It’s a late January morning. The sun is bright and warm, and skiers and snowboarders tromp through muddy slush at the bottom of the slopes at Snow Summit Ski Resort in Big Bear.
The hillside is a patchwork of brown, dry dirt interrupted by a few white splotches of snow. A few dozen people make their way through the sludge — their snowboots squelching in the puddling snowmelt — toward one of the few ski lifts that are open.
Julian Villalobos, a ski instructor, directs foot traffic nearby at the edge of the bunny hill.
“With this kind of weather right around, you know, one o'clock, two o'clock, it turns to mashed potatoes,” said Villalobos. “No one wants to ride mashed potatoes. It’s horrible.”
“Mashed potatoes” is ski jargon for lumpy, wet snow that catches snowboards and skis. It makes turning on skis difficult and dangerous, causing skiers to twist and fall forward.
Every winter, skiers trek up to Big Bear to hit the slopes, but this year snow is hard to come by. Rain and record high temperatures have dominated the region: Daytime average high temperatures have hovered around 50 degrees, up four degrees from January 2025’s average of 46 degrees.
Snow Summit would normally be fully open by late December, but as of early February only four of 33 ski trails are open.
On a recent January morning, temperatures hit 55 degrees by 11 a.m. Some skiers are donning clothes more suited to the beach than the slopes: There’s T-shirts and shorts galore.
“I saw bathing suits and bikinis out here Saturday,” Villalobos said. “Normally, you don't see that until March or April.”
Wettest, warmest winter
Big Bear hasn’t experienced a winter with this little snow in nearly seven decades, according to National Weather Service data. From the start of the winter season in October to January, Big Bear is predicted to get an accumulative 29 inches of snow. This winter, there’s been less than an inch.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources said there’s been no shortage of rain, even if there hasn’t been any snow.
“We had literally, in some places, the most precipitation we've seen to start the season,” said Swain.
In fact, California had one of the wettest starts to the water year last fall. More rain fell between last October and this January than any year since 1895, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration started keeping records.
Swain says Southern California has also been getting hotter since 1895. He said this year’s wet winter has coincided with the hottest winter on record.
“We've seen about four or so degrees Fahrenheit of winter warming,” said Swain. “That's a lot, and that's 100% due to climate change.”
He said without a specific study it’s hard to know how much climate change has specifically contributed to this warm, rainy winter. Still, Swain said this winter is part of a long-term warming trend and that climate change is a significant factor.
The rainfall does mean the entire state of California is free from drought for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. The state’s reservoirs are in good shape, but as water levels drop in warmer months the state can’t count on the snowpack to replenish them. The snowpack is at 57% of average for this time of year.
Swain said the snowpack is like a conveniently time-released reservoir that helps keep California’s water stores ample through drier months. This year, there’s no major cause for concern that California will fall back into severe drought conditions because water stores are good, he added. But if the snow drought continues, there could be cause for concerns in certain drier parts of the state like the Colorado River basin.
‘Just make more snow’
Though actual snowfall in the area hasn’t been robust, some ski resorts have the ability to make snow by pushing water and pressurized air through a “snow cannon” — also known as a snow machine.
Snow Summit has robust snowmaking capabilities, said Justin Kanton, a marketing manager for Big Bear Mountain Resorts. Normally, the resort would start making snow in mid-November when temperatures at night dip into the low-20s, but it’s been too hot.
“We see it a lot [on] social media, on the comments, ‘just turn on the guns. Just turn on the guns. Just make more snow.’ If we could, we would,” Kanton said.
A water line runs from nearby Big Bear Lake to the resort and pumps water in for snowmaking. Kanton said the resort buys about four inches of water off the top of the lake each year and they have to ration it through the winter.
Kanton said there’s very specific weather conditions that need to be met to make snow. Temperatures need to be at least freezing.
“We look for a wet bulb temp, which is the combination of temp and humidity of around 27 degrees,” said Kanton.
The wet bulb temperature is determined by using a thermometer covered with a wet cloth. The cloth measures the cooling effect of evaporation, which provides a more accurate measure of cooling conditions than a regular thermometer reading.
“It's not just a random thing that we just go out and make snow when we feel like it,” said Kanton. “The conditions have to be right.”
If snow was made during these recent spouts of warm temperatures, he said it would just melt by the end of the day. With no snow and poor snow making conditions, the resort has not been able to open many trails and ski lifts — and that’s led to fewer visitors.
Snow Summit quadruples its staff during the winter months to operate the resort.
“Seasons like this, it does pose a challenge trying to get those people enough hours,” said Kanton.
Businesses are empty
The effects of this warm, wet winter have reverberated out to businesses in Big Bear that rely on ski and snowboarding tourism. In Big Bear Village, there was barely a trickle of tourists [on a recent late-January visit. Gift shops and boutiques were empty, and several restaurants have cut their hours to save on operating costs.
Ski rental businesses like Goldsmith’s Sports are suffering the most. The family-run operation relies on ski and snowboard rentals for most of its profits.
Mario Magliozzi, the manager, sat at the front counter trying to keep himself busy with things like paper shredding and cleaning. Beside the hum of a snowboot warmer and the occasional phone call, the shop is dead.
Magliozzi looks down from the top of the shop to the wall where they keep the snowboard and ski rentals.
“This whole wall of bindings — on a busy day — it's empty,” said Magliozzi. “That is not happening this season. Probably won't happen this season.”
He says on a normal day they’d have some 300 rentals, but today there’s just 30.
Linda Goldsmith, whose husband founded the shop, has been the owner for nearly four decades. She said this winter has been terrible for her business.
“I’d say we’re down 70%,” said Goldsmith. “We call ourselves snow farmers. So you know the farmer, his crops depend on the weather, and so do we.”
Each winter, Goldsmith said, she starts ordering gloves, goggles, and other ski accoutrement for the following year. She said it’s hard to prepare for next year because they’re still sitting on so much equipment from this year.
Goldsmith also said, like the resorts, they increase staffing with seasonal employees during the winter.
“The sad part is my employees aren’t getting the hours they should,” said Goldsmith. She said she has to prioritize hours for her year-round employees.
Vacation rentals have also taken a hit.
“You're usually seeing like 85-90% occupancy rates. Right now the mountain is looking at closer to 65 to 75% booked,” said Evan Engle, the president of the Big Bear Chamber of Commerce. He also owns a business that operates vacation rentals.
Engle said vacation rentals rely heavily on ski tourism traffic on holiday weekends like the Martin Luther King Jr. Day long weekend and Christmas. No snow on the mountain means fewer people are booking rentals. Engle said some rental property owners have lowered rates to try to drum up more business.
“These are not holidays or weekends that you can replace in the future,” said Engle. “So this is lost revenue.”
‘Pray to Jack Frost’
Back at Snow Summit, the easy slopes are open and the beginners are having a good time. Most of the people on the mountain are parents and their young kids learning to ski and snowboard for the first time.
Julian Villalobos, the ski instructor, said this terrible snow winter has been bad for him, too. He said he’s not booking nearly as many lessons as he normally would.
“If there’s no snow, we can’t teach. We can’t ride,” said Villalobos.
He said he hasn’t given up hope for this winter yet.
“Fingers crossed, you know, pray to Jack Frost that we get something,” said Villalobos.
Whether it’s to Jack Frost, Mother Nature, or some other power, it seems like everyone in this mountain town is praying for snow.
