Real talk from ski industry leaders on the winter that wasn’t: “We can take the profile of this issue to a whole new level

By Anna Robertson

“It was dire.”

That was how one outdoor industry leader categorized this winter at a frank conversation among leaders in the ski industry at the Progression conference, an event that connects investors, founders, and thought leaders to drive climate impact.

In a talk titled, “Where’s all the snow?” moderated by Mountain Towns 2030 Executive Director Chris Steinkamp , ski industry leaders talked about the real economic impacts of climate change on their businesses – while also discussing the opportunity to create change through innovative technologies, education, and athlete activation.

“We had a pretty significant impact on sales,” Backcountry CEO Kevin Lenau shared about the impact of this year’s lackluster snow season, citing a significant downturn in revenue.

Sophie Goldschmidt , CEO of the US Ski and Snowboard Team added that climate change is increasing costs for their organization as they pivoted to change venues or adjust to get athletes the time they need on snow. “Flexibility comes at a high cost and investment,” she explained. “On the training side and the competition side, it’s having a material impact on us.”

How this winter changed the ski industry

Lenau said the lack of snow has led Backcountry to diversify into other sports, but he believes the situation is “actually worse than it looks,” adding, “Even though you can still ski, it’s going to become more and more expensive as smaller resorts aren’t going to be able to pay for the snowmaking necessary to stay open. As the supply shrinks, you’re going to have less young people and less people coming into the sport. It’s dire.”

Raj Basi Raj B., VP of Sustainability for POWDR, which owns ski resorts like Copper Mountain and Snowbird as well as training facilities like Woodward and concessions in national parks, said that adapting to uncertain conditions was a logistical challenge.

Lack of snow this year forced them to “revisit planning structures and hiring structures to be  more dynamic.” They’ve also been looking to create more alternatives for guests who visit their mountains. “You can’t expect things to be the way they were 30 years ago,” he said. “Expectations have to change and we have to come to terms with that reality. There’s also a lot of opportunity for innovation.

Looking toward the future

One positive outcome Lenau described is increasing innovation in more sustainable materials and technology, as well as a stronger interest from consumers around sustainability in their purchasing decisions.

“Our consumer really cares about these problems… We are seeing search trends on sustainability, recycled, organic materials increasing,” he said, adding, “It’s great to see another revolution in material science that is really moving us forward.”

While technology can help address climate change, Goldschmidt says we have to move quickly.

“We still can slow down what’s happening and in some instances, I believe, reverse it, with new technologies,” she said. “But we don’t want to wait for that. We need to impact it right away. I think people have maybe been lulled into a false sense of security because the past few years we’ve had great snow years.”

If we don’t address the impacts of climate change, she warned, “in 10-20 years time, our ski season will be a lot shorter.”

Goldschmidt sees a huge opportunity to affect change tied to the Olympic Games coming to  Park City, Utah in 2034.

“Let’s use the next 8 years to educate about the issue we have, which is dire, but what we need to do to impact it,” she suggested. “There are things everybody in this country can be doing to make a difference, and we can take the profile of this issue to a whole new level.”

That might include mobilizing athletes and their platforms. “Our athletes authentically care about this, they’ve been pushing us to do more,” she said. “They are absolute key stakeholders to help us to market some of what we can do, but also some of the challenges. No one should be in the dark about the situation.”

Brad Chedister, Head of Project Orion from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee called for collaboration and innovation.

“It is an existential threat, it is very serious. But let’s be a little more optimistic on the tech side,” he said. “We win together. We need to set up purposeful ecosystems that collaborate with each other.”

That’s the mission of Mountain Towns 2030, which helped seed the Mountain Collaborative, an effort among the four largest ski resorts to share solutions across their organizations.

Combining that collaboration with consumer awareness could be a key unlock, Basi added. “We have millions of people visiting our locations who are receptive to climate messaging every day.”

Rethinking Transportation in Mountain Towns: Local Leaders Share Innovation & Challenges

Transportation in mountain towns comes with unique constraints—remote geography, steep terrain, seasonal population swings, and growing workforce housing challenges.

At the Mountain Towns 2030 Climate Summit in Breckenridge, transit leaders from Park City, Winter Park, and the Telluride–Mountain Village area shared how they are designing systems that meet these realities while advancing climate and community goals.

