Ski now or ...

Better hit the slopes soon.

There might not be enough powder to support your skis in upcoming years.

At least that's the theory of a new national report from the University of New Hampshire. The report, studying climate impacts on winter tourism, predicts that climate change is going to eventually result in warmer winters, reduced snowfall and shorter snow seasons.

In other words, winter recreation is doomed.

"Skiing, as we know it, is on borrowed time," reads the report summary by Protecting Our Winters, a nonprofit environmental group that funded the report with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

According to the report, available at protectourwinters.org/climate_report/, the 2011-'12 winter was the fourth warmest on record in the U.S. since 1896, with the third lowest snow cover since 1966.

On top of that, a survey by the National Ski Areas Association out of Lakewood, Colo., showed 50 percent of responding ski areas reported they opened late and 48 percent closed early last winter, most of them in the southeast, northeast, the Midwest and the Pacific southwest.

According to the report, winter temperatures are expected to warm an additional 4 to 10 degrees by the end of the century.

Snow depths are predicted to decline 25 to 100 percent in the west.

"All of this translates into less snow and fewer people on the slopes," the report summary states.

But local ski resorts aren't hanging dust covers on their ski lifts yet.

Lookout Pass Ski Area has been keeping an eye on climate change studies for years, said CEO and President Phil Edholm.

While Edholm thinks global warming is a valid idea, his research indicates that the Pacific Northwest won't be as affected as other areas.

"We've talked about this topic for years amongst ourselves as ski resort operators," said Edholm, also president of the Idaho Ski Areas Association. "We feel some comfort that long-range predictions aren't as negative (for our area) as they are for some other areas of the country."

Recent weather patterns haven't shown anything to be alarmed about, he added.

Lookout has made its usual late-November opening for the past two years, Edholm said. The ski area averages about 400 inches of snowfall a year, he said. Two years ago it saw 600 inches, he said, and more than 400 last year.

"Right now, we're just a slight bit ahead of normal," Edholm said. "We haven't seen the dreaded climate change hit us at this point."

The resort's December business is up 16 percent from last year, he said. Encouraging, considering last winter tallied record-breaking business.

The resort is even investing in long-term winter tourism. Lookout is in the process of adding two more lifts, he said.

"We're encouraged," Edholm said. "Business is good."

Spokespeople for Schweitzer Mountain and Silver Mountain ski resorts could not be reached on Monday.

There's no reason for North Idaho residents to sell their winter gear on Craigslist, according to Coeur d'Alene Climatologist Cliff Harris.

Recent weather trends don't show that winter is getting any lighter in our area, he said

"We're ahead on snowfall by 8 inches for the season," Harris pointed out. "The last four or five years, except one year, we were way above average snowfall. We had plenty of snow for skiers."

Two of Coeur d'Alene's snowiest winters had roofs collapsing in 2007 and 2008, he said. Coeur d'Alene has accrued three feet of snow already this winter, he added.

So winter isn't ebbing everywhere, Harris said.

"We've got plenty of ice and snow," he said. "For much of the northern hemisphere, this has been a tough winter so far."