Friday, September 4, 2015

The End of Snow? The Sad Saga of Downhill Skiing on Mt. Lemmon, AZ

Scientists are saying that 2015 is on pace to become the warmest year on record, surpassing the record set in 2014. The winters in Arizona are seeing far less snow with the warmer temperatures. Mt. Lemmon is a 9,000 ft. peak north of Tucson, AZ and has a small downhill ski area. 2013-2014 was the first year in 50 years it didn't open at all due to lack of snow. 2014-15 wasn't much better, only opening for 3 days. I happened to be on the mountain during that new year's eve storm that dumped about a foot of snow on the mountain. I had gone up for winter camping and cross-country skiing. But that turned out be the first and last hurrah of the winter. And we can't end without a mention of California's record drought 5 years running with catastrophic wildfires (some presidential candidates think all CA needed to do was build more reservoirs)

  VIDEO OF A NOW UNCOMMON SNOWSTORM ON MT. LEMMON-- XX SKIING, WINTER CAMPING