There are few among us who aren’t anxiously awaiting more snow. After all, summer and fall are beautiful in the high country, but winter — and winter sports — are calling to us. Although official winter doesn’t start until December 21, recent months with temperatures well above average in the mountains and the Front Range, not to mention wildfires, are cause for concern.

We humans need snow for more reasons than just recreation. After all, over 80% of the water that Coloradans drink, utilize and recreate in comes from snowpack and spring runoff. And up to 90% of the Colorado River’s flow has its origin as snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains and smaller mountain ranges of the Colorado Plateau.

But people are not the only Coloradans who need snow. Many of our High Country wildlife neighbors need snow to survive, and not only to provide water for drinking.

One of these is arguably the cutest critter in the High Country. The tiny American pika doesn’t hibernate but still can survive seven to nine months of winter conditions above tree line. For this, the pika needs snow, and lots of it. Pikas survive winter in their high-Alpine habitat by heading for the subnivean zone — the area between the surface of the ground and the top of the snowpack. 

The subnivean zone is created as snow piles up, capturing the warmth of the ground underneath and causing water vapor to rise through a process called sublimation. As the water vapor cools and condenses, it forms an ice layer on the snowpack, providing additional insulation and allowing below-snowpack temperatures to stay around 32 degrees, even when it’s far colder outside.

With sufficient snowpack to provide insulation, pikas can survive winter in the relatively warm subnivean zone where they’ve stashed food collected and dried over the warmer months. However, lower snowpack — or snowpack that forms later and melts earlier — provides less insulation in the subnivean zone. These conditions can cause pikas to succumb to exposure and expose pikas to predator like weasels, raptors, bobcats, coyotes or even your pet dog. 

Pikas aren’t the only High Country creature that needs sufficient snowpack to provide insulation. Unlike pikas, yellow-bellied marmots hibernate, during which time their body temperature decreases to around 40 degrees, their heart rate drops from around 190 beats per minute to as low as 30, and they take just one breath per minute. In order not to freeze to death during this vulnerable period, marmots need a healthy snowpack to provide insulation for their dens.

The insulating snowpack also benefits reptiles, amphibians and insects hibernating beneath the ground.

Some animals, like the ptarmigan, use snow’s insulating ability by temporarily burrowing into snow for protection from the cold. Many of us who frequent the backcountry in winter have had the riveting experience of seeing the snow suddenly explode as a spooked ptarmigan emerges – whew, not an avalanche!

Snow also provides protection for small rodents to venture from their burrows and feed in the subnivean zone with less chance of being spotted by a predator. 

Animals that change color in winter need snow in order to stay camouflaged. Snowshoe hares, ermine, and ptarmigan transform from brown or mottled to all white to blend in with their snowy surroundings. If there’s insufficient snow, those white feathers or fur make it easier for predators to see and catch them. And ermine, who themselves are predators, need their white camouflage to creep up on unsuspecting prey.

So keep doing your snow dance not only for winter sports, but for our wildlife neighbors, too.

Frances Hartogh is a volunteer wilderness ranger for the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance.