This winter was the third-warmest on record for U.S. ski resorts. Consider the data:

• Tahoe鈥檚 Squaw Valley , down from 669 the year before.
• Colorado鈥檚 Crested Butte Mountain Resort saw 145 inches of snow, .
• Telluride , down from 294.
• Vail saw 171 inches of snow, .
• New Mexico鈥檚 Taos Ski Valley saw 78 inches of snow, .
• Ski Apache saw 27 inches of snow, down from 43.

A single down season isn鈥檛 rare, but this year should still be a harbinger. While precipitation has remained flat in recent years, the snowpack at ski resorts is shrinking. Temperatures are warming. The Climate Impact Lab, a research institution with scientists all over the country, this year showing that if warming trends continue, resorts should expect to lose a month of the season within the next two decades.

Resorts are reacting as expected to the dismal ski season鈥攁nd as they have in the past. They鈥檙e revamping snowmaking and grooming, building snow fences to harvest windblown snow, installing extracurricular activities to entertain guests when the snow isn鈥檛 cooperating, and growing summer amenities. They鈥檙e also expanding into different regions and selling season passes that have skiers shouldering some of the financial risk of a down season. Mostly, they鈥檙e hoping somehow next year is much better.

That might not be enough for some resorts, like those in New Mexico. Visits to the Land of Enchantment鈥檚 nine downhill areas fell 29 percent this season, from around 750,000 to 534,000. That鈥檚 a ten-year low and a dip that likely cost the state close to $100 million. And it鈥檚 almost definitely to blame on the weak snowfall, which at 55 inches was nearly 90 inches below the five-year average.

鈥淚鈥檇 say the biggest message from this for all our ski areas is that snowmaking is vital, and they are putting more money into that, trying to curb the possibility of not having tons of snow,鈥� says George Brooks, director of Ski New Mexico. 鈥淲e are also recognizing that the days of having a ski area open five, six months and then shut down for the rest of the year, those days are gone. It鈥檚 not just looking at a winter season and a summer season, either. It鈥檚 about a winter, spring, summer, and fall.鈥�

James Coleman, the investor who is transforming Durango鈥檚 Purgatory ski area alongside a quiver of southern resorts in New Mexico and Arizona, had a rough season on paper. All his resorts suffered record-setting weak snowfall. But Coleman says visits didn鈥檛 reflect that dryness.

Thanks to his snowmaking crews and groomers, runs were open and skiing well. It wasn鈥檛 powder, but then not all vacationing skiers are hunting face shots. 鈥淧urgatory had a fantastic product almost the entire year, but the perception wasn鈥檛 great, and perception is reality,鈥� Coleman says, noting that Purgatory鈥檚 120 inches of total snowfall ranked as the worst in 41 years and the second-worst ever. 鈥淧eople were happy, but when they went to town and told their friends that the skiing was good, their friends would say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 believe you.鈥欌��

The odd thing is that at Arizona Snowbowl, Coleman says that despite the area suffering the fourth-worst snowfall season in its history, visits were among the top three highest. This might have something to do with its elevation, which at 11,000 feet ranks with many of Colorado鈥檚 famous resorts.

When the weather is warm, skiers often go higher. That seemed to be the case for much of Colorado, which suffered its fourth-worst snowfall season on record yet still did OK, thanks to pass sales. Vail Resorts, which owns Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Beaver Creek, reported that the season showed a slight downturn in visits across its continental network of resorts but an increase in lift-ticket revenue, largely due to sales of its popular . And winter sales tax revenues from eight Colorado resort towns hardly indicate that snowfall was less than abundant.

What sales don鈥檛 change is the clear lack of snow on the hill. Analysts who spend time studying the long-term trend, like Auden Schendler, vice president of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Co., say emergency tweaks such as greater snowmaking capacity and better grooming won鈥檛 solve the bigger problem. 鈥淚 think the industry has fundamentally acted as if they were defending their image versus defending the climate,鈥� Schendler says. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a core of management in the ski industry that still hasn鈥檛 said this is a priority.鈥�

The ski industry actually has a real opportunity, Schendler says. The nonprofit climate-change organization Protect Our Winters recently that totaled up the ski industry as a $72 billion economic powerhouse with 695,000 employees.

鈥淲e are the people who can bring attention to this problem and help solve it,鈥� Schendler says. 鈥淭he outdoor industry is huge, bigger than Big Pharma, and we have wielded absolutely no power. What are you if you have the ability to solve a problem and choose not to? The outdoor industry and the ski industry can be the NRA on climate. We have to be.鈥�

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