SAM Magazine—Happy Valley, Ore., Dec. 30, 2025—
Jay PeakExtreme and erratic weather defined the first week of the 2025 Christmas-to-New Year period across much of North America, forcing operators to contend not only with snow, or lack thereof, but also power failures, access disruptions, infrastructure breakdowns, and workforce concerns.
While the Northeast emerged as a bright spot thanks to a combination of natural snow and extensive snowmaking capacity, many resorts elsewhere faced an operational gauntlet in which the central question was not just “Do we have snow?” but also “Can guests and staff safely get here, and can we stay open?”
West
In the West, after a historically dry start to the season in many areas, the recent challenge hasn’t been a lack of moisture, but too much of it in the wrong places. Southern California is reeling from a fire-to-flood disaster cycle. Mountain High, Calif., remains temporarily closed after heavy rains starting Dec. 24 hit the Bridge Fire burn scar, sending debris flows through the resort. Nearly 11 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours, causing substantial damage to the surrounding community; the town of Wrightwood was under a boil water notice until Dec. 28.
Parent company California Mountain Resort Company has extended free skiing at sister resorts China Peak, Bear Valley and Dodge Ridge to all Mountain High pass holders. The mountain, which opened for the season Nov. 22, has begun repairs and is making snow at every opportunity to resurface. It expects to reopen “in the next couple of weeks,” according to its online conditions report.
The rain also closed nearby Mt. Baldy Road, effectively cutting off Mt. Baldy ski area just before Christmas. Mt. Baldy has since reopened, but the storm took its toll on the snowpack with the resort offering scenic rides and limited snow play, with hopes “to be skiing and riding again soon,” according to a Dec. 29 Mt. Baldy mountain report.
Further north, the massive system brought much needed snow to the Lake Tahoe region—a "Christmas Miracle" storm that dropped several feet of snow on the otherwise dry area. Sierra-at-Tahoe, which was waiting on snow to start spinning lifts for the season, received nearly 5 feet ahead of its Dec. 27 opening day.
Mt. Rose - Ski Tahoe On the Nevada side of the lake, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, which kept having to delay its opening day due to lack of snow, also reported 5 feet of fresh snow and had opened 90 percent of its terrain by Dec. 27. The resort also debuted its new Wildslide tubing center Dec. 30.
“This new facility is going to make it easy for people to be introduced to an exhilarating winter experience,” said marketing director Mike Pierce, “and with five feet of new snow over the past few days, Wildslide and Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe are dialed up for winter!”
Slightly further south, Mammoth Mountain, Calif., also received 5 feet of snow, forcing the resort to close Dec. 26-27 for avalanche mitigation work. Two ski patrollers were injured in an avalanche while performing mitigation work on Lincoln Mountain on Friday morning, and the resort confirmed that one of the patrollers, 30-year-old Cole Murphy, died from his injuries on Sunday.
In the Pacific Northwest, Stevens Pass, Wash., finally caught a break, sort of. While WSDOT reopened Highway 2 on Dec. 29, access is limited to the east side (Leavenworth), leaving the resort’s primary Seattle market still cut off by bridge damage from catastrophic flooding that occurred earlier this month.
Snow is still scant throughout the region. Mt. Hood Skibowl, Ore., is offering day tubing and nighttime cosmic tubing while awaiting enough snow to turn the ski lifts. Mt. Hood Meadows, Ore., went from three lifts serving mainly beginner terrain on Christmas Day, to opening three high-speed quads in three days, making the most of a foot of fresh snowfall while adding night skiing.
Further north, Whistler Blackcomb, B.C., which has gotten 18 inches of snow over the last seven days and 133 inches for the season to date, was experiencing massive pre-Christmas crowds, according to video shared on social media.
Rockies
Vail ResortThe Intermountain West is currently staging a recovery after a heat dome. Aspen Snowmass, Colo., recorded its second-warmest Christmas in history. On Christmas Day, temperatures at Vail and Steamboat hit 43°F, bringing rain to the base areas. Fortunately, temperatures dropped and new snow accumulations of a foot or more helped revive the holiday break in Colorado. These and other major Colorado resorts still only have a fraction of their terrain open.