The session featured Alex Roy, PTP (Park City, Utah), Charles McCarthy, CCTM (Winter Park, Colorado), and James Loebe (Mountain Village Telluride, Colorado), moderated by Edward Parks , a global infrastructure leader). Together, they highlighted how mountain communities are rethinking mobility to reduce congestion, lower emissions, and better serve residents, workers, and visitors.

Transit in Mountain Towns Means Planning for Constant Change

Mountain transit systems must adapt to dramatic seasonal shifts. Winter tourism can drive intense peaks, but summer demand is increasingly significant as outdoor recreation grows year-round.

In Winter Park, CO, this dynamic defines the system. Only two routes run year-round, with the rest deployed in winter. In contrast, Telluride and Mountain Village have seen a reversal in ridership trends. Loebe explained, “We were 60/40 winter summer, and now we’re seeing like 40/60 winter summer,” reflecting the rise of summer visitation.

The takeaway is clear: mountain transit systems must be flexible, responsive, and built for variability.

Park City’s Regional Model Balances Local and Long-Distance Travel

Park City has separated local and regional transit into two complementary systems. Park City Transit focuses on in-town service, while High Valley Transit serves a broader footprint, connecting to surrounding communities and Salt Lake City.

This structure allows each system to specialize while still functioning as part of a larger network.

Within the city, transit has evolved from a single route into a comprehensive system connecting neighborhoods, resorts, and recreation areas. Recent additions, like trailhead connectors, aim to reduce congestion at popular outdoor destinations.

Roy emphasized the importance of aligning transit with housing and development patterns, adding that his team meets regularly with city officials planning low and moderate-income housing developments “to understand where the new developments might be happening… and we work with developers to talk about what the transit system would look like accessing those locations.”

Winter Park Is Building Service Around Workforce and Regional Need

Winter Park’s system, The Lift, serves a large area across Grand County and functions as the region’s only public transit provider.

Because many workers commute across long distances, transit planning is closely tied to workforce needs. McCarthy described bringing employers into the process. “I contacted all the department heads… and said, ‘Hey guys, let’s look at this schedule together. Tell me what works, tell me what doesn’t work,’” he explained.

At the same time, the system must balance visitor demand with essential community trips. As McCarthy noted, “If you set in a route that’s not going to serve those [major destinations], you have to be able to justify that through means other than just ridership.”

This reflects a core reality for mountain transit: not every route is about maximizing ridership—some are about maintaining access and community function.

The Telluride–Mountain Village Gondola Shows the Potential of Mountain-Specific Transit

The Telluride–Mountain Village gondola is a standout example of designing transit around terrain. It replaces what would otherwise be a long and winding drive with a direct aerial connection.

As Loebe explained, “We take a seven and a half mile car ride… about an eighteen- to twenty minute drive… and we turn it into a two and a half mile, direct, twelve minute ride.”

The system supports about 3.1 million passenger trips annually and avoids roughly 5,600 metric tons of CO₂ emissions each year. Loebe added, “It would take 42 50-passenger buses to equal the capacity of the gondola system.”

Originally built as part of environmental mitigation requirements, the gondola is now a core piece of regional infrastructure, funded through local mechanisms including a real estate transfer assessment and voter-approved taxes.

It highlights how non-traditional transit modes can be highly effective in mountain environments where roads are constrained.

Pilots and Experimentation Can Reveal What Works

Mountain communities are increasingly using pilot projects to test ideas before scaling them.

In Park City, experiments—from neighborhood traffic calming to transit service pilots—have helped refine long-term planning. A microtransit pilot revealed limitations, including overlap with existing routes and reduced reliability during peak demand.

As Roy explained, the system struggled when demand was highest, with riders encountering “zero availability” during peak winter conditions.

As a result, the city shifted resources toward fixed-route service, prioritizing predictability over flexibility.

Winter Park is taking a more targeted approach, using microtransit in areas where buses are less effective, rather than replacing core routes.

Electrification Offers Big Promise, but Mountain Conditions Still Matter

Both Park City and Winter Park are transitioning to electric buses, but mountain conditions introduce added complexity.

Roy highlighted both the promise and the challenge: “A cleaner system… a quieter system… [but] EV batteries lose a lot of juice in the winter.”

