A lack of snow across the Western Slope this winter isn’t just reshaping the ski season — it’s also affecting local food banks, where demand is rising as seasonal work dries up.
Record-low snowpack is increasing economic uncertainty for people whose jobs depend on winter snowfall, pushing more of them to seek help from local food banks.
“It’s more than just not getting a powder day this year,” said Brianne Snow, executive director of The Family and Intercultural Resource Center in Summit County. “It’s really hoping that our communities survive this.”
The resource center serves approximately 700 people each week at its free community food markets, and 150 of those individuals are seeking help for the first time this winter. Similarly, in Routt County, more than 140 seasonal workers used the food services of LiftUp in January, according to Executive Director Sue Fegelein.
“We are seeing a lot more new people who have never had to walk into the food market before, never had to ask for help because there isn’t enough snow to sustain their work,” Snow said.
Snow cover across the western United States on Feb. 1 was the lowest for that date in federal satellite records. Statewide temperatures in Colorado in December were the warmest in more than 130 years of record-keeping, according to Colorado State Climatologist Russ Schumacher, director of the Colorado Climate Center. The unusually warm temperatures, combined with a lack of significant snowstorms, have resulted in one of the worst midwinter snowpacks Colorado has seen in decades, with cascading economic effects for mountain town industries.
Vail Resorts reported a 20% decline in skier visits this winter because of sparse snowfall, prompting budget cuts that reduced hours for resort employees and ski patrollers. At Breckenridge ski area, first-year patroller Paulina Brovkin was out of work for a month at the start of the season because there wasn’t enough snow for all the patrollers to work. The unexpected loss of income forced her to seek other work. She said many patrollers have had to take on extra jobs, on top of existing part-time work, simply to make ends meet.
“It’s a really difficult time out here,” Brovkin said. “It started off with really uncertain hours, and this air of uncertainty has been permeating throughout the whole season.”
Brovkin said she and her fellow resort employees have been grateful for local community dinners hosted by churches like St. Johns and Father Dyer in Breckenridge.
“It’s really been a great way for people to go get a meal in these uncertain times,” she said.
Peter Kenworthy, programs director of Angel Baskets, a local food assistance nonprofit in Telluride, said visits to the food pantry increased three to four times during the January closure of the Telluride ski resort.
But it hasn’t just been ski resort employees affected by the low snowpack. Workers in snow removal, restaurants, property management and housekeeping are also among those now seeking assistance.
“It’s an array of seasonal workers we are now seeing,” Fegelein, of the Routt County food bank, said.
Anthony Cardullo, founder and operations manager of Summit Snow, a snow removal company in Summit County, said the company has experienced a 99% reduction in seasonal operations during what typically runs from November through April.
Snow removal has historically attracted resort employees seeking second or third jobs, Cardullo said, and this winter, reduced hours at resorts have driven even more workers to look for income through seasonal plowing and removal.
“We are certainly seeing the impact from the reduction of hours or layoffs from the big players, Vail Resorts and some of the bigger outfitters in Summit County, just looking for work and unable to find it either through their main employer or through us,” he said.
However, there is not enough work available to support even the company’s full-time staff, let alone additional part-time workers. Cardullo said Summit Snow has reduced its workforce from 12 full-time seasonal employees to two year-round salaried employees because of the lack of snowfall.
“It is certainly a new thing for us, where we have a surplus of accessible labor that we’re just unable to fulfill,” Cardullo said.
The surge in workers seeking assistance comes as food banks’ resources are being stretched thin. Food banks across the Western Slope are also struggling to fill gaps left by cuts to federal food assistance programs such as SNAP and TEFAP.
“It’s the perfect storm,” Snow said. “The increased demand couldn’t come at a worse time, while everyone is trying to reorganize the ways in which they can even give out food.”
Each food bank emphasized the generosity of the wider community, from organizing food drives to donating and volunteering at pantries.
“The flip side is that our community of donors and grantors have really stepped up and supported us more than normal,” Kenworthy said.
Despite increased donations and community support, the economic strain may be too great for food banks to handle alone.
“Donations haven’t been enough to bridge that gap for people who are now forced to decide whether to leave the community or whether they can make it through this tough time,” Snow said.
The dry winter has shaken Brovkin’s confidence in building a career in the mountains.
“I just started patrolling, and I’m now wondering if it’s really something that’s going to be a long-term thing,” she said.