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The snowpack has a big impact on the outdoor recreation industry in Colorado, and beyond, even outside the winter season. It’s so important that teams physically measure it all season long.

In this episode of FIRE & ICE, we travel with surveyors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Berthoud Pass atop the Continental Divide as they checked in on the snowfall levels above 11,000 feet. And we take a closer look at what that level means for the western states.

Snow-capped mountains in Berthoud Pass. (Getty Images)

About Fire & Ice:

America’s West is under assault – from Mother Nature. The number of large, destructive wildfires continues to climb. Unusual weather patterns are arising for the first time in decades. Shorter winters, shrinking snow pack and human water demand are leading to historically low reservoir levels. Weather anomalies are becoming the norm. The reasons why the climate is changing is an ongoing debate. In this ‘Fire and Ice’ podcast, however, journalists across four western states go beyond the partisan politics and explore the real-time impacts of these changing weather patterns: a ‘Game of Thrones’ involving human activity and forces of nature.

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