FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — For many people it is a tradition to move north to spend Christmas or New Year in the snow or on the slopes. But with high temperatures expected to hover around 60 degrees in Flagstaff, there’s no white Christmas on the horizon this year.

While there may not be much snow here in Flagstaff, there are plenty of winter activities, such as the Flagstaff Snow Park, which has been a staple for snow fun in the city since 2016.

Jonathan Allen, the park’s president, said many people come from the valley to experience the snow.

“Have a good time with your friends and family, connect a little with nature, experience winter and just have a good time,” Allen said.

However, due to the lack of snow this year, the snow machines had to work particularly hard to open the slopes.

“The conditions were definitely challenging,” Allen said. We make snow on our tubing trails, but our general snow playgrounds rely on natural snow. So the snow playgrounds are generally pretty dry right now.”

According to a Northern Arizona University study, snow play activities such as the park and snow bowl bring an estimated $19.7 million to the economy.

“This is our busiest time of year, and that’s consistent with a year like this where we don’t have a lot of snow,” said Allen, who noticed fewer people this year.

Despite the lack of snow, the park was still busy Monday afternoon, full of families having fun, like Scott McRoberts and his son Jack.

“We just wanted him to see the snow,” McRoberts said. “He had never been there before, so we decided to see the snow. We were expecting more snow and then had to go to the snow park here to get some time on the artificial snow.”

While in the city, the family also visited the North Pole Experience and visited the snow park.

For Jack, just the sight of the snow made the whole trip worth it.

“Amazing because it was the first time I didn’t even know how to make a snowball,” he said.

From shopping downtown to skiing at the Snowbowl or sledding at the snow park, there’s plenty to do this holiday season: snow or snow.

Do you see a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a recent news story? Send it to us here with a short description.

Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.