It's A Slippery Slope For Ski Resorts Facing Climate Change

LAST DECEMBER, VISITORS ARRIVING IN VAIL, Colo., ready to kick off the winter ski season immediately noticed something missing: the snow.

- Ashley Mateo

LAST DECEMBER, VISITORS ARRIVING IN VAIL, Colo., ready to kick off the winter ski season immediately noticed something missing: the snow. The town was lush and green; only Vail Pass, at 10,617 ft. above sea level, was dusted in the champagne powder Colorado is known for.

Climate change has had a direct and aggressive effect on winter tourism—and not just in Vail. In 2016–17, the first frost came two weeks later than the 20th century average, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the last one nine days earlier. The season was nearly a month shorter than expected, a trend that’s been worsening since the 1980s. NOAA’s outlook for winter 2018–19 predicts warmer, drier and milder conditions across the U.S.