All three Teton County ski resorts have delayed their season-opening dates due to a lack of snow and warm temperatures that have limited snowmaking.

The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, the largest resort in Wyoming, announced Tuesday that it would not open its 60th anniversary season as scheduled on Friday. That followed news from Snow King Mountain and Grand Targhee Resort that they would postpone their season-opening dates because of limited snowmaking and little natural snowfall.

Ski runs across the county look sad, with only patches of man-made snow dotting the otherwise brown slopes. Grand Targhee above Alta delayed last Friday’s planned opening indefinitely and Snow King, the Jackson “Town Hill,” has backed off its commitment to a Dec. 5 start.

“Luckily, we have so many other assets that people can enjoy,” said Rick Howe, president of the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. “I know a lot of the hospitality partners are talking about putting together some specials.”

At Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, officials painted a bleak picture.

“We have received 26 inches of snow mid-mountain through November, and warm conditions have affected snowmaking efforts, resulting in insufficient coverage to open terrain,” the resort posted on social media.

“It could still end up snowing, there just isn’t a whole lot of confidence right now.”

Alan Smith

Workers will make snow when possible, monitor the snowpack as usual and announce an opening date “when conditions meet our standards for guest and staff safety,” officials stated. As the 60th anniversary year of the ski area, the resort anticipates the 2025-26 year to be a “milestone winter.”

At Grand Targhee, officials reminded old timers that they retired their tag-line “snow from heaven, not hoses” some time back. The resort turned to Open Snow forecaster Alan Smith last week to explain.

“November has been unseasonably warm with temperatures running 8-10°F above average through the first 16 days of the month,” he wrote. “This warmth combined with minimal natural snowfall since October has prevented an early season snowpack from building as is typical at this time of year.”

He predicted colder weather in the coming weeks, but perhaps still warmer temperatures than average, and some light snow. “It could still end up snowing,” he said of changing forecasts, “there just isn’t a whole lot of confidence [in that] right now.”

At Snow King, manager Ryan Stanley told the Jackson Hole News&Guide last week that it usually takes three weeks of snowmaking before the slopes are fit for skiing. None of the resorts have set a firm new opening date.

Across the rest of Wyoming, the Snowy Range Ski Area near Centennial has planned a Dec. 5 opening date, as has the White Pine ski area above Pinedale. Hogadon Basin Ski Area above Casper plans to open Dec. 6, according to its website.

Angus M. Thuermer Jr. is the natural resources reporter for WyoFile. He is a veteran Wyoming reporter and editor with more than 35 years experience in Wyoming. Contact him at angus@wyofile.com or (307)...

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  1. The manmade patches have the just the smallest spots of grass to connect. A couple inches of snow last night connected the for looks but not skiing.
    6-12 inches are needed for the standard early open runs.

    Reply