Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Winter occupancy is still lagging but new hotel inventory has been added
Paid occupancy in Aspen reached 63.5% in December, up from 63.4% last year. Snowmass recorded 47.3% paid occupancy, down from 2022’s 48.4%, according to the December 2023 occupancy report for Aspen and Snowmass lodges, compiled by local tourism officials and reservations tracking firm Destimetrics. December occupancy reached 55.2% for the two towns combined this year, down from 55.7% last year.
The report noted that these percentages may be misleading because new inventory has been added, such as the Mollie on Main St. and Electric Pass Lodge in Snowmass Base Village, making the available December inventory 6.3% higher than last year. “We sold 5.2% more rooms into December this year than last,” the report noted.
December occupancy in Aspen peaked in 2021 after the 2020’s slow down due to the pandemic as the it reached 64.1% that year.
The report mentioned that Aspen had the highest December occupancy of all resorts that report into Destimetrics for the month, while Snowmass ranked 7 out of 14.
“Additionally, Aspen Airport had an incredible performance, affording guests a far more seamless travel experience compared to the last few years,” the report noted. “Aspen Airport boasted a 95.8% completion factor for the month of December and had nearly no cancelled flights throughout the peak two-week holiday window.”
It’s worth nothing that only commercial occupancy is counted in the report. It doesn’t reflect the occupancy of short-term rentals.
January paid occupancy as of Dec. 31 was at 65% for Aspen and Snowmass, down from 70.1% last year.
Overall winter occupancy is down from last year with 46.6% of rooms booked for November through April for Aspen and Snowmass combined, down from 2022-23’s 48.3%, 2021-22’s 48.8% and from 2019-20’s 48.2% before COVID hit.
Recent snowstorms bring snowpack closer to normal
Recent snowstorms boosted snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin, reaching an average of 7.3 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on Jan. 14, or 92% of median. That’s up from 5.9 inches on Jan. 7, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 73.2% of median on Jan. 14 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 6 inches, up from 4.7 inches and up from 60.3 % of normal on Jan. 7. Last year on Jan. 14, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 8.3 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 6.1 inches on Jan. 14 or 76% of median. That’s up from a SWE of 4.8 inches on Jan. 7. Last year, on Jan. 14, the station measured a snowpack holding 12.8 inches of water.
On the northeast side of the Roaring Fork Basin, snowpack at Ivanhoe, which sits at an elevation of 10,400 feet, reached 8.2 inches of SWE on Jan. 14, or 115.5% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 7.9 inches of SWE on Jan. 14, which is up from 6.7 inches on Jan. 7.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 12.3 inches on Jan. 14, which represents 84% of median. That’s up from 9.6 inches on Jan. 7. Schofield Pass sits at an elevation of 10,700 feet between Marble and Crested Butte.
Snow water equivalent — the metric used to track snowpack — is the amount of water contained within the snowpack, which will become our future water supply running in local rivers and streams.
Lake Powell’s elevation has lost one foot of water since last week
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On Jan. 14, the reservoir was 35.54% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from Jan. 7 when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 35.86%.
Last year, on July 1, 2022, the Bureau of Reclamation revised its data on the amount of water stored in Lake Powell, with a new, lower tally taking into account a 4% drop in the reservoir’s total available capacity between 1986 and 2018 due to sedimentation. Aspen Journalism in July published a story explaining the that drop in storage due to sedimentation. We will be now using the 2017-18 sedimentation data only.
On Jan. 14, 2023, the reservoir was 23.62% full.
On Jan. 14, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,566.9 feet, or 133.1 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,567.9 feet on Jan. 7. Last year, on Jan. 14 the reservoir reached 3,524.36 feet in elevation, or 175.64 feet from full pool.
The “minimum power pool” for turbines generating hydropower at the Glen Canyon Dam is 3,490 feet, and 3,525 feet has been set as a buffer to ensure that the reservoir and the turbines can continue to function properly.
Drop in air temperatures
High air temperatures at the Aspen airport went from 40°F on Jan. 1 to 21°F on Jan. 8, which is about 13 degrees below normal. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from 20°F on Jan. 4 to -5°F on Jan. 9.
Clean air in Aspen
The air quality in Aspen was “good.” The air quality index for ozone ranged from 33 on Jan. 9 to 44 on Jan. 13.
