Charting resilience at Rocky Mountain ski areas as winters shrink

Abstract

Ski resorts across the western U.S. are challenged by global warming, with fewer days of sufficient natural snow during the season and more frequent weather conditions unsuitable for artificial snowmaking early in the season. While this applies to all ski resorts, the magnitude of snow security reduction varies widely. Regional Earth system simulations of sufficient resolution to capture the weather and seasonal snowpack at ski areas in the Rocky Mountain region demonstrate that in the next few decades, high-elevation places, and those historically receiving more snowfall, will be impacted less, while those resorts that currently have relatively low snow security will suffer more. Even though resorts in the Colorado Rockies will experience more warming in the next few decades than ski areas closer to the Pacific coast, they generally are less at risk, including a smaller decrease in the ski season length and in snowmaking potential, and fewer rain-on-snow events.