Beartooth Basin Closes for the Season Just Two-and-a-Half Weeks After Opening Day

Beartooth Basin on June 20, 2017. This year, the resort will not even be open for June 20.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Just two-and-a-half weeks after opening, Beartooth Basin—North America’s only summer-only ski area—has called a wrap on its 2021 season. The resort’s access road remains closed throughout the winter, and the resort was able to open May 29 after extensive access restoration work. However, extraordinarily high temperatures melted enough snow by Tuesday to render further operations infeasible.

Beartooth Basin, located at the Montana-Wyoming border, is North America’s sole summer-only ski resort. While the U.S. 212 access road remains closed throughout the winter, exceptional snow preservation allows the area to enjoy a brief summer season. The area is often used for competitive training camps.

This abrupt closure marks Beartooth’s shortest season since 2016, when it did not operate.

Our Take

Those unfamiliar with Beartooth Basin may find the quick end to the area’s 2021 season eye-popping. However, the area’s seasons have always been short and rarely last more than a full month. Season lengths have decreased in recent years, with the 2019 and 2020 seasons each lasting just three or four weeks (notwithstanding intra-season closures due to road-access or lift issues). However, in good years, the resort can make it from Memorial Day through the first week or two of July.

Unfortunately, these developments mean we will not be able to visit Beartooth Basin this summer. The area looks quite small with limited infrastructure, but from an initial glance, it seems to offer considerably more technical terrain than Timberline, North America’s only other outdoor ski resort with a summer season.