket prices, reduced choice, and overcrowding are simply the new reality,” attorney Greg Asciolla of the DiCello Levitt law firm, which filed the suit, said in a statement. “Our complaint alleges that these outcomes are not the result of healthy competition, but of exclusionary conduct by two companies that dominate access to the most desirable destinations.”

Broomfield-based Vail Resorts and Denver-based Alterra both called the suit “without merit.”

“We launched the Epic Pass in 2008 to make skiing and riding more accessible, reducing the price of a season pass by 60%,” the Vail Resorts statement said. “We’re proud that 18 years later, it����ap still one of the best values in the industry, especially following our further 20% price reduction in 2021. As we acquired smaller resorts over the years, we also launched new, lower-priced pass products, such as the Epic Day Pass Local and Limited, for guests who only want to ski close to home.”

Alterra’s statement the company would defend itself “vigorously.”

“The Ikon Pass provides the best value to access more than 70 premier mountain destinations around the world, and each of our North American resorts sells its own suite of lift ticket access products at various price points designed to meet the needs of our guests,” Alterra’s statement said. “It is disappointing that we are forced to defend this baseless claim and divert any attention away from operating our business and delivering incredible experiences.”

The suit alleges the companies deliberately raised ticket-window prices over the years to exorbitant levels in an effort to push consumers into buying their season passes at earlybird prices in the spring for the subsequent season. Vail Resorts chief executive Rob Katz has made statements this year suggesting the company is rethinking its lift ticket pricing. Katz returned to the company a year ago, having previously served as CEO from 2006 to 2021.

“We will always give the best value to our pass holders who commit ahead of the season,” the Vail Resorts statement said, “but that said, we have also been intentional to price our lift tickets, sold in season, on a resort-by-resort basis, including numerous new discount opportunities this past season.”

The lawsuit says Epic and Ikon pass prices have rapidly risen at a pace well beyond the inflation rate. Although the Ikon Pass is consistently priced higher than the equivalent Epic Pass, the complaint says Ikon accounts for 54.8% of the mega pass market vs. 38.7% for Epic. The earlybird price for the Epic Pass rose from $793 in 2021-22 to $1,089 for 2026-27, according to the complaint, while the Ikon Pass increased from $999 to $1,399 over that period.

“Yet the sale of the Epic Pass and Ikon Pass have become the primary source of lift revenues and resort visitation for Vail Resorts and Alterra over the years,” according to the complaint. “For example, for Fiscal Year 2025, Vail Resorts’ various Epic Passes provided 65% of lift revenue and 75% of lift visitations. As a result, Vail Resorts and Alterra make every effort to drive more and more people to purchase their respective Mega Passes. But in order to do so, they each have resorted to an anticompetitive scheme that, as alleged herein, violates the antitrust laws.”

It’s particularly noticeable at Vail Mountain, Colorado’s largest ski area, where only 42% of its 277 trails are still open. China Bowl and Blue Sky Basin are closed, as are Sun Up Bowl, Sun Down Bowl and Tea Cup Bowl. The trail status page on Vail’s website displays a large exclamation mark in a triangle warning of “variable conditions” and “unmarked obstacles.”

Conditions there are rapidly deteriorating, according to Buzz Schleper, who moved to Vail in 1972 and has operated Buzz’s Boards ski and snowboard shop in Vail Village for more than four decades.

“What I’m seeing, by the day, once you get a brown spot on the ground, it just spreads like crazy,” said Schleper, who is predicting Vail will be forced to close the bottom of the mountain soon, restricting skiing to the upper mountain and downloading guests from mid-mountain by gondola. “I think they’ll be downloading within a week,” he said.

The resort, however, has stuck to its official closing of Sunday, April 19, according to officials there.

Like most of Colorado’s resorts, temperatures in Vail are expected to reach into the 50s the next three days, followed by high temperatures in the 40s into next week. The current base depth of 40 inches is 36% of normal.

“They’re not changing their tune,” Schleper said. “They’re insisting they can stay open.”

Schleper and Vail native Tom Boyd both say these are the worst ski conditions they’ve seen for March, but Boyd takes a more sanguine view of the situation.

