Aspen Journalism is compiling a data dashboard highlighting metrics of local public interest, updated weekly.
Winter occupancy rate is down from last year but more rooms have been booked
Paid occupancy in Aspen reached 33.2% in November, up from 32.4% last year. Snowmass recorded 9.9% paid occupancy, down from 2022’s 11.2%, according to the November 2023 occupancy report for Aspen and Snowmass lodges, compiled by local tourism officials and reservations tracking firm Destimetrics. November occupancy reached 21.9% for the two towns combined this year, up from 21.4% last year.
November occupancy in Aspen peaked in 2021 after the 2020’s slow down due to the pandemic as the it reached 33.8% that year.
It’s worth nothing that only commercial occupancy is counted in the report. It doesn’t reflect the occupancy of short-term rentals.
December paid occupancy as of Nov. 30 was at 47.9% for Aspen and Snowmass, down from 48.5% last year.
Overall winter occupancy is down from last year with 41.1% of rooms booked for November through April for Aspen and Snowmass combined, down from 2022-23’s 43%, 2021-22’s 43.4% and from 2019-20’s 41.6% 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 inventory 5.6% higher than last year.
Snowpack at Indy Pass is at 69% of normal
Snowpack in the Roaring Fork basin has gone up since last week, reaching an average of 5.2 inches of snow-water equivalent per site on Dec. 17, or 96% of median, according to NRCS.
SNOTEL sites that monitor snowfall throughout the winter measured the snowpack at Independence Pass at 69% of median on Dec. 17 with a “snow water equivalent” (SWE) of 4 inches, up from 3.7 inches but down from 69.8% of normal on Dec. 10. Last year on Dec. 17, the SNOTEL station up the pass (located at elevation 10,600 feet) recorded an SWE of 5.2 inches.
The monitoring station at McClure Pass, located at elevation 8,770 feet, recorded a SWE of 4 inches on Dec. 17 or 80% of median. That’s up from a SWE of 3.9 inches on Dec. 10. Last year, on Dec. 17, the station measured a snowpack holding 6.5 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 5.6 inches of SWE on Dec. 17, or 109.8% of median.
Snowpack at North Lost Trail, which sits at an elevation of 9,219 feet, has reached 5.9 inches of SWE on Dec. 17, up from 5.8 inches last week.
Snowpack at Schofield Pass reached 8.5 inches on Dec. 17, which represents 83% of median. That’s up from 8 inches on Dec. 10. 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 declining
Lake Powell‘s water levels peaked in early July and are now decreasing. On Dec. 17, the reservoir was 36.55% full (based on updated 2017-18 sedimentation data). That’s down from Dec. 10, when the nation’s second-largest reservoir was at 36.72%.
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 Dec. 17, 2022, the reservoir was 24.15% full.
On Dec. 17, Lake Powell’s elevation reached 3,570 feet, or 130 feet from full pool, which is down from 3,570.6 feet on Dec. 10. Last year, on Dec. 17 the reservoir reached 3,530.2 feet in elevation, or 169.8 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.
Swinging air temperatures at ASE
High air temperatures at the Aspen airport went from 25°F on Dec. 10 to 42°F on Dec. 13, which is about 12 degrees above normal. Meanwhile, low temperatures went from -1°F on Dec. 10 to 24°F on Dec. 13.
‘Good’ air quality in Aspen
The air quality in Aspen was “good.” The air quality index for ozone ranged from 30 and Dec. 12 to 40 on Dec. 17.
