The low snowpack is having major economic impacts on Colorado mountain towns, but experts say the season is not a total loss.Vail Resorts is reporting a 4.7% loss in resort net revenue because of unfavorable weather conditions t hat impacted visitation.This has been the most challenging winter across the Rockies that we have ever experienced with the lowest snowfall levels in more than 30 years for our Colorado and Utah resorts, said Chief Executive Officer for Vail Resorts Rob Katz.The Aspen Chamber Resort Association's February reservations report found the winter season performance was down 6.3%."We're seeing declines in bookings in a lot of our towns. We're also seeing a decline in visitation to a lot of our resorts. I want to just highlight it's not all doom and gloom for a lot of our mountain resort communities, because there are other recreational activities that we can still be doing in the winter because it is so dry and so warm out there. So things like mountain biking, hiking," said Natalie Ooi.Ooi is a professor who studies sustainable tourism and recreation economies and serves as the director of the CU Boulder Master of the Environment Program.The low snowpack could mean reduced water flows for summer activities like rafting. However, warmer-than-normal temperatures mean those activities are starting earlier.Ooi said mountain towns can build economic resiliency during low snowpack years by diversifying into other outdoor recreation activities, building out summer tourism offerings and extending the tourism season into the fall by holding events."That also includes things like diversifying into other industries. Our mountain resort communities are really beautiful places. The access to the outdoors and outdoor recreation is, you know, amazing, and this can be the quality of life attractor that brings in remote workers or other businesses that you know, serve other industries to move into these communities so that they're not entirely dependent on tourism," Ooi said.Denver7 reached out to the Colorado Tourism Office for data on the economic impact of the snow drought and is waiting to hear back.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less