Second US Ski Area Damaged By Wildfire This Summer

A second U.S. ski area has been struck by wildfire this summer, with Montana’s Maverick Mountain now facing severe damage as the fast‑moving Sand Creek Fire burns through the resort’s upper terrain.

The blaze, which grew rapidly earlier this week, forced evacuations across the local area and is believed to have severely damaged or destroyed at least one mountain‑top structure and a chairlift. Officials say the fire exhibited extreme behaviour in hot, unstable conditions, pushing rapidly across ridgelines and into ski runs. 

“With heavy hearts, we are sad to say the sand creek fire is actively inside the ski area boundary. The Maverick chair has sustained damage, but further details are unknown. We won’t know the extent of the damages until we regain access to the property!” a social media post from the resort explained earlier this week, adding, “A big thank you to all the people on the front line and everyone who has helped us this far! Please keep our community in your thoughts.”

The incident follows last month’s catastrophic Cottonwood Fire in Utah, which devastated Eagle Point Ski Resort. The resort has confirmed it will not open for the 2026–27 winter season after the fire and subsequent flooding destroyed the Canyonside Lodge, four chairlifts, and 145 homes and condos in the surrounding community. Damage assessments continue, but officials say the scale of destruction and access challenges make winter 26-27 operations impossible.  

These events add to a growing list of ski‑area losses and close calls from wildfires worldwide in recent years. Australia’s Selwyn Snow Resort was destroyed during the country’s 2020 bushfire season, requiring a multi‑year rebuild. In Canada, the resort town of Jasper was badly damaged in a 2024 fire that just missed local ski area Marmot Basin. Back in the U.S., Sierra‑at‑Tahoe in California suffered heavy damage during the Caldor Fire in August 2021, which burned more than 221,000 acres and destroyed over 1,000 structures across the Sierra Nevada. Last summer several fires got close to New Mexico's Ski Apache and destroyed a long standing ski shop (below). All have been rebuilt and reopened.