“Every time I get ready to go skiing, I wonder how it����ap going to be, and every time I’m pleasantly surprised,” said Boyd, a former ski journalist who is an Eagle County commissioner. “Is it what I would expect when I look at the calendar? No. But if I pretend it’s April, it’s great. I was skiing in a Hawaiian shirt the other day, and having a great time.”

Boyd, whose father worked as a ski patroller at Aspen and Vail, has skied Vail Resorts’ mountains and elsewhere the past two weeks. “I’ve been really impressed by the work that����ap being done at all of our Colorado ski resorts,” he said. “Everyone is working really hard to make sure that if you’re up there, you can still have a great experience.”

If Vail stays open until April 19 as planned, though, Schleper predicts it will be deserted.

“I think after Easter weekend (April 5), there’s going to be nobody in Vail,” Schleper said. “Nobody is going to come up here and ski after Easter when the temperatures are in the 80s down in Denver, and people are thinking golf and tennis and bike riding. Vail is going to be a ghost town the two weeks after Easter. To me, it makes no sense to stay open.

“It����ap a losing proposition for me,” he added, referring to his ski and snowboard business. “I will still pay my staff to the end, but there won’t be any people.”

Ski Cooper, Powderhorn, Buttermilk and Sunlight have closed. Monarch and Purgatory will close on Sunday.

Officials at Winter Park insist it will remain open on both sides of the resort (Winter Park and Mary Jane) at least through April 12. Steamboat also plans to close on April 12. Copper Mountain is still scheduled to close April 26.

“Copper’s north-facing slope aspect and high elevation help us to maintain our snow surface,” said spokeswoman Olivia Butrymovich. “We’re optimistic we’ll be able to finish out the season strong.”

Arapahoe Basin is consistently the last Colorado ski area to close, usually in June, but that may not be the case this year.

“Snow is low and temps are high, but we never throw in the towel here at The Basin,” said spokeswoman Shayna Silverman.

Loveland usually closes in May, but that sounds like a stretch this year. “As we move deeper into spring, a number of factors will guide whether we operate through the planned May closing date,” said spokeswoman Loryn Roberson. “We will continue to monitor conditions and provide updates if our original target is not achievable.”

Aspen Snowmass is holding to its scheduled closing dates: Buttermilk on April 5, Snowmass and Aspen Highlands on April 12, Aspen Mountain on April 19.

Officials at Vail Resorts also say they intend to close on previously scheduled dates: Keystone and Crested Butte on April 5, Beaver Creek on April 12 and Vail on April 19. As usual, they don’t set a date for Breckenridge, saying it will stay open as long conditions permit.

When , the unrestricted Ikon Pass will be priced at $1,349, an increase of $20 over last year’s early-bird price. , is priced at $1,089.

The Ikon Base pass will be priced at $924, a $15 increase over last year’s spring pricing. The comparable Epic Local Pass is on sale for $809. The Ikon Base pass and Epic Local pass both come with restrictions.

Vail also announced 20% discounts on both Epic passes for skiers and riders in their 20s.

Epic Passes for 2026-27 go on sale, luring Gen Z with big discounts

Alterra is introducing a new product called the "Squad Pack" for ages 23-28. That product allows five people to lock in Ikon Base passes at $750 each, as long as one person purchases all five passes. By comparison, the Epic Local pass for twenty-somethings, with the new 20% discount, is selling for $649.

Ikon also announced expanded access at two Colorado resorts. Arapahoe Basin will offer unlimited access next season for Ikon Base pass-holders. Those who purchase those passes early will be entitled to unlimited access this season, beginning April 6.

Also new, Snowmass will offer five-day access to Ikon Base pass-holders next season with select blackout dates. The Ikon Base pass does not offer access to Snowmass sister resorts, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands or Buttermilk.

The skier was injured in the Big Rock Park area, , according to Vail Mountain officials. He was first taken to Vail Health Hospital and then flown to Denver Health, where he later died.

While the man has not been publicly identified, ski resort officials said he was a 43-year-old man from Chile.

“Vail Ski Patrol and the entire Vail Resorts family extend our deepest sympathy and support to our guest����ap family and friends,” Vail Mountain Vice President Beth Howard said in a statement.