Cold temperatures, steep terrain, and charging logistics all impact performance, requiring new approaches to planning and operations.

Winter Park is early in its transition, working with partners to install charging infrastructure and identify where electric buses can be most effective. McCarthy emphasized the importance of collaboration, noting that success depends on working closely with operators and maintenance teams to adapt in real time.

Funding and Governance Remain Central Challenges

Transit systems depend on strong regional collaboration and reliable funding. In San Miguel County, early partnerships between municipalities eventually led to a broader regional transportation structure.

But building that kind of system is not always straightforward. Securing voter approval, aligning priorities across jurisdictions, and navigating funding uncertainty remain significant hurdles.

Still, the panel emphasized that transit investments can reduce the need for costly road expansions while improving long-term sustainability and quality of life.

Key Takeaways for Mountain Towns

Build strong funding and partnerships: Long-term success depends on regional collaboration and stable funding.Mountain towns sit at the intersection of climate pressure, tourism demand, and geographic constraint. But as this discussion showed, they are also leading innovation in mobility—developing systems that are not only more sustainable, but better suited to the places they serve.

Register for the Mountain Towns 2030 Sun Valley 2026 Climate Solution Summit Here.

“Even small communities can lead the way:” How to drive local climate action through collaboration

When it comes to climate impact, sometimes it takes a village – or ten.

EcoAction Partners began with a simple but ambitious idea: create a centralized resource to help rural communities tackle sustainability challenges together. What started as a small nonprofit in Telluride has grown into a regional leader, coordinating efforts across three counties  and ten local governments to address greenhouse gas emissions, promote renewable energy, and implement climate action plans.

In a discussion at the Mountain Towns 2030 Climate Solutions Summit Summit, leaders at the forefront of climate action in Colorado’s San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan Counties explored how rural mountain communities can band together to combat climate change, sharing personal stories, lessons learned, and practical advice.

“In 2007, sustainability was just becoming a buzzword,” explained Kim Wheels, Energy Specialist at EcoAction Partners, reflecting on the organization’s early days. “By pooling resources from local governments and our cooperative utility, we were able to launch a nonprofit to serve the entire region.” Wheels has dedicated over 16 years to designing and implementing impactful regional programs.

Today, EcoAction Partners drives initiatives like the Snuffles Energy Board, a coalition of ten local governments focused on implementing climate action strategies ranging from energy efficiency programs to groundbreaking microgrids.

Some of their wins include:

Kendra Held, Climate Action Coordinator for EcoAction Partners, emphasized the importance of collaboration, saying, “Our regional climate action plan would have been impossible without the Snuffles Energy Board. Together, we’ve leveraged funding and expertise to tackle challenges that no single community could handle alone.”

Of course, progress hasn’t come without its hurdles. The panelists shared candidly about the challenges they’ve faced, including:

Despite these obstacles, EcoAction Partners has persisted by leaning into collaboration and reframing challenges as opportunities. “Every community brings something unique to the table,” said Wheels. “Even the smallest towns can teach us something valuable about resilience and resourcefulness.”

Whether you’re part of a small town or a sprawling city, the panel offered actionable insights for anyone looking to launch or strengthen climate initiatives:

  1. Collaborate Across Borders: Climate change doesn’t stop at town lines. Regional collaboration amplifies impact and attracts funding.
  2. Start with Data: Greenhouse gas inventories provide a roadmap for prioritizing actions with the greatest impact.
  3. Engage Everyone: From local governments to utilities to nonprofits, diverse partnerships create a stronger foundation for success.
  4. Secure Funding: Donor engagement and grant writing are critical to turning plans into action.

The panelists also reminded attendees that climate work is as much about hope and storytelling as it is about science and policy. Jason Corzine, President & CEO of the Telluride Foundation,  shared how their organization has pivoted from funding individual projects to becoming a major backer of regional climate action, securing over $5.3 million for initiatives in 2023 alone.

“Climate work can feel overwhelming,” said Emma Gerona, Executive Director of EcoAction Partners, who leads efforts to tackle sustainability challenges across three counties. “But when you focus on small wins, celebrate progress, and keep the big picture in mind, it becomes a lot more manageable—and even fun.”

As Corzine put it, “This is about putting the action in climate action planning—and showing that even small communities can lead the way.”

See the whole seminar here: