Poor Snow Season for US Ski Areas
13th April 2026
Colorado has its worst snowpack on record, while Utah saw skier visit numbers go downhill. California has fared slightly better. UPDATED
The Colorado Climate Center has said this winter was “the worst year for the Colorado snowpack in recorded history”.
The state experienced more than seven days or more of temperatures warmer than any March high recorded between 1951 and 2025.
In the second half of March, statewide snowpack declined by nearly five inches.
Previously, the fastest decline in a 2-week period before April 1 was 2.3″ in 2012.
Those record highs led to a massive snow melt occurring far earlier in the year than is typical.
It followed poor snowfall in the first half of the season.
Many resorts in Colorado have closed early.
Loveland is normally open into May, but this year it has announced a closing date of April 26th.
“Until then, we’re still going strong with 500+ acres of terrain,” the ski area wrote in a social media post.
“There’s more great spring riding ahead, with sunshine, slushy turns, and a stacked line-up of events and live music.”
Arapahoe Basin is continuing to stay open, but with a diminishing snowpack.
Last season, Arapahoe Basin closed on June 15th.
Other resorts still open in Colorado are:
- Aspen Mountain
- Breckenridge
- Copper Mountain
- Winter Park
In Utah its string of record-breaking skier growth came to an end this season after poor snowfall.
A 20% drop in numbers is predicted once the final figures are out.
A year ago, Utah recorded 6.5 million skier days.
Earlier the 2022-23 season set both a snowfall record and an all-high time high with 7.1 million skier visits.
Ski Utah CEO, Nathan Rafferty, is putting a brave face on the winter.
“I will say it’s been better than expected,” Rafferty said on KPCW’s Local News Hour last week.
“But if you’re a Park City local, it’s kind of not what we’re used to.
“It was a rough start, rough finish, rough middle.
“Huge, huge congratulations to the snow making and grooming teams at our resorts, we wouldn’t have been skiing in Park City for Christmas or much of the season, had it not been for the investment and work of those crews.
“I anticipate statewide we will be about 20% down in terms of skier visits,” he said.
“The ripple effects of that are tough.
“I don’t worry about the resorts as much as I worry about the ancillary services; the transportation and hotels and coffee shops and all the small businesses that are affected that can’t quite absorb that hit, like some of the big companies can.”
In Utah, the snowpack peaked at 75% of average in late February before falling to 15% by late March.
Many resorts in Utah have closed, but five remain open.
Solitude is set to close April 19th with a potential bonus weekend for April 24-26, conditions permitting.
Alta is open to April 26th.
Brian Head hopes to keep the lifts turning until May 10th.
Closing dates for Brighton and Snowbird have not been announced.
Resorts in California have had a generally poor winter, but have fared better than Utah and Colorado.
Some areas of California saw some welcome snow at the weekend.
Here’s a US news report from Kirkwood:
We will be updating on the totals once the storm passes.
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