"My Biggest Fear Is a Multi-Year Drought...": Climate Exposures in the Intermountain West Ski Industry and Pathways for Action

To further the National Integrated Drought Information System’s (NIDIS) ongoing work to support decision-makers in climate-sensitive industries, the Colorado Climate Center (CCC) investigated how ski area managers and decision makers in the Intermountain West understand, utilize, and think about weather and climate information resources. Central to this was an exploration of the various time scales that ski area managers make decisions in, and what role—if any—existing modes of delivering climate and weather data play in their decision-making. Looking further, the researchers also examined how agencies like NIDIS, the CCC, and the broader meteorological community can curate existing data, develop new data products and metrics, and implement programming aimed at improving the ski industry’s capacity to make decisions amid an uncertain future.

In this executive summary, the research team presents the high level findings of this research effort, along with several key recommendations for future work by NIDIS and its partners. Learn more about this NIDIS-funded research project.