Additional information about the Saturday incident was not immediately available.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

went on sale Tuesday with the full adult Epic Pass priced at $1,089, a $38 increase over the early-bird price a year ago. Young adults (18-30) will pay $869, though, the same price being charged for teens (13-17). The full Epic Pass provides access to more than 90 resorts with unlimited, unrestricted access to 42 resorts.

The Epic Local Pass, with access to more than 50 resorts and unlimited, unrestricted access to 29 resorts including Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte, is priced at $809 for adults over 30 years of age but $649 for 20-somethings and teens. The early-bird price a year ago was $783.

The price break for 20-somethings is part of a wider, long-term strategy for Vail Resorts.

“We’re constantly assessing where could we make it easier for people to get into the sport and get fully engaged,” said Vail Resorts chief executive Rob Katz. “One of the things we identified over the last eight months was, we really think Gen Z is the biggest opportunity for the sport over the next 10 to 20 years. It’s critical that they get passionate about the sport.

“They don’t have the same disposable income that you see with a lot of folks that are older,” Katz added, “so we felt this was an opportunity for us to roll back pricing for them, to try and build that engagement. That turns into long-term skiers for us, and ultimately for the whole industry.”

Epic Friends tickets, which debuted last year, are back. Those purchasing 2026-27 Epic season passes early will receive 10 Epic Friends tickets, which are good for lift tickets priced at  50% off.

Skiers and riders who purchased a lift ticket this season at one of Vail Resorts’ 37 North American resorts now can save up to $175 off the price of select 2026-27 pass products. That could bring the price of an Epic Pass for 20-something skiers down to $694, or an Epic Local pass for $474.

Katz served as the company’s CEO from 2006-21 and is credited with creating the Epic Pass in 2008, which revolutionized the industry. He returned to that role last May after his successor, Kirsten Lynch stepped down. Her tenure was marked by downward-trending stock prices and a series of blows to the company’s image.

Katz has been looking for ways to freshen the brand’s appeal with new pricing strategies, reimagined restaurant menus and revamped marketing.

“We’re in the experience business,” Katz said. “We do have to constantly freshen up the experience by doing something new, ensuring that the products we have — the price and the way we communicate them — are relevant for today’s consumer. And today’s consumer is constantly changing. We’ve got to stay up with that … trying to be out front and aggressive in building engagement in the sport.”

Vail Resorts typically doesn’t announce how long early-bird pricing will be in effect, but there is usually a price increase around Memorial Day and another in September.

Alterra Mountain Company, Vail Resorts’ rival which markets Ikon Passes, generally announces its early-bird prices a couple of days after Vail. Last year Epic Pass prices were announced on March 4, with Ikon following on March 6.

Duncan McDonald of Los Angeles filed the lawsuit in 17th Judicial District Court on Tuesday through his attorneys with The Komyatte Law Firm in Golden, court records show.

McDonald was snowboarding at Keystone on Feb. 24, 2024, while wearing Oakley ski goggles and a Salomon helmet when he caught the edge of his board and fell face-first into the snow, his attorneys wrote in the complaint.

His right eyeball popped out of its socket and he sustained orbital facial fractures in the crash, which caused permanent vision loss.

McDonald’s attorneys claim the goggles were “defective and unreasonably dangerous” because their narrow, stiff design, which did not have adequate padding, made catastrophic injuries likely.

The lawsuit similarly claims the Salomon helmet “lacked design features that would provide protection to a user’s head, face, and eyes during an accident where the face impacted the snow,” including a brim to absorb or deflect the impact and other safety features.

McDonald’s attorneys allege Oakley, Salomon and their related companies, along with Epic Mountain Gear in Westminster and owner Vail Resorts, violated laws regarding product liability, negligence, breach of warranty and failure to warn or recall.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and an unspecified sum of money for damages, including pain, suffering and emotional distress.

Since 1980, Aspen’s mountains have lost a month of winter — 31 days in the cold months when temperatures no longer fall below freezing as they did in the past, said Hannah Berman, the director of sustainability and philanthropy at Aspen Skiing Co. Climate change is impacting not only Colorado’s mountain economies, but also resort towns’ way of life.

That’s why the ski company will work with environmental groups to lobby for state laws that accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and to clean energy sources, she said at the Jan. 30 event, standing in front of signs that read “Act Now! Coloradans Can’t Wait!”

