Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
January occupancy lagging from last year
Paid occupancy in Aspen reached 69.3% in January, down from 79.3% last year. Snowmass recorded 72% paid occupancy, down from 2023’s 73.1%, according to the January 2024 occupancy report for Aspen and Snowmass lodges, compiled by local tourism officials and reservations tracking firm Destimetrics. January occupancy reached 71.6% for the two towns combined this year, down from 76.1% last year.
“Australian visitation slipped this year which was largely due to higher costs, Japan fully opening and exchange rates,” the report summary noted. “Knowing as early as last spring that Australia would underperform, we focused our efforts on other markets to fill the gaps. In particular, our friends from Brazil. Brazilians largely prefer Snowmass lodging and as a result Snowmass ended January down only 1.4%, achieving 72% occupancy vs last year’s 73.1%.”
Occupancy was also influenced by January events, such as the X Games, Winterskol and Gay Ski Week, that brought visitors upvalley.
After the 2021’s slow down due to the pandemic, January occupancy in Aspen peaked in 2022 as the it reached 75.9% that year while remaining lower than 2020’s 76.3%.
It’s worth nothing that only commercial occupancy is counted in the report. It doesn’t reflect the occupancy of short-term rentals.
February paid occupancy as of Jan. 31 was at 70.9% for Aspen and Snowmass, down from 73.5% last year.
Overall winter occupancy is down from last year with 51.2% of rooms booked for November through April for Aspen and Snowmass combined, down from 2022-23’s 54.2%, 2021-22’s 55.3% and from 2019-20’s 54.4% before COVID hit.
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. “According to the January 31 report, we have 276 more room nights sold for this winter compared to last year,” the report noted.
Indy Pass snowpack reaches 10 inches of snow-water equivalent
Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin reached an average of 11.8 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on Feb. 18, or 102% of median. That’s up from 10.9 inches on Feb. 11, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 86.7% of median on Feb. 18 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 10 inches, up from 9.5 inches and from 86.4% of normal on Feb. 11. Last year on Feb. 18, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 11.4 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 10.2 inches on Feb. 18 or 89% of median. That’s up from a SWE of 9.7 inches on Feb. 11. Last year, on Feb. 18, the station measured a snowpack holding 18 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 12.9 inches of SWE on Feb. 18, or 121.7% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 12.2 inches of SWE on Feb. 18, which is up from 11.2 inches on Feb. 11.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 19.5 inches on Feb. 18, which represents 89% of median. That’s up from 17.6 inches on Feb. 11. 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 water levels keep going down
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On Feb. 18, the reservoir was 34.42% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from Feb. 11 when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 34.63%.
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 2022 published a story explaining the that drop in storage due to sedimentation. We will be now using the 2017-18 sedimentation data only.
On Feb. 18, 2023, the reservoir was 22.99% full.
On Feb. 18, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,563.3 feet, or 136.7 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,564 feet on Feb. 11. Last year, on Feb. 18 the reservoir reached 3,521.77 feet in elevation, or 178.23 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.
