Much of the West is experiencing one of the slowest starts to winter in recent memory. And for ski areas – whose entire business model depends on how much snow falls – that can be a point of concern.
Chapman Hill, Durango’s in-town ski area, faces the same challenges as big resorts like Palisades Tahoe in California and Brighton in Utah. Yet despite the warm temperatures and absence of consistent snowfall, the intrepid community hill is forging ahead to open before Christmas.
“A lot of ski areas are having a hard time getting open,” said Tim Kuss, a snowmaker and snowcat operator at Chapman. “It’s been a little warm in the West this year. But we’ve made some progress, and we’re actually doing pretty good.”
Assistant Recreational Manager Kelli Jaycox said Durango may not have seen much snow yet, but temperatures have been cold enough most nights to allow for snowmaking. That, she said, has operators hopeful they can get Chapman open before Christmas.
According to winter forecasting service OpenSnow, snowmaking machines “blow tiny water droplets into the air, let them freeze, and fall to the ground.” However, it has to be cold and dry enough for them to work.
“We needed at least 23 degrees or lower to make snow,” Jaycox said. “We are actually setting up to make snow, even if it’s only for an hour or two in the early morning, even if it hits that degree for a short time. The goal is to open next week sometime.”
Jaycox said the upper reaches of the hill will probably remain closed, whereas the lower portion of the hill – including the terrain park – will be open to skiers and snowboarders.
“Because of the limited snow, we’re trying to get the lower area open,” Jaycox said. “The plan is to try to open the rope tow and the poma, and then set up all the rails and the park features so at least people can ride the park.”
Apart from the lack of snow, Chapman has faced other setbacks – including a lightning storm that blew out lift breaker boxes and some lights needed for night skiing, Jaycox said.
“The lift and the lights got hit by lightning,” Jaycox said. “So that’s been a little bit of a hindrance.”
Jaycox said technicians have been working to evaluate and replace any damaged parts of the hill’s infrastructure. Original damage estimates, she said, are roughly $15,000, which the city’s insurance will likely cover.
Kuss said recent years have been consistently warmer than they used to be, making opening ski hills more challenging.
“Climate change is real,” Kuss said. “Even with climate change, dry winters used to happen from time to time. But we’re noticing it’s happening, it’s getting warmer, season’s a little shorter. But snowmaking is kind of the answer to that.”
Kuss said snowmaking has becoming an increasingly important tool in Chapman’s operational arsenal. Next season, there are plans to purchase additional snowmaking guns to increase the hill’s capacity and cut the amount of time needed to cover the hill.
“With a couple more guns, we can cut that time in half,” Kuss said.
Both Kuss and Jaycox said Chapman is a valuable and beloved part of the community, particularly for children at the end of the day.
“For a kid, it's a chance for some independence, to get away from their parents and just ski around and explore the little hill,” Kuss said. “I just love skiing Chapman, and I always have. It’s important to me.”
Even with climate change and lightning strikes, Kuss said, the hill will continue to give residents lasting memories into the future – as it did for Kuss, who grew up skiing the hill.
“Who knows how fast climate change is going, but I think we’ll be able to go for quite some time in the future,” Kuss said. “Even though we’re down south and at a low altitude, it still gets cold and we have a low-humidity. So we have that to our advantage. We’re in OK shape.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