“No single company, no sector, no industry, no community can solve climate alone,” Berman said. “A systemic problem requires systemic action. Our local kids deserve to grow up in a place that’s willing to leverage its influence to be a reckoning force to provide them as much stability — and as much joy — as possible.”

Berman’s speech in the Capitol exemplified calls from both inside and outside the ski industry for its leaders to publicly advocate for policies that will address the : increased greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, like burning fossil fuels.

While the big ski companies all agree that climate change is a threat to the multibillion-dollar industry and the globe, the volume of their calls for public policy change has varied.

The heads of four of the largest resort companies have named climate change as “the most critical issue we face.” The Lakewood-based National Ski Areas Association calls it the sector’s And ski companies for years have worked to reduce or offset their own greenhouse gas emissions and implement sustainable practices, such as investing in better recycling and pivoting to renewable energy sources.

But some resorts say that work is not enough. To truly make a difference, they say, publicly advocating for policy change at the local, state and federal levels must be a core part of their mission.

Other Colorado resort owners declined to even discuss the topic for this story.

“People are afraid to get political,” said Erin Sprague, the CEO of , a Boulder-based climate advocacy organization for outdoor recreationists, about hesitations to engage in the policy ring. “And the sad thing is, climate is an issue that has been polarized. But who doesn’t want clean air, clean water and more powder days?”

Neither of the two largest ski companies in the industry — both based in Colorado — agreed to interviews about their roles in shaping or advocating for climate policy, despite prior public pledges to lobby for climate-friendly policies.

— headquartered in Broomfield and valued at $4.7 billion — agreed through a spokesman to speak about how the company is adapting its operations to climate change but, over two months, did not make anyone available for an interview about climate advocacy despite repeated requests. Vail Resorts operates the Epic Pass program and owns 43 resorts across the globe, including Colorado’s Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte.

A spokeswoman for responded to an email requesting an interview about climate advocacy, but stopped responding after The Denver Post declined to provide interview questions in advance. She did not respond to a series of follow-up emails and calls over the following two months.

Alterra, headquartered in Denver, has more than a dozen ski resorts in and operates the popular Ikon Pass program. It owns Colorado’s Steamboat Ski Resort and in 2024 purchased Arapahoe Basin. It also operates Winter Park Resort.

Persuading companies to engage on climate can be a challenge, said Chris Miller, the senior vice president of , the parent company of Aspen Skiing Co. Business leaders assume they have only so much clout to expend and use it on topics they see as more immediate concerns to their companies, like tax policy or labor law.

Others see it as too polarizing, said Miller, who led activism work at the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s for 12 years before joining Aspen One in March.

The ski industry cannot afford to look away from the existential threat, he said. Reducing resort emissions and increasing recycling are great, but will not solve the problem.

“We could shut our entire operation down tomorrow and our planet is still headed over the cliff,” Miller said. “We’re not going to collectively solve climate change by voluntary corporate action that varies company by company.”

A call to climate action

The history of environmentalism in the ski industry runs parallel to the history of the modern climate movement, according to Auden Schendler.

He would know — he spent more than two decades spearheading sustainability efforts in the ski industry and, in the three years before that, researched corporate sustainability.

The idea of corporate sustainability emerged following the rapid-fire passage of the country’s bedrock environmental protection laws: the Clean Air Act of 1963, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 and . Instead of a reliance on government regulation, the concept posited that market forces would push corporations to voluntarily and efficiently solve environmental problems on the local and global scales. Government change would then follow businesses’ example.

In the ski industry, that meant the cost savings from energy efficiency — and the positive public relations inspired by such change — would motivate companies to address climate issues.

Schendler felt fired up by this concept when Aspen Skiing Co. hired him in 1999 as the second employee in its new sustainability department, the first such department in the industry. He helped the company install energy-efficient lightbulbs, measure and reduce its resorts’ carbon footprints, and improve recycling and composting.

“But as we were doing this work, after about a decade, I started asking the question: Is this enough?” he said. “Is this actually the solution to a global systemic climate problem? And the answer I came to was no.”

