I was excited to get a story for my boss into Patagonia’s blog The Cleanest Line, one of the best outdoor-brand supported blogs out there at the moment. Here’s an excerpt from that post, which I worked with John on writing:
In the mid-1990’s a Vermont ski area executive told me this joke.
“How do you make a small fortune in the ski industry in New England?” he asked.
“Start with a large one.”
He was talking about the challenges he faced then, which seemed normal at the time: limited water for snowmaking, labor shortages, skyrocketing costs of doing business, aging baby boomer population, and inconsistent (though generally reliable) snowfall. The snow sports industry now faces a much more fundamental challenge: a shrinking winter.
But for a recent cold snap, a light dusting on MLK day and a destructive storm in October our winter here in New England has been largely without snow. The temperature has been high – in many instances, far higher than normal.
Consider recent temperature trends as reported by@JustinNOAA – the Twitter feed by NOAA’s Communications Director. On Friday, December 9th, heTweeted: “NOAA: 971 hi-temp records broken (744) or tied (227) so far this January.” The day before broke “336 hi-temp records in 21 states.”
Rising temperatures are a death knell for falling snow. On the final day of 2011, only 22% of the lower 48 had snow. Today, New England remains largely untouched by snow. A glance at NOAA’s snow depth map shows most of New England with 4 or less inches of snow. This was true of my New Year’s hike with my brother and his dog up Camel’s Hump. As the background of the photo shows, there was little snow across the surrounding Green Mountains.