In the West, snow drought is pushing cross-country ski areas closer to a breaking point

In a normal year, Aaron Sloan, the manager of the cross-country ski area, would expect a line out the door most mornings. Customers would patiently wait to buy day passes or grab a pair of rental skis before exploring 24 miles of groomed trails, all lined by forests draped in white snow.

It’s a far different picture this year amid a record snow drought across the Western U.S.

Access at the Eldora Nordic Center is limited to season or multiday pass holders. On a recent morning in February, dedicated skiers could only explore a fraction of the resort until 11 a.m. The remainder of the day was set aside for a backbreaking task: shoveling pockets of snow from the woods onto brown spots on the trails.

“We didn’t do our snow dances with enough enthusiasm,” Sloan said. “I did not ever, ever dream that the obstacle would be just this level of dirt on the ground instead of snow.”

Dirt is a common and unwanted sight at ski areas across the region this year. Because of high temperatures and low precipitation, snow coverage across the Western U.S. likely peaked in February at around 38% of average, according to a recent analysis by the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. The percentage marks a record low since satellites started measuring snow coverage 26 years ago.

Climate change increases the likelihood of similar conditions in the coming decades. That’s an especially daunting prospect for cross-country areas, which could have an even tougher time adapting to a hotter, drier future than more popular downhill resorts.

All types of skiing face an uncertain future as climate change boosts temperatures and shifts precipitation patterns.

One study estimated that the average U.S. ski season was roughly a week shorter between 2000 and 2019 compared to the period between 1960 and 1979. By 2050, the season could shrink by an additional week or nearly two months, depending on how aggressively humanity shifts away from fossil fuels.

Many alpine ski resorts are already taking active steps to preserve their industry. In the past few years, downhill areas have opened new terrain at higher elevations or invested in state-of-the-art snowmaking systems. In Colorado, some ski areas are paying for “cloud seeding,” the practice of burning silver iodide into the atmosphere to induce snow from incoming weather systems.

Reese Brown, the executive director of the Cross Country Ski Areas Association, said smaller cross-country ski areas often can’t afford those options. In addition, many areas sit at lower elevations without a clear way to expand.

“There’s no room for growth in terms of altitude,” Brown said. “Your base area, your entry-point parking lot, is what it is.”

Some Nordic resorts have found other ways to adapt. Recent research conducted by the CCSAA and the Outdoor Industry Association found that about 27% of cross-country trail areas have invested in some type of snowmaking system, often far smaller than the hulking fans capable of blanketing downhill slopes in white powder.

Those tools, however, only work if temperatures drop below freezing. But this winter, Brown said the Bridger Ski Foundation, a cross-country resort in Bozeman, Montana, has struggled to even turn on its snowmaking systems because of the unseasonably warm weather.

A more accessible strategy is mastering the art of “snow farming,” a catch-all term for strategies to make the most of dwindling snow coverage. At the Eldora Nordic Center, for example, staff members build snow fences to create drifts in strategic locations and remove rocks so trails are skiable with less snow. A more advanced option involves storing snow over the summer under high-tech blankets.

“I do think there’s a future. It’s just going to be a little different,” Brown said.

Some longtime cross-country skiers share some optimism about their favorite winter sport.

After immigrating from the Czech Republic, Jana Hlavaty skied for the U.S. Olympic cross-country team in 1976. At 84-years-old, she runs the Keystone Nordic Center in Colorado, where bouts of warm weather keep melting away any base of snow that forms at the resort, which operates as a golf course outside the winter.

Hlavarty continues to ski herself, making laps each morning through patches of snow and slush. She said ticket sales have plummeted this year, but she hopes more casual skiers will return – if conditions improve next year.

“It’s going to come back,” Hlavaty said. “Mother Nature is never going to have two years this bad.”

The current snow drought, however, has pushed other cross-country ski areas to a breaking point.

Ellen Miller-Goins is a co-owner of the Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area in Red River, New Mexico, a resort founded by her parents in 1985. She and her ex-husband took over the operation after her parents died in 2022, four days apart.

Enchanted Forest hasn’t been able to open at all for the first time this year because of the lack of snow. Miller-Goins now can’t visit the barren landscape without fighting back tears. As she sees it, her family’s legacy is withering away because political leaders spent decades failing to heed repeated warnings about climate change.

“It’s just wrapped up with the pain of them and our dream,” she said. “So I get a little brittle when we talk about climate science because I’m kind of angry.”

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