Aspen Skiing Co., and the ski industry as a whole, needed to think bigger, he decided. It needed to engage in the issue where policy is made: in Washington, D.C., in statehouses, in elections, at meetings of county commissions and utility boards.

It also needed to convince other ski companies to join that work — and to do so publicly.

“What����ap always been the problem is that the companies will say they are doing that — ‘We’re lobbying for climate behind closed doors.’ But if it����ap behind closed doors, it����ap not meaningful. … By keeping it behind closed doors, you don’t change social norms,” said Schendler, who left Aspen One in 2025 and authored a book, about modern climate activism and the failures of the corporate sustainability movement.

As Aspen Skiing Co. ramped up its call for industry action, professional snowboarder Jeremy Jones in 2007 founded Protect Our Winters after noticing changing snow on mountains across the globe. At first, the nonprofit group focused on educating people about climate change, said Sprague, the CEO.

Education soon pivoted to political advocacy. By 2022, the organization was lobbying for the Inflation Reduction Act — a massive investment by the Biden administration in clean energy. POW also called on outdoor business leaders to join the political fight, even publishing a

“We really wanted companies to understand the level they have for influence — especially right now, when company leadership, in the absence of political leadership on this topic, is really important and often something their own consumers want to see,” Sprague said of the playbook.

Business leaders she speaks with worry about being seen as activists, she said. But she encourages them to see advocacy as simply exerting their influence on their communities and fellow business leaders — especially since climate advocacy will help their businesses in the long run.

“It takes a lot of courageous leadership to step forward and say what you believe in, and then couple it with action,” Sprague said.

trickled through the industry, but not all companies have adopted the mission to the same degree.

Little to say about once-heralded partnership

In an industry known for competition and season pass wars, an announcement of collaboration between the four largest ski companies in North America prompted a flurry of press attention.

In 2022, the leaders of Vail, Alterra, Utah-based POWDR and Michigan-based Boyne Resorts announced a new partnership dedicated to climate action. Through the the companies stated that “climate change is the most critical issue we face as business leaders and as citizens of this continent and inhabitants of Earth.”

Among other promises, they pledged to incorporate sustainability practices into their resort operations, pursue renewable energy sources and “advocate for climate protection through actionable federal, state and local policies.”

The leaders of the four companies — which collectively represented 77 resorts — stating that beginning in 2023, the group would “advocate at the federal, state, and local levels for policies that curtail greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate a shift to renewable energy sources, and establish a clean energy economy.”

It’s unclear whether they kept that promise.

Neither Vail, Alterra nor POWDR — which owns Copper Mountain and is in the process of selling Eldora Mountain Resort to the town of Nederland — responded to questions about the Mountain Collaborative. Emails sent to the address on the coalition’s website bounced back.

Colorado lobbying records show that Alterra has registered a position on one state bill. It entered an “amend” position and then a “monitoring” position — both of which are short of indicating support — on a that mandated transit planning in a way that reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

In its 2024 annual report, the most recent available, the corporation stated that it had joined efforts with a to pen a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency to finalize greenhouse gas standards for power plants and to advocate���ڴǰ� .

Vail Resort’s lobbying records show the company supported several climate-friendly bills in Colorado between 2017 and 2022, including efforts to invest in air quality improvements and a bill to establish the . The company’s does not describe any advocacy work and instead focuses on efforts to make its resorts more efficient, reduce waste and use more renewable energy.

The database shows no registered lobbying in Colorado by POWDR.

A spokeswoman for Colorado Ski Country USA — the state’s industry association — also declined in an email to speak about the organization’s perspectives on climate advocacy. The organization’s primarily focuses on efforts at resorts to reduce carbon footprints, increase composting and recycling, and revegetate after resort development.

The association lobbies at the Colorado statehouse on a number of matters every session, according to state records that date back to 2003. In the past, those bills have included climate-related issues. In 2022, it aimed at funding clean air projects and that has helped pay for free public transit on high-ozone days. In 2021, it supported promoting the expansion of clean energy.

Quieter work at the federal level

The National Ski Areas Association lists advocacy to policymakers as one of three pillars of its climate efforts. In its , the association describes a series of events its representatives attended in 2024, including a panel on climate action at the Citizens’ Climate Lobby Conference, Climate Week in New York and the Conservative Climate Summit in Utah.

