Will Permanent Daylight Savings Affect Skiing and Snowboarding?

Will Permanent Daylight Savings Affect Skiing and Snowboarding?

Most people only think about how falling backwards and springing forward to follow daylight savings affects their sleep schedules. However, the extra hour of sunlight, or lack thereof, that comes from daylight savings can also have a huge effect on your day of skiing or snowboarding.

With the news that the U.S. Senate has approved making daylight savings permanent instead of changing time with the seasons, the ASO Mammoth team has broken down what skiers and snowboarders should expect if daylight savings become permanent. Check it out below, then visit ASO Mammoth for the best ski and snowboard gear and rentals in Mammoth Lakes! 

How Permanent Daylight Savings Will Affect Ski Resorts

On the surface, it may seem like permanent daylight savings simply means that one hour of morning skiing becomes one hour of afternoon skiing. However, the change of time may have a huge effect on how ski mountains operate.

Before any ski mountain can open, resort staff must manage the snow to make sure it is safe for skiing and snowboarding. That can mean marking hazards, controlling avalanche conditions, and checking equipment like lifts to make sure it’s operating safely.

Depending on the mountain and the geography surrounding it, many mountains could be doing those opening procedures in the dark if daylight savings becomes permanent. Some opening procedures can be done in the dark, but others require light to do safely.

For example, checking a lift can be done with a flashlight, but checking snow conditions after a heavy storm needs to be done in the light of day for the safety of guests and staff alike.

How Permanent Daylight Savings Will Affect Skiers and Snowboarders

Ski Mountains won’t open if they can’t guarantee that their guests and staff are safe, so they will wait until they have the necessary sunlight to do their pre-operation checks.

That means that as winter brings darker days resorts will need to open later. Fortunately, if daylight savings are made permanent then there would also be an extra hour of sunlight in the afternoon that could balance out the lost hour in the morning.

Of course, the amount of sunlight a mountain receives depends on the weather and the geography surrounding the slopes, so how each mountain responds to the change will be unique.

How Will Permanent Daylight Savings Affect Mammoth Mountain?

It’s difficult to say exactly what effect permanent daylight savings will have on Mammoth Mountain. However, thanks to Mammoth Mountain’s high elevation it receives plenty of direct sunshine, and the area’s weather makes sunshine abundant even with the amount of storms that bring the mountain’s famous snow. 

Still, those same storms make avalanche control incredibly important, and with the amount of terrain at Mammoth Mountain checking it all in the dark would be difficult and unsafe. Fortunately, the operations team at Mammoth Mountain is one of the best in the world, and if there’s anyone who could figure out the best way to adjust operations for permanent daylight savings it is them!