Goodbye to hundreds of local ski resorts in the United States—climate change is emptying the slopes and transforming entire mountains into something else

In the U.S., many places that were once full of skiers, families, and winter fun are now silent. Ski resorts that used to operate decades ago have now closed, leaving behind empty slopes, old lift poles, and trails slowly being taken over by nature. So, let’s find out more about why these ski resorts are being transformed into something completely new.

Past and present of ski resorts in the U.S.

In the decade of 1960, ski was a very popular activity across the U.S. At that time, there were about 1,000 ski areas operating in the entire country. Today, this number has drastically lowered and only around 487 ski resorts still operate.

However, those numbers don’t really show the entire reality. Throughout the years, many resorts opened and closed, so the real number of closures is even higher. When data was analyzed in more detail, it was discovered that at least 1,664 ski resorts had closed in the U.S.

The most affected places are the Midwest and the Northeast. For example:

In the Western United States the number of lost ski resorts is lower:

• Colorado lost about 137.
• California 134.
• Washington 48.
• Idaho 72.
• Oregon over 57.
• Utah 12.
• Wyoming 10.
• Nevada 10.

Why did so many ski resorts close?

The massive ski resorts closures happened for several important reasons:

• Impact of climate change: this is the most important factor. Ski resorts depend a lot on cold winters and constant snow. Studies made in more than 220 ski areas show that the ski season has reduced between 5,5 and 7,1 days between 2000 and 2019, in comparison to previous decades.

This problem is expected to get worse. By the year 2050, ski seasons could be 14 to 33 days shorter, and in some places even 27 to 62 days shorter.

• Costs, insurances, and legal difficulties: there are other issues like the high cost of snowmaking equipment, expensive infrastructure, rising insurance costs, and legal risks. For example, insurance prices have been increasing since a legal case in 1977 called Sunday v. Stratton Corporation. So, these costs make it nearly impossible for small, local ski resorts to continue operating.

New future

Even though more than 1,600 ski resorts have already closed, not everything is negative. Many of these areas are being transformed into mountain bike trail systems.

Some of these old ski slopes are perfect for this new activity because they are steep, open, and already cleared through forests. Modern mountain bike trails, especially downhill “flow trails,” work very well on this type of land. For example:

How old resorts are being used

Most of these old ski resorts are no longer private businesses. In several cases, these places have been bought by local governments or land trusts, like Sugar Loaf Mountain and Marshall Mountain in Montana.

This process is not always simple since some projects involve lawsuits, local disagreements, and long legal processes.However, when it is achieved, it’s very positive for communities.

Most of these transformations happen in the Midwest and Northeast, the same regions that lost the most ski resorts.

Changing, but not disappearing

In some places like Adirondacks, old ski slopes are covered in vegetation so much that riders often don’t even realize they are biking on former ski slopes.

So, while climate change has made skiing more difficult, mountain biking has created a new future for these landscapes. What do you think about these ski resort transformations?