The Post reached out to the association on Dec. 1 to request an interview about the organization’s climate advocacy but, after multiple follow-up requests, spokeswoman Tonya Riley said in a Jan. 23 email that schedules would not permit an interview.

In an email, she highlighted the group’s work with , a nonprofit that organizes businesses for climate and environmental advocacy. Vail Resorts, Arapahoe Basin, Aspen One and Alterra also .

In March, Ceres from both major political parties to discuss the importance of clean energy and the economic benefits of federal clean economy incentives, Riley said in an email. The organization plans to attend similar meetings next month.

“NSAA advocates for policy tools that advance an equitable clean energy economy, sustain healthy ecosystems, and preserve outdoor recreation experiences for generations to come,” she said. “NSAA and ski areas across the country collaborate on multiple national climate advocacy initiatives.”

Sprague, from Protect Our Winters, said the group and other climate advocates needed to change strategy after the reelection of President Donald Trump and a Republican majority in Congress in 2024.

The organization is now playing defense on the federal level — lobbying against the Trump administration’s attempts to restrict clean energy development and testifying at the EPA against the rollback of clean air and water regulations.

“It looked like we were on a path to fix this thing,” she said, referencing the two major climate bills of the Biden administration. “Now we’re in a different era, where we’ve gone in a different direction politically but, economically, the solutions continue to grow and resonate.”

The organization is now focusing its offense on the local and state levels, Sprague said, such as working to end a moratorium on new solar projects in Montrose on Colorado’s Western Slope.

“It’s been a hard time for people, and I want people to take some hope,” she said. “The economics (of renewable energy) are working, the state and local level are working. This change is inevitable. We are going to make a transition to better sources of energy — we just need to do it faster.”

Involvement in advocacy is ‘our responsibility’

Data show that Coloradans and Westerners want climate action.

The 2025 edition of Colorado College’s Conservation in the West poll found that early last year “support the government taking action to reduce carbon pollution that contributes to climate change.” Across the eight states included in the poll, agreed with that statement.

Colorado climate advocates, too, are calling for ski companies to engage on policy for the sake of their industry and to protect the sports so many Coloradans love.

Ski industry leaders recognize the existential threat climate change poses and have taken important steps to advance clean energy and sustainability, said Noah Rott, a deputy press secretary for the Sierra Club, in a statement to The Post on behalf of the organization’s Colorado chapter.

“However, even more partnership initiatives and strategic efforts will be required to counter the enormously influential, wealthy fossil fuel industry that lobbies our legislature, pushes out misleading ads, and manipulates legislators and officials at the highest levels of our federal government,” he said.

Mike Nathan, the sustainability manager at Arapahoe Basin, sees it as an integral part of the resort’s work to advocate for policy changes and to urge the thousands of skiers and riders who visit the ski area to act.

“It����ap our responsibility to be at the forefront of that advocacy work,” he said.

Nathan quickly listed a series of advocacy actions the resort had worked on: lobbying the state health department for stronger methane regulations for Colorado landfills; penning opinion pieces that urged state regulators to adopt rules encouraging the growth of electric vehicles; traveling to lobby Congress for legislation to ; and participating in Summit County climate working groups, including those focused on electric transportation and reducing waste.

In 2022, leaders from the Arapahoe Basin — which is relatively small compared to other Colorado resorts — were outspoken supporters of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“We really look at sustainability as one of the keys to our success and pillars of our business,” Nathan said. “But we also have a unique and powerful opportunity to be the messenger that drives the much larger change that����ap going to help us out in the long run.”

Aspen One’s leadership in the last year published opinion pieces in Colorado media and the of a that greenhouse gases are a public health danger. The company submitted comments to the EPA opposing that rollback and sent a representative to D.C. to talk to lawmakers about climate change.

During this year’s midterm elections, the company will be watching which candidates prioritize climate issues, said Miller, from Aspen One.

“Whether we like it or not, and for better or worse, businesses are the most powerful entities in society,” he said. “They have great sway, not only with policymakers but with people as well. Corporations, businesses (and) brands are more trusted than the media, the government.

“It����ap both an opportunity and a responsibility for us to use that trust to be advocates for some of these big issues society wrestles with — climate change is a great example of that.”