Town of Vail approved $4.45 million in budget cuts February 4 while sales tax revenue fell 10%. Colorado ski resorts spent billions on snowmaking systems that require temperatures below 28 degrees—which December 2025 didn’t provide for 13 consecutive days at Vail and Georgetown. Denver Water reservoirs sit at 81% while managers warn “to get back to normal, we would need to see the most snow that we’ve ever seen.”
Colorado’s statewide snowpack measured 53% of normal February 6. The South Platte Basin recorded 43% of normal—the lowest reading ever at this point in any year. Independence Pass sits at its second-worst snowpack on record, trailing only the catastrophic winter of 1976-77. Only Wolf Creek and Silverton Mountain operate with 100% of terrain accessible.
Vail Resorts reported ski school revenue down 15% and dining revenue down 16% in December. The company’s stock fell from $170 per share in January 2025 to $140. Traffic through the Eisenhower Tunnel recorded its second-lowest December in 11 years.
Town of Vail’s $4.45 million cuts represent 2% of total expenditures. Sales tax projections dropped to $40.3 million, down 5%. Lift tax revenue fell to $6.1 million, down 9%. Discover Vail surveyed 60 lodging partners: 80% reported increased cancellations citing poor snow conditions.
Twenty-three Colorado resorts operate snowmaking covering 5,800 acres. Winter Park invested $37 million in snowmaking upgrades for 2025-26. Resorts divert 1.5 to 2 billion gallons of water annually onto mountains.
Snowmaking requires wet-bulb temperature below 28 degrees. December 2025 in Denver averaged 11 degrees warmer than normal. Vail and Georgetown each recorded 13 consecutive days at-or-above-average temperatures. Fort Collins’ December average equaled its typical March temperature.
Keystone operates the state’s most extensive snowmaking system. It covers 40% of terrain with artificial snow. Most Colorado resorts cover less than 10%. One researcher summarized: “Snowmaking provides the base for the ski season to start, but it can’t replace a season with no snow.”
Steamboat opened Christmas 2025 with 9% of terrain accessible compared to 74% the previous year. Breckenridge opened with 19% compared to 70%. Keystone opened with 16% compared to 100%. Vail operates with the state’s highest base depth at 37 inches but only 60% of terrain open.
The winter of 1976-77 remains Colorado’s worst on record. Half the state’s ski areas stayed closed through Christmas and New Year. Senator Floyd Haskell asked President Gerald Ford to declare mountain resort communities a financial disaster area.
That crisis triggered multibillion-dollar investment in snowmaking. In 1980, Colorado operated 435 acres. The 2025-26 season finds 5,800 acres insufficient when temperatures stay too warm to operate the systems.
Denver Water reservoirs measured 81% capacity compared to typical 86% for early February. The agency projects water restrictions for summer 2026. Denver entered severe drought February 5. The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center forecasts Lake Powell inflows at 43% of normal for April through July.
Colorado derives 80% of its water supply from snowpack. State climatologist Russ Schumacher noted: “A lot of our largest wildfire seasons have come in years with poor snowpack.”
The 2025 Lee Fire burned 137,758 acres—one of the largest wildfires in Colorado history. Multiple wildfires sparked during winter 2025-26. The National Interagency Fire Center’s February outlook forecasts above-normal fire potential for southeast Colorado and the northern Front Range beginning in March. The forecast warns: “If spring green-up is early and weak, large fire activity may increase earlier than normal in late May.”
Colorado’s ski industry generates $4.8 to $5 billion annually and supports 46,000 jobs statewide. The state accounts for 20% of the nation’s winter sports economy, producing $1.6 billion in snow activities in 2023. California generated $700 million. Utah produced $650 million.
Larson’s Ski & Sport in Wheat Ridge reported sales down 20-30% compared to typical winters. Manager Jack Marriott said the shop plans to order fewer skis, snowboards, and boots for next season. The Winter Park & Fraser Chamber’s executive director stated: “We’re not going to make up the numbers that we lost during the first part of the season.”
The resorts that survived 1976-77 by investing billions in snowmaking face temperatures too warm to operate the systems. Colorado’s mountain economy spent 40 years building infrastructure to protect its $5 billion winter season—while the same snowpack that closes ski runs provides 80% of summer water and prevents May wildfires, and February 2026 shows what approaching the worst winter on record means when all three depend on snow that isn’t falling.
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