Ski Resorts Around The US See Record Snow

This year’s ski season is not over yet, thanks to record-breaking snowfall in some areas.

Alta, Utah has recorded an incredible 877 inches, the most in the nation. Mammoth Mountain in California is getting a mammoth amount of snow this ski season, shattering an all-time record. And the season won’t end until at least July!

It’s the same story at many other ski areas in the west including in the Tahoe region, which is experiencing its snowiest season since the early seventies, pushing back closing dates for weeks. The president of Ski California, Michael Reitzell says, “It's the atmosphere rivers we've gotten. They piled up one after the other this year. Most of them were cold storms.”

At Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming, the snowfall easily surpassed the seasonal average, making for great conditions, extending into this month. 588 inches fell this season, according to the Jackson Hold Chamber of Commerce, just shy of the record 593 inches measured in 2016-17. “It’s been amazing,” says Ryan Grande, the general manager of Four Seasons Resort & Residences Jackson Hole. “We are the beneficiaries of some of the best snowfall in the Americas. So, it’s been vastly different than last year.” This year's amazing season turned into amazing revenues for his hotel, where CBS News Correspondent Wendy Gillette stayed for a special rate. The resort, which features a wealth of after ski spots, cozy rooms and year-round pools, is the only one right at the base of the mountain. Stays are up as much as 8% this winter compared to pre-pandemic 2019. “The moment we get quote, unquote ‘dumped on,’ our availability goes from a lot to very little,” Grande said.

The heavy snowfall hasn’t been positive for every ski resort. Some have shut down for brief periods because they got so much snow. It also increased the risk of avalanches.

As snow totals rose, so did the prices of lift tickets, hitting over $300 at Arizona’s Snowbowl in January. One way to avoid sticker shock is to consider small resorts, like Snowy Range in Wyoming where tickets start at $49 or the state’s Sleeping Giant Ski Area, where you’ll find tickets as low as $59.

Jackson Hole has a program which reimburses airfare in exchange for money spent on activities that’s likely to continue next season.