Ski Area Near Denver, Colorado Pauses Operations To "Preserve Snowpack"

Echo Mountain, a small ski area near Denver, Colorado, has paused operations just after opening due to “unseasonable weather conditions.” 

The ski area, which first opened for the season on December 13, 2025, announced earlier this week that it would close between Monday and Thursday (Dec 15-18), with plans to reopen on Friday, December 19. In doing so, Echo Mountain hopes to preserve its snowpack.

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Echo Mountain may not be as well-known as its counterparts like Arapahoe Basin or Keystone, but it fills a unique, affordability-minded niche.

In a region where lift tickets can easily crest above $100 (or far higher), adult day passes to the ski area hover between $50 and $83 if purchased online. An unlimited adult season pass to Echo Mountain costs only $439.

The ski area’s decision to suspend operations comes as mountains across Colorado—and the rest of the West—are still waiting for winter to kick fully into gear.

While Colorado’s season is already well underway with a long list of major mountains open for business, the powder’s been relatively scarce. In river basins across the state, the snow water equivalent (SWE) levels—a measure of the water contained in the snowpack—are below the median mark.

The situation for ski resorts is more dire further west. In Washington, a deluge of rain has continued to push back ski resort opening dates and contributed to intense flooding in some areas. Oregon’s mountains have yet to gain traction, too.

The lack of flakes prompted NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) to recently warn that a “snow drought” had taken hold across the West. While the precipitation has been near or above normal in many places, warm temperatures have caused that precipitation to fall as rain, rather than snow.

Still, given how early it is in the season, NOAA noted that the snowpack could bounce back quickly after a single storm. 

Wintry weather may do just that in the coming days as major storms are forecasted to hit Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. Colorado, however, may have to wait for the next storm cycle for any significant powder days.

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