In Telluride, Colo., the resort remains closed indefinitely due to a ski patrol strike. Unlike the Park City Mountain strike of 2024, where operations continued with limited terrain, Telluride ownership chose a full shutdown, citing safety.
Deer Valley, Utah, officially surrendered its upcoming FIS Freestyle World Cup events to the East Coast this week, citing "unseasonably warm temperatures" and a lack of snow. The aerials finals will relocate to Lake Placid, N.Y., and moguls and dual moguls qualifying events will move to Waterville Valley, N.H.
Ironically, snow did finally come to Utah, with Alta reporting 48 inches of snow from a two-day storm following Christmas.
A Dec. 27 holiday storm cycle delivered 10-15 inches of snow and hurricane-force winds to Brundage Mountain, Idaho. GM Ken Rider’s team had to deploy chainsaws before groomers. "There are trees down everywhere," Rider noted in an update, confirming that despite the debris field, operations teams managed to get all lifts spinning by Sunday, Dec. 28.
Midwest
Snowriver ResortA powerful winter storm system brought significant snowfall to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Mt. Bohemia received 17 inches over Christmas week and expects to see more lake effect snow falling over the second half of the holiday period. Snowriver reported 16 inches over the last 24 hours, and Big Powderhorn reported 20 inches of snow over the last 24 hours.
The system also brought 50-mph wind gusts and hazardous driving conditions across the region. The storm led to widespread travel disruptions, including more than 3,200 flight cancellations at major hubs like O’Hare and Minneapolis-St. Paul, complicating logistics during the holiday window.
At Trollhaugen, Wis., a massive ice storm knocked out power to the entire resort on Sunday, Dec. 28. The resort was forced to close but reopened Monday once the grid was restored—with 7 inches of fresh snow to boot.
East
In contrast to much of the country, conditions in the Northeast over the Christmas holiday week were relatively stable, largely due to robust snowmaking capacity and colder, more consistent temperatures.
Sunday River, Maine, leveraged its massive snowmaking power to open 450 acres of terrain across its eight peaks ahead of Christmas Day, helped by a storm that dropped 12 inches of snow on the resort Dec. 23.
“December has been incredible for us, and waking up to a foot of snow on Christmas Eve [was] the perfect exclamation point," said GM Brian Heon.
Sunday River Sunday River claimed the most open terrain in Maine and New Hampshire ahead of the holiday, while Jay Peak, Vt., has the most snow in the country with 229 inches so far.
The same bomb cyclone that swept through the Midwest arrived in New England Dec. 28. It brought freezing rain and operational disruption at the tail end of the holiday weekend, but was followed by backend snow for many ski areas. Jay, for example, reported 6-10 inches from the changeover on Dec. 29, although high winds have limited access to the upper mountain today.
Widespread regional power outages from the storm forced Hidden Valley, Pa., to close for night skiing on Dec. 29. Power was restored to the ski area in time for a planned 10 a.m. reopening on Dec. 30, with snowmaking and 2 inches of fresh snow helping to resurface the trails after the freezing rain.
Unrelated to the storm, Black Mountain, N.H., suffered a "catastrophic double failure" on Dec. 28, losing both its Triple Chair (bullwheel bearing) and Summit Double (output shaft) within hours of each other.
"We delivered a subpar product, and we know it," wrote Black Mountain president Erik Mogensen in a letter to guests. The resort was sourcing parts as quickly as possible, with an Entabeni/Indy Pass employee dispatched to fly a new bearing in from Tennessee by hand.
Southern New England ski areas have capitalized on the cold and snowy start, allowing several to be 100 percent open as of today (Dec. 30), including Mount Southington and Ski Sundown in Connecticut.
As we move toward the New Year, conditions remain fluid across much of North America. Late-December storms have improved conditions in some markets, while others are navigating new and continued weather-related disruptions, infrastructure challenges, or workforce constraints. With several peak days still ahead, operators will continue to adjust in real time as conditions evolve.
Report by Dave Tragethon
