Citing the lack of snow and the loss of seasonal staff, Sleeping Giant Ski Lodge will not open this year.

“With a heavy heart we are announcing that Sleeping Giant will not be opening for the 23/24 winter season. We would like to thank everyone for their support and patience as we battled this terrible weather year,” said Nick Piazza, owner of the lodge.

The lodge is planning to refund season pass holders who opt out for the season. However, those who hold on to their passes will receive benefits from “friendly competitors” who have reached out to help Sleeping Giant as it faces the loss of their season. Snow King has decided to honor its offer of three free days of skiing “regardless of the fact that we're not going to be open,” Piazza said.

“That's a $300 value right there,” he said.

Red Lodge Mountain is looking to extend a helping hand, and are still in the process of working on a deal for Sleeping Giant season pass holders.

Those opting for a refund will receive the funds automatically to the accounts from which the passes were purchased later this month. Any complimentary passes for the 23/24 season automatically carry over to next season. The same applies for passes that were part of any promotion, charity giveaway or raffle.

“We will go lick our wounds, and — I am confident — come back stronger,” Piazza said.

The team will now begin working on several long-standing projects that were on hold when operating. They are also in discussions with the U.S. Forest Service and Techno Alpine to get a jump on improvements to the lodge’s snow making system in the spring.

The lodge had a breakdown of underground pipes late last year, making it impossible to make enough snow to open over the holiday season, which accounts for the majority of revenue for the entire year.

“Our chance at profitability really depends on those last two weeks in December,” he said.

Sleeping Giant invested $100K for new snowmaking equipment recently, but the aging piping network for water on the mountain now needs to be replaced. It won’t be cheap, he said.

“If you're pulling stuff out of the ground, it's probably going to make sense to pull all of it,” he said.

This coming March the team of managers — who have all been on standby pay this season — will meet to discuss the summer season.

Red Lodge Mountain opened in late November. Yet, while they have a reported base of 12-23 inches, the lack of snow has led to some businesses being closed in downtown Red Lodge in what some are calling the worst season in decades. After a few inches fell over the weekend, the lodge was forced to delay opening Monday due to brutal temperatures recorded near minus-50 windchill.