Last Call: The Biggest Closing Weekend in Decades

This Sunday is Easter. It's also the biggest mass execution of ski seasons in recent memory.

At least 15 Western resorts will spin their lifts for the final time on April 5, including Keystone, Crested Butte, Wolf Creek, Steamboat, Telluride, Schweitzer, Whitefish, Discovery, Mission Ridge, Snoqualmie, Heavenly, Northstar, Boreal, and Arizona Snowbowl. Some had planned to stay open longer. Most didn't.

The 2025-26 season -- already the worst in 50 years by Colorado's own snowpack numbers -- is going out with a whimper and a storm.

The Farewell Storm

Mother Nature has a sick sense of humor. Just as resorts are laying out their closing weekend plans, two storms rolled through Colorado this week, dropping the kind of totals that would've been headline news in January.

Storm 1 (April 1-2) -- three-day totals:

• Crested Butte: 22" (Irwin got 24")
• Wolf Creek: 19"
• Snowmass: 11-12"
• Aspen Mountain: 9"
• Copper Mountain: 4.5"
• Loveland: 3.5-4"
• Breckenridge: 3.5"
• Keystone: 3.5"
• Vail: 3-5"
• Steamboat: 3"
• Winter Park: 3"
• A-Basin: 3"

Storm 2 (April 3-4) is hitting as you read this. A colder system favoring the northern mountains -- Steamboat, Vail, and the Aspen corridor could see another 5-10 inches by Friday morning. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for the Park Range and northern Gore Range, with gusts up to 50 mph.

So if you're heading out for closing weekend, Friday and Saturday conditions at resorts like Crested Butte (22" fresh + second wave incoming), Steamboat, and Snowmass could be legitimately excellent. Spring powder on closing day is the skiing gods' version of a curtain call.

The Easter Bloodbath: Who's Closing April 5

Here's the full hit list for this Sunday:

Colorado: Crested Butte, Keystone, Steamboat, Telluride (tentative), Wolf Creek

Idaho: Schweitzer, Lookout Pass (may reopen Apr 11-12 if conditions hold)

Montana: Discovery, Lost Trail, Whitefish

Washington: Mission Ridge, Snoqualmie

California/Nevada: Boreal, Heavenly, Northstar, Sugar Bowl

Arizona: Arizona Snowbowl

That's a staggering number of closures for a single day. Normally these resorts would be staggered across late March through mid-April. But when your snowpack peaked at 24-30% of average in Colorado and 18% in the Sierras, the math just doesn't work.

The Survivors: Who's Still Open After Sunday

If you're not ready to hang up the skis, here's the roadmap for the rest of the season:

Open Through April 12

• Jackson Hole -- Making it to their planned closing date
• Sun Valley -- Also on schedule
• Snowmass -- Got an extra week beyond the Easter closures
• Stevens Pass -- PNW holding on
• Mt. Hood Meadows -- Announced April 12 as final day, low snowpack
• June Mountain -- Sierra survivor

Open Through April 19-26

• Vail -- Upper mountain only, downloading via gondolas
• Winter Park -- Mary Jane already closed
• Aspen Mountain -- Three extra weeks past Highlands/Buttermilk
• Eldora -- Surprising late-season hold
• Copper Mountain -- April 26 target
• Grand Targhee -- April 19
• Alta -- April 26
• Crystal Mountain -- April 26
• Mt. Baker -- April 19
• Big Sky -- Daily through April 12, then weekends through April 26
• Brighton -- April 19

The Long Haulers (May+)

• Mammoth Mountain -- Planning for Memorial Day (May 25). Currently offering $99 lift tickets to anyone with a season pass from another resort. Smart play.
• Snowbird -- Also targeting Memorial Day
• Mt. Bachelor -- May 25
• Timberline -- May 25
• Loveland -- Late April to early May
• A-Basin -- As late as conditions allow
• Breckenridge -- As late as conditions allow
• Solitude -- May 17
• Brian Head -- May 10

The Broader Picture

Let's zoom out for a second. OPB ran a segment this week called "As the West faces an unprecedented snow drought, ski resorts are left scrambling." The segment featured Mt. Hood Meadows' GM discussing the economic fallout -- seasonal workers scrambling, mountain towns offering fire sales on gear, and resorts pivoting to warm-weather activities.

This isn't just a bad snow year anymore. It's a stress test for the entire business model.

Utah's snowpack dropped from 75% of average in late February to 15% of median by late March -- a 60-point collapse in under a month. Colorado's at record lows. The Sierras lost most of their pack to a heat wave. Only the PNW emerged relatively unscathed, with Baker logging 384 inches for the season.

The Mammoth play is interesting: offer discounted tickets to refugees from closed resorts. It's a smart grab for late-season revenue, and it acknowledges reality -- if your home mountain is done, Mammoth at 11,000 feet with a deep base is where you go.

Where to Ski This Weekend

If you're making a pilgrimage for closing day, here's where conditions will be best:

1. Crested Butte -- 22" from Storm 1 + more incoming. Could be legitimately deep for an April closing day. This is the pick.
2. Steamboat -- Second storm is targeting the northern mountains. Could wake up Friday to a refresh.
3. Snowmass -- 11-12" this week and staying open through April 12. Less urgency but great conditions.
4. Wolf Creek -- 19" from the first storm. Southern Colorado's most reliable resort doing what it does best, right up until the end.
5. Jackson Hole -- If you're in Wyoming, JH has another week and typically holds spring snow well on the upper mountain.

The Math

After Sunday, roughly 30-35 resorts will remain open across the entire Western U.S. By April 19, that number drops below 20. By May, you're looking at fewer than 10.

The 2025-26 season will be remembered as the year the industry confronted what climate scientists have been warning about for a decade. Record-early closures. Record-low snowpacks. Record warm winters. And yet -- 22 inches at Crested Butte in April, because the mountains don't read press releases.

Get out there this weekend if you can. For a lot of these places, Sunday's the last dance.

Check our multi-model forecast for real-time storm tracking, and follow our prediction markets to see how the final storm totals compare to the models.