This winter, Washington has faced one of the worst recorded snowfalls in history. Abnormally high temperatures and lack of snowpack have caused yet another “wet snow drought” on the West Coast after years of increasingly dire winter weather conditions. 

“This year, looking at the numbers, it’s abysmal,”  senior and ski instructor Derek Borden said.

This winter, Washington has faced one of the worst recorded snowfalls in history. Abnormally high temperatures and lack of snowpack have caused yet another “wet snow drought” on the West Coast after years of increasingly dire winter weather conditions. According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, “over 80% of all Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) stations in each state [Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico] are experiencing snow drought.”

With drastic shortages of snowpack in the mountains, one of the greatest negative effects of snow droughts for Mercer Island students is its impact on recreational snow activities.

Despite dire estimations for the future of snowfall in an uncontrollably warming world, many MIHS students remain pensively optimistic. 

“Hopefully, the climate this year is just a one-time thing,” senior Saira Ghodke said. “I’m hoping next season, we’ll get some snow. I think we will.”

Borden agrees, saying that declining ski conditions are temporary and cyclical.

“I think that we probably are going on a 10-year cycle; I guess, technically a 12-year cycle,” Borden explained. “I feel like this is just a rut in the road.
I think we’ll get through it.”

A lack of snowpack in the mountains often “makes things dangerous,” Borden continued. “Because of warming cycles, we get a lot of temperature fluctuations that cause avalanches. So it actually just makes everything less fun and more dangerous.”

A lack of snow can force ski resorts into heavy terrain limitations or complete closure for the season. Popular spots for Mercer Island students, including Crystal Mountain, Stevens Pass and several areas of Snoqualmie, have faced disastrous closures that devastate ski town economies and impede the usual operations of ski areas.

“Summit Central, which I usually went to, only opened around a week or two weeks ago,” junior Theodore Sternberg said. “At Stevens, […]  [a] run I like is completely iced over.”

“Back in December, Snoqualmie was absolutely horrible,” Sternberg described. “I would follow my snowboard, and it wouldn’t stick in the sludge. [The snowboard] just [kept] flying down the mountain. It was crazy.”

As ski resorts struggle to draw in customers and people who enjoy winter sports face steadily declining snow conditions, the future for skiing is not optimistic. Only drastic systemic changes in climate change policy can mitigate the disastrous effects of global warming on the environment.