By Shannon Lukens for Steamboat Radio/Blizzard Broadcasting. Photo from Jan. 14, 2026.
Steamboat Resort is adjusting to the lower snowpack this season. Rumors in the community have been of layoffs due to the reduced terrain. The mountain is at 75% open right now.
President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Hunter spoke during public comment this week, at the Steamboat Springs City Council meeting.
“So we’re managing our business based on guest demand and constantly adjusting. I’ll say that again. We are constantly adjusting. As of today, the reality is we have 75% of our terrain open, which means we are not operating at the level in which we recruited and staffed to back in the fall. Our primary focus is protecting hours for our full-time employees, which meant reducing hours for some seasonal and part-time employees. And that is super difficult to do.”
Director of Communications for the resort, Maren Franciosi, confirmed that there are not layoffs but a reduction in hours for part-time and seasonal staff at the ski area, in several departments.
“But it’s important to note that although employees may not be receiving the hours that they were hired for, they have not lost their benefits or their employee ski passes, and we are working hard right now to make sure that they have resources available to them.”
Franciosi says no employees have lost their employee housing either. She said the resort will continue to provide support, whether it’s access to mental health services, well-being programs, free meals, and a winter clothing drive.
“We’re going to continue to manage our business and as needed, and we will hopefully see more snowfall head our way.”
Full statement from Dave Hunter, President and COO of Steamboat Resort, presented during public comment at City Council.
Dave Hunter. I’m the president and chief operating officer for Steamboat Ski Resort. I want to take a few minutes to provide a little perspective on what we’re seeing at the resort during what has been an incredibly challenging season, not just for Steamboat, but the entire state, and largely across the West. This is the lowest snowpack in Colorado that’s ever been recorded.
That reality has shaped the way that we’re looking at how we’re operating the resort. To address some of the things that we’ve been hearing throughout the community and give you a more clear picture of how we’re managing our business, I’ll start off with the beginning of the season. We were able to make our opening date on November 22nd. That is 100% thanks to the investment in Wild Blue and the snowmaking up in Sunshine.
We opened that terrain up high for the first time in the history of the ski area on opening day. It was a pivot, but it was extremely rewarding to see that investment at work. We had the same scenario four years ago and we had to delay our opening by two weeks. We know that that can be detrimental early in the season. Then we headed into the holiday season. Flights started and we knew that the resort would not be the main event due to limited terrain, and it should come as no surprise that our visitation was and continues to be down.
Although many guests came over the holidays and continue to come to enjoy all the great things that our community has to offer. At the same time, national headlines continued with no snow in the West, no snow in Colorado. As we moved into January and we saw the impacts of the conditions and visitation, we continued to adjust our operations to plan and respond to what we were seeing. In this business, if there’s one thing in 35 years I’ve learned, is you’ve got to be able to adapt.
So we’re managing our business based on guest demand and constantly adjusting. I’ll say that again. We are constantly adjusting. As of today, the reality is we have 75% of our terrain open, which means we are not operating at the level in which we recruited and staffed to back in the fall. Our primary focus is protecting hours for our full-time employees, which meant reducing hours for some seasonal and part-time employees.
And that is super difficult to do. We realize that these impacts also are not isolated just to the resort. They extend to the broader macroeconomic environment in what’s happening. The state and many communities around the Front Range are also mitigating actively. As we look ahead to the rest of the season, we continue to see risk. That’s the reality that we’re operating in, and it’s what we are exactly strategizing against.
I’m extremely proud of the work that our teams have done, limiting the impacts to employees and maximizing the amount of terrain we have for our community and for our guests. We’re working hard to make sure that all of our staff are being highly communicated to about the resources we have available. Mental wellbeing support, onsite food pantries, free counseling, therapy sessions.
There are a lot of bright spots that I think are super important that we remain grounded in. And a few of those are, our destination guests largely are very resilient. They continue to come to Steamboat, especially those that come through our airline program. Second is the Ikon Pass, bringing frequency guests throughout the season. It’s a huge bright spot. The amazing team and job that our teams have done and continue to do, and of course, I mentioned earlier, the Full Steam Ahead investments.
This is how we are adjusting to minimize the impacts while positioning Steamboat to have a strong close to the season. Lastly, I just want to say that it was awesome to host the Ski Town USA celebration last weekend. It’s a powerful reminder of the pride that our community has even in a difficult winter. Thank you for your time this evening.
Link to comments during Steamboat Springs City Council meeting; Feb. 3, 2026.
(at about 1:05 in)
Full comments from Maren Franciosi, Director of Communications for Steamboat Resort.
“It’s an historic low snow year in our state and across much of the West, so we are experiencing dry conditions and higher temperatures than normal. So it’s not surprising that in this year, we have had our visitations to the resort impacted. It’s really incredible what our teams have been able to pull together in the face of these challenges. We are 75% open right now, but that also means that we are operating at a reduced level, and we are not needing the staffing amounts that we hired for and recruited for last fall.
So, to protect hours for our full-time employees, we’ve reduced hours for some of our part-time and seasonal team members across several departments. But it’s important to note that although employees may not be receiving the hours that they were hired for, they have not lost their benefits or their employee ski passes, and we are working hard right now to make sure that they have resources available to them.
Everything ranging from mental health support access, well-being programs, free meals, an employee food pantry, and a winter clothing drive are in the works to support our team members. Nobody who has had reduced hours will lose access to housing. Will they be hired back if the weather changes? Yeah. We’re going to continue to manage our business and as needed, and we will hopefully see more snowfall head our way.”