How Is Climate Change Affecting Utah Ski Resorts?

In 2021, an article titled Climate Change and Utah Ski Resorts: Impacts, Perceptions, and Adaptation Strategies was published in Mountain Research and Development. As the title implies, this study focuses on how climate change is projected to impact Utah ski resorts. The research was conducted by a team of authors affiliated with Utah State University and the study surveyed all 14 ski resorts in Utah. Notably, eleven of these resorts already have the capacity to make snow as needed while three do not have snowmaking capacity. The authors looked at things like opening and closing dates over recent seasons, daily historical maximum and minimum temperatures at each resort since 1980, snow water equivalent and snow depth data to assess snow quality, and future climate projections for Utah to understand how winter temperatures are expected to change between 2021 and 2100. The authors also conducted interviews with Utah ski resort managers and senior employees to understand how climate change is affecting different resorts, adaptation options that exist, and perceptions of climate change.

As a climate scientist and climate resilience specialist, I spend a lot of my time thinking about how climate change impacts different sectors, businesses, geographic regions, and communities. And as a skier, I'm concerned about the future of our winters. I found this article super fascinating and a worthwhile read for anyone who's curious in better understanding how climate change could impact Utah winters.

Here were some the takeaways I noted from the article:

• The majority of ski resorts in Utah are warming faster than global averages and minimum temperatures (i.e. temperature on the coldest days) is rising more than maximum temperatures.
• By end of century, warming could take a toll on ski resorts across the state, resulting in shorter season lengths, less snow cover, and worse snow quality. Shorter season lengths is one of the biggest concerns as that would impact visitation and financial viability of different resorts.
• In recent decades, climate change has already decreased snowpack depths and reduced the proportion of winter precipitation that falls as snow.
• Warmer-than-average winters could make it less likely that snow falls as the dry, low-density snow that characterizes Utah powder.
• Adaptation strategies can be used to help mitigate some of the social and economic impacts caused by climate change. Adaptation options are vast, but include things like snowmaking, altering business decisions, and diversifying revenue resources to expand non-snow offerings.

Read the full article here.

Full Citation: Emily J. Wilkins, Hadia Akbar, Tara C. Saley, Rachel Hager, Colten M. Elkin, Patrick Belmont, Courtney G. Flint, and Jordan W. Smith "Climate Change and Utah Ski Resorts: Impacts, Perceptions, and Adaptation Strategies," Mountain Research and Development 41(3), R12-R23, (28 September 2021). https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00065.1